Tactics, command, leadership

operations, in accordance with the Swedish Civil Protection Act
(2003:778), that municipalities are responsible for conducting in
the event of emergencies or impending risks for emergencies so
as to prevent and limit injury to people, and damage to property
and the environment. A municipality is only obligated to take ac-
tion if, with respect to the need for a rapid response, the threate-
ned object’s importance, the costs for the response operation and
other circumstances, it is necessary for the municipality to take
responsibility for the response operations. The purpose of the mu-
nicipal structure for providing rescue services is not to release the
individual from responsibility and liability for costs for response
operations in the event of emergencies. The intention is that the
municipality shall maintain an organisation that can take action
when individuals do not have sufficient resources to handle a
situation. A municipality shall therefore take action when it is
reasonable to assume that the municipality is responsible for the
required measures so as to quickly be able to prevent or limit da-
mage or injury (Prop. 2002/03:119).
It is not always that easy to define what an emergency response
operation is. Apart from legal stipulations, over a period of many
years, a perception has developed that it is considered as reasona-
ble that a municipal structure for providing rescue services takes
actions to fight fires, but also to avert and limit other hazards,
damage or emergencies such as traffic accidents or accidents that
involve dangerous chemicals. But it is not always all that obvious
as to what constitutes municipal rescue service when a municipal
structure for providing rescue services is obligated to take action.
The Civil Protection Act (2003:778) provides a number of fun-
damental criteria for what can be considered as an emergency
response operation. Above all, an emergency must have occurred
or there must be an impending risk that an emergency will oc-
cur. Considered as emergencies are: incidents caused by natural
phenomena or incidents that in some other way occur without
human involvement; or incidents that are caused by human invol-
vement or simply because humans have failed to act, regardless of
whether this is intentional or not. In cases involving impending
risk for an emergency, however, there must be concrete signs that
an emergency is imminent. One should also take a certain amount
of consideration to the time aspect due to the fact that measures
should not always be considered as an emergency response opera-
tion even when there is an obvious risk for an emergency occur-
ring at some point in the future.