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Organisation in an emergency

An area that has been cordoned off by the police.
In an emergency situation, we do not refer to the fire brigade, the ambulance or the police, but to discipline 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. A discipline is a collection of tasks that can be carried out by the various services.

There are 5 disciplines in total.

  • Discipline 1 – Relief operations. The tasks of this discipline include:
    • Managing the emergency situation
    • Bringing people and property to safety
    • Gathering personnel and equipment as required
  • Discipline 2 – Medical, sanitary and psychosocial services. The tasks of this discipline include:
    • Starting up the medical chain
    • Administering medical and psychosocial care
    • Transporting victims
    • Taking measures to protect public health
    • Creating a reception centre for (relatives of) victims
  • Discipline 3 – Police of the scene of the emergency. The tasks of this discipline include:
    • Providing perimeters for easy arrival and departure of emergency services
    • Maintaining and restoring order at the scene of the emergency
    • Identifying deceased persons
    • Cooperating in the judicial inquiry
  • Discipline 4 – Logistical support. The tasks of this discipline include:
    • Providing additional personnel or equipment
    • Providing a location and the necessary technical means to enable the various disciplines to confer with each other
    • Providing food and drink for the emergency services and persons affected (e.g. victims, local residents).
  • Discipline 5 – Information to citizens. The tasks of this discipline include:
    • Providing information about the situation, the measures taken and recommendations for persons affected (e.g. evacuate, close windows and doors).
    • Analysing the needs and perceptions of the population, the media and specific target groups
    • Receiving and informing the press

As each discipline includes a range of tasks, different services can carry out different tasks. For example, a firefighter (usually D1) can take care of victims (mission D2), Civil Protection (D4) can help extinguish fires (D1), and a police officer (D3) sometimes addresses the press or the population (D5).