Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1542142
This applies especially to medical personnel, people associated with volunteer fire brigades and other rescue organizations. For example, while employ- ees of enterprises designated for militarization in peacetime are not subject to military conscription, a volunteer firefighter might have been assigned a military role and, in the event of war, required to go to the front. Current regulations provide an oppor- tunity to sort out this situation. Moreover, because a number of organisations and institutions are now, by statute, entities of popu- lation protection and civil defence, and because retired police and rescue officers (provided they are not assigned elsewhere) will also by law be included in civil defence, this offers a considerable opportunity. One can therefore consider the relatively rapid pre- paration of the fire-and-rescue system for warti- me, enabling it to increase its numbers quickly. The same way of thinking should be applied to wartime organisation of other systems, such as the energy sector, including the capacity for distributed ener- gy generation (which we partially already have, for example through renewables), the deployment of portable generators and rapid repair of damaged facilities. This will require personnel – likely a larger group than those employed by energy companies and related firms in peacetime. Preparing means of support for the civilian population will also be important. If mass power outages occur, it will be necessary to organise assistance points modeled on the Ukrainian "points of resilience," to care for people with special needs and possibly even to car- ry out temporary evacuations. That requires people – at minimum those organised in non-governmental organizations. Education and training of the public will also be a challenge. Although the government assu- mes that by the end of 2025 a guide to coping in crisis situations will be developed and delivered to every household in Poland (the guide is, de facto, already ready, but something seems to be going wrong with its distribution...), and although similar materials are already available – for example those published by the Government Centre for Security – the scale of educational needs is vast and producing a handbook alone will not suffice. It is necessary to cultivate and support desirable behaviours, at least regarding recognition of air-raid alarms and appropriate reactions to them, so that the avera- ge Pole, upon hearing a siren emitting a modulated sound, will not wonder which national holiday it is today. Civil Defense Today, Tomorrow and the Day After Tomorrow www.fragoutmag.com