Sweden conducts first overnight air-raid shelter exercise

In the municipality of Grums, Sweden, nearly 40 volunteers participated in the country’s first overnight air-raid shelter exercise. The simulation involved diverse participants, including a firefighter, a pensioner, and a new mother, to test how different demographics would manage life in an underground concrete bunker.

The exercise aimed to observe human behavior in enclosed spaces and monitor environmental factors such as temperature and CO2 levels. Organizers used the drill to identify ways to make stays in such shelters more comfortable and to test logistical challenges, such as transporting individuals in wheelchairs down steep staircases.

Project manager Therese Rosenblad noted that the war in Ukraine has increased Sweden’s awareness of potential threats and heightened the national willingness to prepare for future crises.