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The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify occupational groups who can act as semi-professional first responders, in order to shorten the response times to frequent emergencies, and second, to identify related opportunities, challenges and needs of training, emergency supplies and information technology (IT) support.

A case study approach was taken, combining future workshops, focus groups and an exercise. Network governance was used as an analytical lens.

The identified potential groups are security guards, home care personnel, fire services day personnel and facility service personnel. The results show that semi-professionals have a large potential to complement professional resources by carrying out first response or supportive actions vital to the emergency, partly by using already existing cars and equipment. The identified needs include additional basic equipment such as fire extinguishers and first-aid kits, training in basic firefighting, first aid and risk assessment, as well as mobile phone application-based IT support to manage alarms. The major challenges are organisational, economic and juridical, including ambiguities in responsibilities and related insurances. The analysis recognises the new collaboration as a hybrid form of hierarchical government and network governance.

The study suggests that using semi-professional resources can be one of many innovative solutions to recent public sector challenges that have put a huge strain on professional emergency response organisations.

The study provides a novel view of using semi-professional resources in emergency response, based on the joint perspectives of various occupational groups, and the fire services.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the re-development process of the Swedish Rescue Services Incident Reporting System from an organizational learning perspective with the purpose to suggest what is needed to enable long-term learning from rescue operations.

The study is carried out as a case study relying on interviews, participant observation and workshop methods. The study case is the Swedish Incident Reporting System.

The objectives expressed by the central agency leading the studied process aimed at implementing double-loop learning objectives by revising the incident reports and to improve future operations accordingly. In practice this objective was lost along the way, with the agency focussing on cosmetic changes to the report such as terminology, attributes and labels. Meanwhile the local rescue services expressed different and concrete needs, requiring new system functionality, case/experience based learning, process improvements and organizational development. A number of suggestions of such measures are provided by the study, to be used by rescue services and other response organizations.

The case stands out because the re-development process is driven by one stakeholder, with the ambition to include multiple stakeholders’ needs. The study should be of specific interest to fire rescue services world-wide. However, considering that many tasks, learning and evaluation aspects of rescue operations are similar regardless of type of first responder involved (e.g. in firefighting, traffic accidents, and cardiac arrests), the results are also of interest to emergency management in general.