[Electronic emergency preparedness plans in Norwegian out-of-hours centres]

All Norwegian municipalities have prepared local emergency plans, but the usefulness of such plans has not been evaluated. The aim was to investigate how such an electronic plan is used in emergency situations in one of these municipalities (Askøy), with focus on quality work and the function of the local emergency medical communication centre(LEMC).

During 20 months all events that activated the emergency plan were registered and evaluated, either by evaluation meetings or otherwise. A structured questionnaire was sent to all participants in the local emergency services before and after the registrations.

Ten emergency events were registered during the project period; 38 topics worked well, 52 topics had potential for improvement and 16 were deviations from the plan. Examples of evaluated topics are raising alarm and giving feedback within the services, use of nationwide radio communication system, on-site cooperation and use of the plan. In retrospect mapping of events showed that more situations could have led to activation of the plan. The questionnaire revealed that 70 % of respondents meant the cooperation was good or very good, both before and after the registrations. There were few changes in the answers before and after the project period.

An electronic emergency-preparedness plan used in emergency medical communication centres is a suitable tool in quality work and can be a valuable tool for evaluation of emergency situations.