Per Nisser from Östra Götaland Fire & Rescue Service: “Cooperation is the Keyword” (2/2)

Per Nisser is the contact person of the Östra Götaland Fire & Rescue Service in the OIL SPILL project. Before 2004 when he started to work in the Rescue Service, Per studied to become a Fire Protection Engineer at the University of Lund. Currently, he acts as Head of Operations.

“In my daily job, the keyword is cooperation – both internal in the Fire & Rescue Service and external to municipals in our region. It is important for effectiveness as well as the economy. It is true: you cannot stand alone when ‘the shit hits the fan.’”

Per says the advantages of his organization are quick response and preparedness to initiate a rescue operation as well as the long experience of leading and coordinating efforts in the event of a major accident – also an oil leak.

“We are confident that we can handle the start-up phase of an oil spill in a very good way. Working together with other local and regional authorities is part of our daily work, and we also consider it as the key to success within this area.”

Although Konrad exercise in November 2019 was a regional and relatively limited exercise when it comes to the organizations and units involved, it worked well to test the several phases and tasks needed in oil spill response:

“Chain of alarms and the start-up phase ran smoothly in terms of cooperation between the Coast Guard and us. Prioritizing which natural areas needed protection and coordination between actions worked well, too. However, the exercise also showed that we have deficiencies in materials, such as high sea booms.”

Several OIL SPILL Project Partners participated in Konrad as observers. According to Per, the dialogue was instructive and these kinds of visits create a better understanding of the differences and similarities in procedures and how Partners could better work together.

Per hopes that OIL SPILL leads to concrete measurements at the regional and national levels and that plans and routines are updated so that the ability to cooperate in the Baltic Sea Region improves between the countries.