Auxiliary Fire Service
The AFS was set up to act as a back up force to the professional front line service. Members are trained in various aspects of fire fighting. This covers pump and ladder drills and various types of fire emergencies. They are also trained in pumping flood waters, and supplying water to the community in times of emergency.

Casualty Service
The Casualty Service are trained to render First Aid to their patients and provide an ambulance service when required. This entails directly diagnosing injuries sustained and applying the correct assistance whether dressing, giving heart massage or CPR.

Rescue Service
The Rescue Service are trained to rescue people trapped in collapsed buildings or crashed vehicles. They also administer First Aid to the casualties. Emergencies such as aircraft crashes, train crashes, explosions and collapsed buildings are recreated to make training as realistic as possible. After achieving competence in the above, members are selected to undergo specialised training in "Heights Rescue" and "Water Rescue" techniques.

Warden Service
The Warden Service is the senior service in Civil Defence. It is composed mainly of mature volunteers. Members are trained in many discipline's including communication procedures, leadership techniques and especially in monitoring and reporting on radioactive recordings in the event of a radiological incident. Wardens have a major role to play in the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Incidents.

Welfare Service
The Welfare Service are there to help people in crisis. There can be considerable suffering and further loss of life in emergencies if proper aftercare is not provided. This can range from basic physical needs, such as providing hot meals, drinks or caring support in the form of counseling. They also provide food for other Civil Defence teams and emergency personnel when required.

Water Rescue
Although not officially a separate service, the boats are manned by members of the Rescue or AFS units. These boats would not be �front line� rescue boats, like the RNLI or Coastguard, but work mainly at events, such as firework festivals or concerts, where there would be large numbers of people near the water, or at events like the Liffey Swim, or Dun Laoghaire Harbour Swim.