When it happens

Alert the emergency services

Call the emergency number 112 if you or someone else needs help. In order to avoid overloading the network, don’t use your phone unless you really have to. Only make calls if you can do so without subjecting yourself to risk. If the police, paramedics or other emergency personnel are already at the location, and if no-one in your immediate surroundings needs emergency medical care, you don’t need to alert the emergency services. When contacting the public safety answering point (PSAP), try to specify your location and describe what you know about the incident or the perpetrator. Any information about the situation is valuable to the response team. If you call using the 112 app it will automatically transmit your position to SOS Alarm.

Contact your family

If you have been at the location of the incident or are close to it, you should contact your family and your employer to let them know you are safe.

Report to the police

Report the incident to the police as soon as possible. Call 112 if it is an ongoing situation and 114 14 if it is not. You don’t need to determine whether what you have experienced is a crime – the police will do that. A police report is often necessary in order for you to be able to exercise your rights and get protection. It is important to contact the police even if you yourself have not been injured, but you have witnessed something in connection with the crime.

The police are responsible for disaster registration when incidents happen in Sweden. If you would like information or have information to provide about a family member or friend who may have been at the location of the incident, call 114 14.

The police have special personnel who take care of crime victims and personal security issues. You can ask a family member or friend to accompany you and help you make the report.

Make a police report in a language you know

If you want to report a crime but you don’t speak Swedish, you must be given the opportunity to make a police report in a language you know. If you want it you must also be provided, free of charge, a translation of the written confirmation of your report into a language you understand.

The family’s contact during the legal process

The Swedish Police have specially trained investigators known as Family Liaison Officers, or FLOs. An FLO serves as the link between the police and the family of a person who has died as a result of a crime. The FLO is the family’s contact person throughout the legal process.

Support person and counsel for the injured party

You are entitled to be accompanied by a support person in police questioning. This may help to make you feel safer and more sure of yourself. You can choose someone you know, or you can turn to the social services or an organisation that works with supporting victims of crime.

If the crime is serious you may be appointed a counsel for the injured party. This is a lawyer whose task is to defend your interests during the legal process. The counsel has to support and help you, e.g. by explaining the legal process, describe what is happening in the investigation and what is expected of you as the injured party. Your counsel also has to help you with the matter of damages. Tell the police if you would like a particular lawyer or legal expert as your counsel.

Care

If you have been injured you should seek care. This applies regardless of whether the injuries are physical or psychological. It is a good idea to have your injuries documented, since such documentation is needed to assess if you are entitled to compensation.

It is important to get support in the immediate aftermath of a crime, but you may also need support some time after the incident. Do not hesitate to seek care even if some time has passed since the incident occurred. The consequences of a difficult event can become more severe if no consideration is made of the psychological needs that can arise.

Notify your insurance company promptly

Notify your insurance company as soon as possible that you have experienced an incident which may be a terrorist crime. By reporting to them as soon as possible you can get access to professional support through your insurance policy, and get the help you need to deal with the incident. It is also important to make a report to your insurance agency because the cost of your treatment may be covered by your insurance policy.

If the incident happened during working hours or during travel to or from work, the injury can also be reported to your employer’s insurer or to Trygghetsförsäkring för arbetsskada (workers’ compensation insurance, abbreviated TFA in Swedish), which is an insurance policy you have via your union. If the incident occurred when you were off work you may be entitled to compensation via e.g. your own or your cohabitant’s home insurance policy. If you find it difficult to make the report yourself, you can ask a family member or friend to help you.