The Orsec plan (plan Orsec) is the French generic emergency plan is case of disaster, when the local means are not sufficient (catastrophe à moyens dépassés, CMD). "Orsec" stands for "organisation des secours", i.e. "rescue organization".

The Orsec plan is for widespread or long lasting disasters such as floods, storm, earthquakes or major industrial disaster (e.g. the explosion of the AZF factory in Toulouse); this does not necessarily mean a lot of casualties, there can be a Orsec plan even when there is no wounded. The disasters with limited effects (small zone and short lasting) but with numerous casualties are handled by a red plan.

There is one Orsec plan per département, started by the préfet, and one national Orsec plan started by the prime minister.

Description

The Orsec plan is not a list of to do's, but the descripion of a general organization:

• missions: who is in charge of what, of which danger.
• listing of the means: personnel, equipment, transmissions...
• how the means are mobilized: who must be called...

The structure is the following:

• one management staff (headquarter);
• if the disaster is localized: a double command (as for the red plan), one close to the disaster (operational command) and one distant (logistics, reinforcement);
• five operationnal services:
  • police and inquiries: maintenance of law and order, road traffic, requisition, identification of the victims;
  • search-and-rescue: firefighters, samu, volunteer first responders;
  • medical care and social aid: samu, hospitals;
  • transportation and work: civil engineering, buses...
  • contact and Signals (transmission);
• one service in charge of public relations (press).

The launching of the Orsec plan is also an administrative act that allows specific pay back.