Räddningstjänst under höjd beredskap - En studie om samverkan med frivilliga försvarsorganisationer

Sammanfattning: Due to the increasing threat against Sweden and the worsened security policy situation, Sweden is strengthening both the military and civil defense. The fire and rescue service are an important part of the civil defense and during war, since their responsibility, in case of war, is expanded to include detecting, marking and clearing of dangerous areas as well as indication and decontamination of nuclear- and chemical weapons. They are also obligated to participate in first aid, transportation of wounded and protection of the population. To handle these tasks, a large increase of personnel is needed. This report examines how the fire and rescue service can cooperate with voluntary defense organizations during a heightened state of alert. To do this, literature study and an interview study were conducted. The studies have shown that the voluntary defense organizations can have an important role to the fire and rescue service by providing support in several tasks. The studies have also shown that it is important that the fire and rescue service is prepared for the arrival of volunteers during a heightened state of alert. Furthermore, it is concluded that volunteers can be an important resource, but that there are also several challenges that come with it. For example, the fire and rescue service lacks money, equipment and personnel required for a heightened state of alert. They also need more knowledge of the voluntary defense organizations and must be prepared to receive external personnel in a state of heightened alert. Another challenge is to maintain the volunteers’ interest over time.