Published on 27 September 2024

Emergency meeting points (EMP)

Emergency meeting points are the first point of contact for the public in the event of a major incident, disaster or emergency.

Emergency meeting points: A new civil protection measure

In the event of a major incident, disaster or emergency, it is important that people have access to timely and comprehensive information about the situation, and that they receive the support they need.

In the event of an incident such as a prolonged power outage or shortage, the usual channels of information (mobile phones, radio, television) may be limited or unavailable to the public. As it is important in such cases for the authorities to have other means of providing information in a flexible manner, the cantons and the FOCP have set up emergency meeting points.

When and how are they used?

In the event of an incident, the authorities will put the emergency meeting points into operation and inform the public. Emergency meeting points are the first point of contact for the public in the event of a major incident, disaster or emergency. They are places where people can get information about the current situation and make emergency calls if the usual means of communication have failed. The cantons can also use their emergency meeting points in other ways, for example to meet other basic needs or for evacuations.

Cooperation between the FOCP and the cantons

The emergency meeting points are run by the cantons. The FOCP plays a coordinating role in consultation with the cantons.

Where are they located?

The locations of the emergency meeting points are set by the cantons. The FOCP compiles this information and publishes it on the federal geoportal geo.admin.ch. It can be accessed via the Federal Geodata Infrastructure (FGDI) through an API, Geoservices and the interactive map on map.geo.admin.ch. The information is regularly updated. The emergency meeting points geodata layer contains all emergency meeting points established by the cantons and the Principality of Liechtenstein that have been reported to the FOCP.

The locations of the emergency meeting points reported to the FOCP so far can be found at www.map.geo.admin.ch.