Protected premises for the management and the operational resources
The 1,700 protected premises in Switzerland include command posts, facilities for rescue units, and first aid posts and hospitals. They serve to ensure the management capacities and the readiness of civil protection resources. In some cases, several types of protected premises were combined for organisational, structural and economic reasons.
Command posts and facilities for rescue units
Command posts serve management and management support functions. These are secure locations for cantonal, regional or municipal stuff unit personnel. The civil protection facilities for rescue units are available to the personnel and a part of the equipment.
Maintaining value and further development
The civil protection reforms, together with regionalisation and cantonalisation, have enabled a reduction in civil protection organisation (CPO) personnel numbers over recent decades. The protected premises are now to be adapted to actual needs (quantitatively) and future requirements (qualitatively). Protective structures that are no longer used as command posts or facilities for rescue units should, where possible, be repurposed for civil protection purposes (e.g. as shelters). It is envisaged that the Confederation will invest a total of 220 million Swiss francs by around 2040 in the renovation of protected premises, which are required not only in the event of armed conflicts but also in the event of disasters and emergencies.
Operational Readiness and Reserve
In principle, the facilities for rescue units must be operational at all times in terms of both personnel and equipment, and must be available on a regular basis for training, exercises and operations. In the event of an armed conflict, a reserve of facilities for rescue units to a maximum 30 per cent of the target strength must also be planned for. These protected premises may be maintained at a reduced level of operational readiness.
Protected first aid posts and hospitals
The Confederation defines framework requirements for protected first aid premises. Today, the cantons are obliged to guarantee facilities and treatment in protected hospitals for at least 0.6 percent of the population (combined with an acute care hospital) and in protected first aid posts (not directly linked to an acute care hospital).
First aid premises: a new concept
On behalf of the Federal Council, a detailed concept for first aid premises is to be drawn up by the end of 2028. In future, these facilities should be capable of providing an appropriate standard of care, offer added value even in normal circumstances and, ideally, be integrable into existing hospital operations. The treatment capacity that must be maintained in first aid premises is to be reduced to 0.2 per cent of the resident population.