Pelastustoimi alueellisessa kehittämisessä : Länsi-Uudenmaan pelastuslaitoksen saavutettavuus

By law, rescue services must anticipate and plan future rescue situations so that the emergency measures taken in the event of an accident can be accomplished quickly and effectively. To reach this goal, rescue services planning must be up to date. The development of rescue services is di-rected by the Rescue Act, and guidelines such as the readiness program, based on that law. The guidelines give the basic principles for organizing rescue services. This paper studies the ability of rescuers to reach different locations now, and in the future, and whether this happens within the time constraints required by the readiness program. The time per-spective of the study includes both the current time and the future. Predictions of possible future situations are based on zoning information. The goal of the study is to find out whether there are any gaps in the network of fire stations or if gaps will develop in the near future. The strong growth and increase in the population of the greater Helsinki area, and of surrounding towns, creates many challenges for city planning, including rescue services. This study targets the two towns of Espoo and Kirkkonummi, where fast growth specifically into new housing areas, makes planning of rescue services challenging. Many new options are available for planning due to technological developments. The combined methods of planning and geo-informatics used in this study help to determine the need for new resources in rescue services. By using these methods, the planning of rescue services could be done at least 10 years into the future.