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Abstract:

The best way to reduce morbidity and mortality in mass casualty incidents is a well designed plan for all medical caregivers and integrated in a general contingency plan. The most important issues to be addressed in these medical contingency plans are the alert, the mobilization of caregivers and resources, the co-ordination of the medical personnel in the disaster area, the collaboration with fire fighters, police forces and other forces, the evacuation, the triage, the treatment and stabilisation of the victims and the transfer to the surrounding hospitals. In this manuscript we summarize the legal aspects concerning the Belgian contingency plans as regulated by a law published on February 16th, 2006. We also describe how the most important principles of disaster medicine are put into practice.