Requesting official duty. When necessary, everyone between 18
and 65 years of age is obligated to participate in rescue service to
the degree permitted by his or her knowledge, health and physi-
cal abilities. Official duty shall preferably be performed by volun-
teers.
Requesting assistance from another government authority. A
national authority or a municipality is obligated to participate in
an emergency response operation upon the request of the inci-
dent commander. Such obligation only applies if the authority or
municipality has appropriate resources and if participation will
not seriously hinder normal operations.
To report certain observations. If in conjunction with a response
operation, a deficiency or unsatisfactory state is discovered that
can lead to another emergency or fire, the incident commander
shall notify the authorities of such conditions.
To conclude the emergency response operation. The decision
shall be documented in writing. When a response operation has
been concluded, the incident commander shall if possible, notify
the owner or the beneficial occupier of the property that was af-
fected by the response operation of the need for security, salvage,
decontamination and cleanup work. If security is necessary due
to the risk for new emergencies but is not deployed, the incident
commander may provide security at the expense of the owner or
beneficial occupier. The police shall assist as required.
The intention of these authorities, especially that of being able
to infringe upon the rights of others, is to enable rapid and effec-
tive operations.
Decisions may not be made on an arbitrary basis or due to cus-
tomary procedures. This especially applies to such decisions that
entail limitations to citizens’ constitutional rights and freedoms
(1974:152/RF). Decisions on measures shall be possible to relate
to laws and their paragraphs. When a certain piece of legislation
is applied, the means of coercion shall be related to the inten-
tion the legislators had in enacting the legislation in question.
A means of coercion may only be used if necessary for resolving
the task at hand, and if the reason for the measure outweighs
the effect of the infringement upon the individual. ‘Infringement