Fire department, rescue organizations and civil protection association present position paper.

On Monday, 9 December 2024, the Federal Fire Service Association, the legally recognized regular and special rescue services and the Austrian Civil Protection Association presented a position paper to the Federal Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner. The aim of the measures recommended in the paper is to strengthen crisis and disaster management in the long term, promote volunteer work, which is important for the organizations, reduce bureaucracy in operations and provide more crisis safety services for the population.

“Austria is a country of volunteering and voluntary work, especially in disaster control. With the proposals developed at expert level, we want to further strengthen this position and continue to position ourselves as a reliable partner in crisis prevention and crisis management in the future,” says Andreas Hanger (President of the Civil Protection Association).

For this newly created position paper, the emergency organizations and the Civil Protection Association developed the following measures, among others, for a future government program:

Strengthening crisis and disaster management (SKKM): An update of the expired SKKM Strategy 2020 is recommended in order to give a new strategic perspective to the cooperation of all emergency response organizations.

Making volunteering more attractive: The organizations would like to see an expansion of health services for volunteers as well as a regulation to cover the costs of necessary additional examinations. Particular attention is paid to closing existing insurance gaps, which are particularly important for volunteers.

Increasing the population’s resilience to crises: creating digital services to support individual crisis preparedness.

Less bureaucracy: The national implementation of EU requirements, such as the NIS 2 Directive, should be practicable. Additional administrative work and costs for the operation of emergency services should be avoided.

The organizations are convinced that these measures will decisively strengthen Austria’s crisis management and thus significantly improve our country’s resilience.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner accepted the organizations’ position paper at the Ministry of the Interior.

“With over 450,000 volunteers, the emergency organizations are a guarantee for the safety of the Austrian population. Together we want to continue to work on the crisis security of the Republic of Austria and appreciate and promote the irreplaceable work of the volunteers “, emphasized Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.

The undersigned organizations:

Austrian Federal Fire Brigade Association, Austrian Red Cross, Austrian Workers’ Samaritan Federation, Malteser Hospitalservice Austria, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe Austria, Austrian Mountain Rescue Service, Austrian Water Rescue Service, Austrian Cave Rescue Service, Austrian Civil Protection Association

Further information on the contents can be found in the Position paper Crisis & Disaster Management 2024.

(c) ÖZSV/Louis Frycer