Emergency Services in Crisis: Swedish Municipalities Experience Ambulance Shortages
Swedish municipalities faced urgent ambulance shortages during summer due to staffing issues.
Key Points
- • Multiple municipalities experienced ambulance shortages in July 2025.
- • Staff vacations and planned service reductions contributed to the crisis.
- • No patients were reported harmed, but response time targets are under pressure.
- • Widespread staffing challenges in ambulances highlight deeper issues in healthcare recruitment.
Several municipalities in Sweden faced severe ambulance shortages during a night in July 2025, sparking concerns about emergency response capacity. Affected areas included Sala, Köping, Arboga, and Kungsör, where the absence of ambulances lasted from 19:00 to 21:00 in Sala, and from 19:00 to 20:30 in the other municipalities. This critical situation arose due to a planned reduction in ambulance services during the summer months, coinciding with peak vacation periods for staff.
Henrik Lindlöf, operational manager for ambulance services in Region Västmanland, confirmed the incidents and announced that an investigation is underway. Fortunately, he reported that no medical consequences resulted from the lack of ambulance availability during this time. Despite these challenges, Lindlöf stated that the region is typically close to achieving its response time goal of having 90% of ambulances arrive within 15 minutes, though this remains difficult in more rural areas.
The ambulance shortage reflects a broader staffing crisis affecting emergency services across Sweden, particularly during the summer months. Jani Stjernström, chair of the Vårdförbundet, warned that the issue of not having enough qualified ambulance personnel is widespread. She revealed that many healthcare workers are leaving the field due to stressful working conditions, compounding the difficulties municipalities face in recruiting necessary staff. In some instances, to cope with staffing shortages during peak vacation times, employers have turned to hiring individuals without adequate medical qualifications, raising significant concerns regarding the quality of emergency medical care delivered during these critical periods.
These staffing challenges are not unique to Västmanland, as previous reports indicated similar issues in the Stockholm region, where ambulance services have been strained following organizational changes. As these municipalities grapple with operational difficulties in their emergency medical services, calls for systemic changes in how ambulance staffing is managed grow stronger. The upcoming investigation will likely explore both immediate solutions and long-term strategies to enhance the robustness of Sweden's emergency healthcare services.