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Contingency plans

Consultation with the fire brigade
An emergency plan is a plan you draw up to prepare for an emergency situation. Such an emergency plan contains various measures and procedures, which you carry out if something happens. By drawing up emergency plans, authorities and emergency services can quickly deploy manpower and equipment to protect people, animals and property in the event of an emergency.

There are various types of emergency plans.

General emergency and intervention plan

Every mayor or governor must have a general emergency and intervention plan for their municipality or province. A general emergency and intervention plan provides general guidelines to better manage any type of emergency situation.

A general emergency and intervention plan contains at least the following:

  • General information, such as a contact list of all partners involved and a list of possible risks
  • Information on how and when the emergency plan will be updated
  • Information about the organisation in case of an emergency
    • Who notifies all partners?
    • Through which channels do the partners communicate with each other?
    • Who is responsible for informing the public?
    • For example, where are the reception and accommodation centres for people who cannot go home because of the emergency situation, and who arranges the transport?
    • What needs to be done after the emergency to return to a normal situation as soon as possible?

There is also a general emergency plan at national level, namely the Royal Decree of 31 January 2003. This Decree establishes general principles for the coordination and management of an emergency at the national level.

Special emergency and intervention plan

Some risks require additional preparatory measures. For these risks, governments draw up a special emergency and intervention plan. Think for example of Seveso emergency and intervention plans or the nuclear emergency and intervention plan.

A special emergency and intervention plan contains at least the following:

  • A description of the risk (What is the risk? Where is the risk? What specific tools exist for this risk?).
  • A description of the emergency planning zones (for nuclear and major accident hazards only). Emergency planning zones are areas in which the various authorities and emergency services prepare protective measures.
  • A description of the organisation of the intervention areas. Intervention areas are those applicable at the time of the emergency. An evaluation of the situation at the time of the emergency will determine the intervention area.
  • A contact list of all partners involved.
  • A list of accident scenarios.
  • The specific procedures for this risk, e.g. on information to the public.
  • The specific measures for the protection of the population and property.

Read more about special emergency plans at the national level here.

Mono-disciplinary intervention plan

In addition to a general emergency and intervention plan describing the cooperation between the different actors, each discipline also prepares its own intervention plan. These plans include agreements on who will take on which task, who will be in charge, how communication will take place and which resources can be used. There are 5 different mono-disciplinary intervention plans:

  1. Mono-disciplinary intervention plan discipline 1 or BIP (Fire Brigade Intervention Plan)
  2. Mono-disciplinary intervention plan discipline 2 or MIP (Medical Intervention Plan), PSIP (Psychosocial Intervention Plan) or SIP (Sanitary Intervention Plan)
  3. Mono-disciplinary intervention plan discipline 3 or PIP (Police Intervention Plan)
  4. Mono-disciplinary intervention plan discipline 4 or LIP (Logistics Intervention Plan)
  5. Mono-disciplinary intervention plan discipline 5

Internal emergency plan

An internal emergency plan is an emergency plan of a company or institution, for example a Seveso establishment, a hospital or a school. Such an emergency plan contains all measures and procedures to deal with emergencies inside and outside the organisation. Read more about the hospital emergency plan here.

Personal emergency plan

Anyone can make an emergency plan. This will include e.g. contact information of relatives, emergency numbers, the best way out in case of fire and other important information.

Do you want to make your own emergency plan? To do so, go to www.mijnnoodplan.be.