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HOSPITAL

Flowers for King cause asthma attack

At least one patient suffered an acute asthma attack at a Jönköping hospital after the facility made an exception to its rule banning flowers for a visit by King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Flowers for King cause asthma attack

Ryhov County Hospital’s entrance was decorated with lilies for several days for the king’s visit to present an award to the children and youth medical clinic, Jnytt.se reported on Tuesday.

“It is clear that we should not aggravate our patients’ allergies,” care administrative director Margaretha Strömberg told Jnytt. “We have a strict policy that says we should not have flowers in the hospital. We made an exception when the king came because we thought it would be nice.”

A florist in Jönköping was responsible for the floral arrangements and it was believed that the lilies would be removed immediately after the king’s visit. According to Strömberg, there was miscommunication regarding who would remove them, Jnytt reported.

“Something went wrong,” said Strömberg. “We borrowed the vases from them, so we thought that they would pick them up.”

In addition to the health dangers from the allergy risk, there were also complaints that the king’s car and security company Securitas had parked in a way that blocked disabled parking spaces, Jnytt reported.

“That is not true. The other part was available,” said Strömberg. “It was only a small part of the disabled parking spaces that were reserved and it was related to security. There was no problem with parking in handicapped spaces and we had available parking in visitor parking. Some people are complaining because if you were against the visit, you would be annoyed by everything.”

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WORKING IN SWEDEN

Swedish Royal Guards scrap ceremonial helmets over safety concerns

The King’s mounted Royal Guards will no longer be able to wear their iconic ceremonial helmets on parades, after the Swedish Work Environment Authority warned of serious safety concerns.

Swedish Royal Guards scrap ceremonial helmets over safety concerns

“We take the safety of our employees extremely seriously and we are going to address this immediately,” colonel Stefan Nacksten, head of the Royal Guards, wrote in a statement. 

Employed by the Armed Forces, the Royal Guards are the King’s cavalry and infantry units and are a well-known sight at ceremonies in Sweden, including at the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace of Stockholm every day in summer – a popular spectacle for Stockholmers and tourists alike.

The helmets will no longer be used by Royal Guards on horseback from July 7th, as they do not conform to safety standards for riding helmets, although guards parading on foot will still be permitted to wear them.

They are part of the 1895 parade uniforms and were last modified in 2000. The Armed Forces will now create an entirely new helmet which looks the part, but is also safe for riding.

“We’re working on finding an alternative solution as quickly as possible which meets safety requirements and can also be used during parades,” Nacksten said.

“We’ve been working long-term with this issue but now that it has been assessed [by the Swedish Work Environment Authority] we need to take measures immediately,” he added.

“This is good, and now we’re working to make sure something good comes out of this and we can get a safe riding helmet for parades in place as soon as possible.”

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