{This article is partially original but also drawn verbatim from Wikipedia entries: Civil Defence; Civil defencese by country - still being reviewed...}
Historical Development
Zeppelin Bomber 1916 Schütte-Lanz SL 11 Being Shot Down - World War 1 (Wikipedia)
Civil defence is a concept aimed at the protection of citizens of a state who are non-combatants (hors de combat) from human-made or natural disasters. The concept has its origins in the First World War with the bombing by German Zeppelins and Gotha bombers of the population centres of England. In the 1920s the Air Raid Precautions Committee was established and it estimated that, based on the raids of World War 1, there could be as many as 17,500 casualties per week. With increasing political tensions in the 1930s and especially with the apparent air superiority of fascist Germany and Italy (and lessons from the Spanish Civil War - i.e. Guernica), the UK Civil Defence Service was established. Over 1.9M served with Civil Defence and 2,400 died from enemy action. The United States did something similar.
Cold War to Today
During the Cold War the focus shifted to the effects of a nuclear attack. In 1968 the Civil Defence Corps in the UK was shut down for economy. Apparently it continues on the Isle of Man and in the Republic of Ireland. By the early 2000s, in the US, the focus shifted as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emerged and dealt with natural disasters and terrorism.
There are stages to civil defence and these include mitigation, preparation, response and recovery. These are the elements at the core of the Northwest Territories emergency plans. Therefore, what was known as civil defence is now known in the Northwest Territories as emergency management.
While the Cold War was running its course, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Commentaries not only address the laws of war and protection of combatants, former combatants, civilians, those hors de combat including the injured, ill, shipwrecked and surrendered (POWs). The conduct of war is not unlimited. Civilians in wartime are covered by Geneva Convention IV and two additional protocols concern international and non-international armed conflict (Additional Protocol I and Additional Protocol II). Canada is a party to all four Geneva Conventions and all of the Protocols (including the 2005 Protocol on the Red Crystal - an alternative to the red cross and red crescent distinctive symbols). Grave breachs of the Geneva Conventions constitute war crimes both internationally and in Canadian domestic law (for example Geneva Conventions Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. G-3)).
International Distinctive Sign for Civil Defence (Wikipedia)
The international distinctive sign of civil defence is an equilateral blue triangle on an orange ground when used for the protection of civil defence organizations, their personnel, buildings and matériel and for civilian shelters. (item 4, Article 66 of Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949). Article 67 speaks to the protection of civil defence units (including armed forces and military assigned civil defence organizations). This would include firefighters, medical, search and rescue, police and their materiel. Emergency measures organization personnel and equipment could fall under this category as could amateur radio operators engaged in such activities. They would have to fall under the definition of Article 61:
For the purposes of this Protocol:
a) “civil defence” means the performance of some or all of the undermentioned humanitarian tasks intended to protect the civilian population against the dangers, and to help it to recover from the immediate effects, of hostilities or disasters and also to provide the conditions necessary for its survival. These tasks are:
i) warning;
ii) evacuation;
iii) management of shelters;
iv) management of blackout measures;
v) rescue;
vi) medical services, including first aid, and religious assistance;
vii) fire-fighting;
viii) detection and marking of danger areas;
ix) decontamination and similar protective measures;
x) provision of emergency accommodation and supplies;
xi) emergency assistance in the restoration and maintenance of order in distressed areas;
xii) emergency repair of indispensable public utilities;
xiii) emergency disposal of the dead;
xiv) assistance in the preservation of objects essential for survival;
xv) complementary activities necessary to carry out any of the tasks mentioned above, including, but not limited to, planning and organization;
b) “civil defence organizations” means those establishments and other units which are organized or authorized by the competent authorities of a Party to the conflict to perform any of the tasks mentioned under sub-paragraph a), and which are assigned and devoted exclusively to such tasks;
c) “personnel” of civil defence organizations means those persons assigned by a Party to the conflict exclusively to the performance of the tasks mentioned under sub-paragraph a), including personnel assigned by the competent authority of that Party exclusively to the administration of these organizations;
d) “ materiel ” of civil defence organizations means equipment, supplies and transports used by these organizations for the performance of the tasks mentioned under sub-paragraph a).
And they are to be protected as stated in Article 62:
Article 62 — General protection
1. Civilian civil defence organizations and their personnel shall be respected and protected, subject to the provisions of this Protocol, particularly the provisions of this Section. They shall be entitled to perform their civil defence tasks except in case of imperative military necessity.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply to civilians who, although not members of civilian civil defence organizations, respond to an appeal from the competent authorities and perform civil defence tasks under their control.
3. Buildings and materiel used for civil defence purposes and shelters provided for the civilian population are covered by Article 52. Objects used for civil defence purposes may not be destroyed or diverted from their proper use except by the Party to which they belong.
For the Geneva Conventions and Protocols to be applicable to members of the amateur radio service, the members would have to be assigned by a competent authority of the Part (probably the federal, provincial/territorial or municipal government).
International Dimension
Worldwide protection is managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
In a few countries such as Jordan and Singapore (see Singapore Civil Defence Force), civil defence is essentially the same organization [clarification needed] as the fire brigade. In most countries, however, civil defence is a government-managed, volunteer-staffed organization, separate from the fire brigade and the ambulance service.
As the threat of Cold War eased, a number of such civil defence organizations have been disbanded or mothballed (as in the case of the Royal Observer Corps in the United Kingdom and the United States civil defense), while others have changed their focuses into providing rescue services after natural disasters (as for the State Emergency Service in Australian states). However, the ideals of Civil Defence [clarification needed] have been brought back in the United States under FEMA's Citizen Corps and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
United Kingdom and Ireland
In the United Kingdom Civil Defence work is carried out by Emergency Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, with assistance from voluntary groups such as RAYNET, Search and Rescue Teams and 4x4 Response. In Ireland, the Civil Defence is still very much an active organization and is occasionally called upon for its Auxiliary Fire Service and ambulance/rescue services when emergencies such as flash flooding occur and require additional manpower. The organization has units of trained firemen and medical responders based in key areas around the country.
Canada
Canada's civil defence measures evolved over time. As with many other matters in Canada, responsibility is shared between the federal and provincial government.[4] The first post-WWII civil defence co-ordinator was appointed in October 1948 "to supervise the work of federal, provincial and municipal authorities in planning for public air-raid shelters, emergency food and medical supplies, and the evacuation of likely target areas".[5]
In 1959, the Government of Canada, under John Diefenbaker handed authority for civilian defence to the Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO).[5] Large fallout shelters, known as "Diefenbunkers" were built at rural locations outside major cities across Canada at the height of the Cold War during the infancy of the ICBM threat.
The EMO then became Emergency Planning Canada in 1974, then Emergency Preparedness Canada in 1986. In February 2001, the Government replaced Emergency Preparedness with the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP), responsible for civilian emergency planning in both peace and war.[5]
Among the "Core Missions" of the Canada First Defence Strategy (under the Canadian Department of National Defence) are to respond to terrorist attacks and other crises such as natural disasters.[6] According to the Emergency Management Act (S.C. 2007, c. 15), the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is responsible for exercising leadership relating to emergency management in Canada by coordinating, among government institutions and in cooperation with the provinces and other entities, emergency management activities.[7]
In the Northwest Territories, this is managed by the Emergency Management Organization of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. The Society is classed as a non-government organization. It has participated in the past with this organization. GNWT focus, in terms of radiocommunications, is on modern technologies such as Starlink and cellular telephone infrastructure, the Society continues to maintain its capabilities and support the local amateur radio community in the event that these technologies and infrastructure fail.