In September, the former Parkskolan school in Kiruna was transformed into a test environment for the emergency services of the future. Technology, equipment and working methods were tested in the partially destroyed building under conditions designed to simulate the challenges that the emergency services could face during heightened states of alert and war.
Researchers from the Division of Human-Centred Systems at the Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA), Linköping University, were on site to observe and document the tests and subsequently analyse the results.
“We spent the whole day out in the field with recording equipment and taking field notes. We followed designated key personnel as they carried out different scenarios in the simulated war-like environment,” says Erik Prytz, Professor at the Department of Computer and Information Science.
“Unmanned systems have the potential to make the work of the emergency services both safer and more efficient. They could be used when working close to unexploded ordnance or in buildings at risk of collapse, but also to search large areas more quickly,” says Erik Prytz.
The tests form part of the work on Räddningstjänst under höjd beredskap (RUHB), emergency services during heightened states of alert. According to MCF, the work aims to strengthen the ability of the emergency services to operate during heightened states of alert and, ultimately, war, and is therefore part of the development of Sweden's civil defence.
The researchers from IDA contribute expertise in areas including human-robot interaction and research into emergency and crisis response.
“The combination of expertise gives us a unique strength. Within CARER, we conduct research into emergency and crisis response, focusing particularly on how emergency response operations can be made more effective,” says Erik Prytz.
The collaboration builds on previous evaluations of the technology. According to Erik Prytz, conclusions from the work carried out in 2025 have already led to changes both in how the tests are designed and in operational practice.
“A thorough evaluation is important to ensure that the work is heading in the right direction as Sweden's civil defence is being developed. Our conclusions from last year have already resulted in changes to both the design of the tests and operational practice.”
“We have observed several interesting patterns of interaction between command functions and unmanned systems that we will explore further in our analyses,” says Erik Prytz.
The work will now continue with analysis and the preparation of a report. The report is planned for completion in December. LiU and MCF will also hold an open webinar to present the conclusions, aimed primarily at Swedish emergency services.
Researchers from the Division of Human-Centred Systems at the Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA), Linköping University, were on site to observe and document the tests and subsequently analyse the results.
“We spent the whole day out in the field with recording equipment and taking field notes. We followed designated key personnel as they carried out different scenarios in the simulated war-like environment,” says Erik Prytz, Professor at the Department of Computer and Information Science.
Making emergency response safer
An important part of the tests involves unmanned systems, including both UAVs, commonly known as drones, and UGVs, or unmanned ground vehicles. For the emergency services, this technology could make it possible to gather information from environments where it would be highly dangerous for people to operate.“Unmanned systems have the potential to make the work of the emergency services both safer and more efficient. They could be used when working close to unexploded ordnance or in buildings at risk of collapse, but also to search large areas more quickly,” says Erik Prytz.
The tests form part of the work on Räddningstjänst under höjd beredskap (RUHB), emergency services during heightened states of alert. According to MCF, the work aims to strengthen the ability of the emergency services to operate during heightened states of alert and, ultimately, war, and is therefore part of the development of Sweden's civil defence.
Research meets practical needs
LiU's involvement is part of a long-term collaboration with MCF through the CARER research environment. Within CARER, Erik Prytz leads the research project Human-Autonomy Robot Teaming in Emergency Response (HARTER), which studies robotics for emergency response, with a particular focus on the Swedish emergency services.The researchers from IDA contribute expertise in areas including human-robot interaction and research into emergency and crisis response.
“The combination of expertise gives us a unique strength. Within CARER, we conduct research into emergency and crisis response, focusing particularly on how emergency response operations can be made more effective,” says Erik Prytz.
The collaboration builds on previous evaluations of the technology. According to Erik Prytz, conclusions from the work carried out in 2025 have already led to changes both in how the tests are designed and in operational practice.
“A thorough evaluation is important to ensure that the work is heading in the right direction as Sweden's civil defence is being developed. Our conclusions from last year have already resulted in changes to both the design of the tests and operational practice.”
Results to be analysed
It is still too early to say what this year's tests will show. However, the researchers have identified aspects that they want to examine more closely in the collected material.“We have observed several interesting patterns of interaction between command functions and unmanned systems that we will explore further in our analyses,” says Erik Prytz.
The work will now continue with analysis and the preparation of a report. The report is planned for completion in December. LiU and MCF will also hold an open webinar to present the conclusions, aimed primarily at Swedish emergency services.
