7. Time and space
The aspects of time and space are fundamental to emergency
response operations. They need to be taken into account when
dimensioning a rescue service and in the planning of response
operations. A response operation is executed in a particular geo-
graphical location and there is only a certain amount of time avai-
lable. But time and space represent much more than this. Both
can be considered from a wide range of perspectives that affect
response operations in different ways, from the purely physical to
the more abstract.
Time
Time, around which our whole existence is built, is an extremely
difficult concept to define. Our understanding and relationship to
time is individual and largely culturally determined. We are not
born with a concept of time. Rather the concepts of time that are
applied in different cultures are socially determined and especi-
ally adapted to suit the ways of the respective cultures.
A municipal structure for providing rescue services represents
a particular culture with a particular perception of time. One con-
cept within the rescue service can be the understanding that a
short response time is extremely advantageous, something which,
however, in some situations can prove to be absolutely not the
case. For some kinds of alarms it would perhaps be better not to
rush but to take time to think over the situation. In such cases the
quality of information received might be more beneficial than the
quantity, something which rescue service culture can have diffi-
culty accepting. The priority of time, in such cases, is reduced. The
perception of time within the municipal structure for providing
rescue services may also be dependent on how, for example, in
practical terms, the rescue service has been produced with respect
to the political system or simply seasonal requirements (in terms of
autumn storms, winter road conditions or the forest fire season).
We can for example consider a decision maker who deals with
issues and problems from an overall standpoint. As the perception