ORSEC plan

The ORSEC plan (French: plan ORSEC, French pronunciation: [plɑ̃ ɔʁ.sɛk]) is the French generic emergency plan in case of disaster, when the local means are not sufficient (catastrophe à moyens dépassés, CMD). "ORSEC" stands for Organisation de la Réponse de SÉcurité Civile, although most people say ORganisation des SECours, i.e. "rescue organization". The ORSEC plan is for widespread or long-lasting natural disasters such as floods, severe storms, earthquakes or major industrial disaster (e.g. the explosion of the AZF factory in Toulouse); this does not necessarily mean many casualties, as there can be an ORSEC plan even when there are no wounded. The disasters with limited effects (small zone and short lasting) but with numerous casualties are handled by a red plan (plan rouge). There is one ORSEC plan per département, started by the préfet, and one national ORSEC plan started by the prime minister. Since 2007, the red plan is a specific case of the ORSEC plan.