Civil duty means that Swedish citizens can be drafted into socially important activities, such as healthcare and rescue services, in the event of heightened state of emergency or war.
Since 2008, no civil servants have been trained, but now the government is giving the Swedish Agency for Community Safety and Preparedness (MSB) the task of preparing an activation of civil service within municipal rescue services.
MSB must identify people who have rescue service competence but who are not currently working with it.
Initially, it may include 1,500-2,000 people.
- It can be anything from electricity supply, health care, rescue services, police operations and more, says Christina Malm, director general at the Swedish Tax Agency.
But in the long run, it could be about 10,000 to 20,000 individuals, according to MSB.
Part-time firefighters
Already at the turn of the year, this first group of civil servants can be in place, according to MSB.
Above all, it is about part-time firefighters who must be quickly trained.
In the long term, the number of civil servants in the emergency services must increase significantly more than what is proposed in this first step.
- There MSB has done work to investigate how many individuals there are in Sweden who have previously undergone rescue service training, but who today do not work in the rescue service.
These individuals could be placed in military service with civilian duty, in principle immediately, without any lengthy basic training without a shorter refresher, says Christina Malm, director general at the Duty and Examinations Agency.
The issue is currently being reviewed by the government office.
On Thursday, the government will make the decision on the assignment to MSB.
The authority must report its conclusions by March 1 at the latest.