Impacts of flood exposure on emergency health services in Sweden

Background

Extreme weather events can impact population health outcomes through multiple channels, including through direct impacts on people and infrastructure and disruptions in access to health facilities. Flood exposure is increasingly a significant concern due to climate change, resulting in challenges to healthcare provision and service delivery. Recent flooding incidents across Sweden have caused damage and disruption to roads and other infrastructure.

Method

The project uses emergency response data from the SOS Alarm and sjukvårdens larmcentral (SVLC) database to measure acute disruption caused by extreme weather events. Dispatch time stamps provide an indication of how fast emergency services respond to incidents and can be matched spatially and temporally to high-resolution flood indices to estimate disruptions. Using geospatial flood hazard data and dispatch records from Swedish emergency response centres, the project will assess the localised implications of Sweden’s exposure to extreme floods in terms of its potential to delay emergency healthcare provision.

Contribution to Agenda 2030

The results can help inform and target adaptation measures for critical infrastructure in Sweden, ensuring that health and related development outcomes are achieved despite more frequent and intense weather extremes.