The mission of civil protection is to protect the population and its vital resources in the event of disasters, emergencies and armed conflict.
The CPO, an additional civil protection organisation, cares for persons in need of protection, and supports the partner organisations over longer periods of time.
Civil protection is an integrated management, protection, rescue and relief system.
The civil protection system must ensure that the five partner organisations: the police, the fire, health care and technical services, as well as the CPO cooperate effectively.
Disasters can occur at very short notice and sometimes without any advance warning. This is why it is so important to ensure a rapid flow of information and to warn the population in time.
In Switzerland approx. 5,000 stationary sirens are maintained to alert the public. The highly reliable system by which the sirens are remote-controlled is designated as ‘Polyalert’.
The general alert is sounded when there is a possible threat to the population. Should there be a risk of flooding, people living downhill from dams are alerted by the water alert alarm signal.
The authorities can inform by radio at any time. Technical and organisational provisions have been made to this end.
Every year, on the first Wednesday in February, all sirens across Switzerland are tested.
The relevant government agencies are constantly monitoring the situation with regard to natural dangers, and are responsible for issuing warnings to the authorities and the public.
In civil protection, hazard and risk analyses provide the basis for action planning in the areas of prevention and precaution for coping with catastrophes and emergencies.
NBC protection covers all measures to defend against and prevent nuclear (N), biological (B) and chemical (C) threats and hazards.
Protective structures were designed primarily to protect the population (shelters), and to ensure the readiness of civil protection resources (protected premises) during an armed conflict.
The term „critical infrastructures“ refers to those facilities and organizations, whose disruption could cause severe damage on a supra-regional level, e.g. in the energy sector, the communication...
Civil protection training focuses primarily on dealing with disasters and emergencies, and is a cantonal responsibility. The cantons are supported by the FOCP.
Resources Management at Federal Level (ResMaB) coordinates the deployment of all resources that are available at the federal level.
These pages offer you basic information about Switzerland's Protection of Cultural Property, about organisation, protective measures and legal basis.
The FOCP develops and operates secure communications networks for the rescue and security authorities and organisations or coordinates the necessary work. These systems include Polycom, SDVS (secure...
The CMS supports the public healthcare sector with coordinated civilian and military resources.
The heads of the business units are on the management board of the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP).
The tasks and competencies of the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) are laid down in a range of acts, ordinances and directives.
The FOCP consists of the following business units: Strategy and Steering, Programme Management, Resources, National Emergency Operations Centre and Incident Management, Civil Protection and Training,...
The FOCP has its offices in various places. Its headquarters are at the Guisanplatz 1B in Bern.
The FOCP supports federal authorities, cantons and partner organisations of the civil protection system in preventing collective risks and in handling incidents.
Autonomous work, networked thinking and a constant willingness to learn more are expected and promoted in the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP).
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E-Mail
Print contact
Guisanplatz 1B CH-3003 Bern
Austrasse CH-3700 Spiez
Kilchermatt 2 CH-3150 Schwarzenburg
