In a densely populated country such as the Netherlands, disasters and serious accidents can have far-reaching consequences.
Whether a disaster occurs in the form of a flood, traffic accident, factory explosion or plane crash, it almost always involves human victims. People may be injured or die, and their health may be adversely affected over long periods. Also the loss of property may lead to serious hardship.
Technically speaking, society is becoming increasing complex. In the Netherlands, the road system is intensively used, many tunnels have been built, and the construction of a railway for high-speed trains is in full progress. Complexity increases the chance of a serious accident occurring. However, there are more possibilities for effective disaster control and risk management. Fortunately, more and more attention is being paid to safety aspects. However, accidents and disasters can never be prevented altogether. It is therefore necessary to prepare for the worst. This applies not only to relief workers deployed at a disaster site, but also to those who at various levels in the government have administrative and organizational responsibility for disaster control.
This text includes an outline of the system of disaster control and crisis management in the Netherlands, supplemented by a summary of recent developments. The content is intended for both those who are professionally involved and interested outsiders. It is based on the everyday practice of our emergency services, which are basic to the system of disaster control and crisis management.

There then follows a succinct description of the organization of disaster control, and a summary of the tasks of the various departments. The last subject covered is the actual realization of preparations for a disaster. Also the role of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) is discussed.

Although disasters and serious accidents do not occur frequently, when such an emergency situation arises, the reaction must be both rapid and adequate. Dangerous situations take many forms, for example, a sudden fog may lead to a serious, multiple collision on a motorway; a cloud of poisonous smoke may find its way to a residential area after a fire has broken out in a chemical factory; or chaos can result from large numbers of computers crashing simultaneously.
Also serious riots, long-term strikes and hijackings - not to mention war - can adversely affect the very foundations of society.
These cases are referred to as crises.

There is an important difference between a disaster and a crisis: whereas a disaster is a large-scale physical incident, a crisis is primarily a threatening or acutely adverse effect on the social system, which negatively affects basic values and norms. In both cases, the actions of relief workers and administrators must be both adequate and professional. This text will cover the subject of crisis management later on.
Contrary to some other countries, the Netherlands does not have a separate executive organization for calamities. Putting fires out, caring for victims and maintaining public order are part of the daily tasks of such departments as the fire brigade, medical assistance services and the police. These organizations are at the core of disaster control. If necessary, other departments can be summoned to provide assistance; for instance, the army can be called upon for its helicopters or other materiel, or to supply specific knowledge and personnel. Other organizations are also involved in disaster control, such as rescue teams, water boards, the Red Cross, environmental departments and other municipal en provincial services. In border areas, foreign relief organizations can also provide assistance; for this, our country has concluded agreements with Germany and Belgium. In all cases it is important that the assistance is officially requested. There are procedures and protocols in which the roles of the municipality, the province and the state are laid down.

The fact that disaster control can use these various services and departments has big advantages. However, the intensive cooperation between very different organizations demands a lot of coordination, organizing power and effective understanding of one another’s possibilities and idiosyncrasies. These are therefore important points of attention. By implementing multidisciplinary training courses and large-scale exercises, the government is ensuring that relief workers can acquire the right kind of knowledge and skills for the purpose, so that when such is needed, they can carry out their tasks efficiently and effectively.

Bottlenecks still occur in actual practice, however, and this makes the activation of emergency services less efficient and less flexible than desired. By implementing national projects, the government is working hard to improve the quality of disaster control. Better harmonization between administrative and operational services is also relevant in this context.

These words are taken from the Disaster and Serious Accidents Act (WRZO, 1985).
The responsibility for disaster control primarily lies with the mayor of the municipality where the disaster situation occurs. The mayor is advised by a municipal policy team, which is made up of representatives from the operational emergency organizations of the fire brigade and policy and medical services. Other services may also be represented in this team. The mayor consults with all the services involved and, if necessary, with other services.
Many disasters are not limited to one municipality, and can be so extensive that the capacity of the municipal services is inadequate. In that case, the operational emergency services must organize themselves in a larger context. This is called ‘upscaling’. Such upscaling can occur both at a regional and at a provincial or state level.

If a disaster affects more than one municipality, then each mayor remains in charge of the administrative management of disaster control within his or her own municipality. The mayors can agree that one of them will act as coordinator for the disaster area, but that mayor does not assume the competence of the other mayors.
In the case of a large-scale disaster, the Royal Commissioner can give instructions to the mayors regarding the administrative and operational management of disaster control.
The operational management of disaster control is the responsibility of one official - in principle, the commander of the fire brigade.

The mayor, who has supreme command of disaster control, designates the operational commander, who then translates the policy decisions into operational orders and coordinates the tasks of the various emergency organizations. These are first and foremost the police, the fire brigade and the medical services. What are the tasks and resources of these organizations?

The tasks of the fire brigade comprise a lot more than just putting fires out and rescuing people. The Fire Brigade Act (1985) describes these various tasks. Even if there is no fire, the fire brigade still has the task of limiting and controlling the risk to man and beast in the case of accidents. If there is a danger of goods being damaged or destroyed, the fire brigade can also render technical assistance.
However, the fire brigade is activated not only in a calamity: together with other municipal services, it is an important partner in the prevention, limitation and control of risks. This is done according to the links in the ‘safety chain’. This chain comprises five links.

The first (proactive) link is the attention paid to safety aspects of the designs for large constructions, industrial sites, roads and tunnels. The second (preventive) link concerns such aspects as the materials that can prevent a disaster or limit its consequences. The third (preparation) link is the preparation of actual actions if a calamity arises, such as planning, exercise and the purchase of materials. The fourth (intervention) link is the actual control of a disaster, such as salvaging, extinguishing, detecting dangerous substances, and protecting the environment. The fifth (follow-up) link comprises the provision of care for victims and relief workers, the restoration of normality, settling claims, and a deployment evaluation in order to learn from the experience.
Eighty percent of fire department services within Dutch municipalities are handled by volunteers. In addition, there is a regional fire brigade, made up of some tens of fire department companies with professional personnel for large-scale actions, divided over various regions. Each company comprises two fire department platoons and one support platoon, and has available heavy equipment for extinguishing work and technical assistance.

If necessary, they can also make use of the materials stocked at the Logistic Centre Zoetermeer, which is run by the Ministry of the Interior. Preparations for disaster control is primarily the task of regional fire brigades.
Although on paper the organization of the fire brigade service is excellent, it has become evident in recent years that it is not yet optimal. This is due to such factors as the heavy workload of the volunteers involved with the fire brigade service.
Furthermore, municipalities are not yet giving enough priority to disaster control, and not enough exercises are being organized.

The Fire Brigade Reinforcement Project (PVB) - an initiative of the Ministry of the Interior and the Royal Netherlands’ Association of Fire Brigades (KNBV) - is an attempt to improve this situation.

When a disaster occurs, the first priority is of course to rescue the victims. Then, their injuries must be medically attended to. The first hour following a disaster - which is known as the ‘golden hour’ - is of decisive importance in this respect. First aid is usually administered by ambulance personnel, who must get to the site as quickly as possible.
Our country has network of ten trauma centres to help the victims of serious accidents. Each of these centres can deploy a mobile medical team made up of a specialized doctor and a specialized nurse. Such a team can provide specialized assistance at an accident site, supplementary to the relief provided by ambulance personnel. Four of the trauma centres have a helicopter available for the rapid transportation of serious casualties. This scheme is a pilot project, and helicopters currently operate from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Nijmegen and Groningen.

First aid, transportation to a hospital or trauma centre, and the subsequent treatment and revalidation of victims can be regarded as separate links in one relief chain. In the past, it became apparent that these links did not always interconnect smoothly. There are various reasons for this, including financial and organizational bottlenecks. For instance, when a large-scale accident occurs, the emergency services which need to be involved may be based in different regions. These services must then cooperate and interconnect in a flexible manner. However, this will not be easy if there is no uniform organizational structure and if the available equipment differs widely.

For this reason, recent years have seen the development of a partnership of emergency organizations: the Medical Combination.
These Combinations are made up of:

• a mobile medical team (a specialized doctor and a specialized nurse);
• two ambulance team-members (driver and nurse) who do not participate in the transportation of victims to hospital, but who provide first aid on site;
• a Rapid Deployment Group for Medical Assistance (SIGMA), comprising eight volunteers (usually from the Dutch Red Cross), who task is to support the mobile medical team and the ambulance team; and
• an executive from the medical region, who coordinates all medical activities at the site and is assisted by a coordinator for the transportation of the injured, who comes from the Central Station for Ambulance Transportation (CPA).

Many enhancements in the organization of medical assistance originate from the Project for Medical Assistance in Accidents and Disasters (GHOR). This project was the result of a survey of bottle-necks in administrative, organizational, operational and financial fields. Thanks to this project, there is now a clear view on the desired solutions. Implementation of the reorganization is still in progress.

The police force has various tasks to perform when a disaster occurs. Like the fire brigade, the police force is a part of the disaster team. Other police tasks are the installation of a safety zone around the disaster area, the maintenance of public order, and the implementation of traffic measures. The National Police Services Brigade has a facilitative function; for instance, it can deploy the Disaster Identification Team and helicopter support.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the police force was restructured, and the Netherlands was divided into police districts. For large-scale activities, the brigades from neighbouring districts can be called upon to provide assistance. The police can then form a Mobile Unity Structure and call in military police platoons from other districts.

Vandalism, riots, lock-outs, occupations, hijackings or assaults can all pose threats that can disturb society to a greater or lesser degree. However, also epidemics, environmental pollution or an international energy crisis can threaten society. A crisis threat requires (central) government to take measures to protect vital interests. This involves, for example, the protection of legal order and the maintenance of public order and safety.
The government, if possible together with the business world, prepares for internal and external threats by developing scenarios and adapting the organization to them. All departments involved must consider the measures that would be necessary if such a scenario were to occur. The preparations include carrying out exercises.

In a serious crisis, the usual procedures and normal lines of decision-making may no longer be adequate. All departments must then switch to an adapted structure, involving a Departmental Coordination Centre (DCC). A DCC will become active if there is a crisis in the field of one ministry. If a crisis affects the policy fields of several departments, however, then stronger interdepartmental coordination is required, and a National Coordination Centre (NCC) must be activated (housed in the Ministry of the Interior).
A National Public Information Centre (NVC) may also be activated. If the crisis is very complex, sweeping and far-reaching, the entire Council of Ministers will be involved in the decision-making.

The Minister-President and the ministers concerned will then have joint responsibility.

We have seen that the administrative responsibility for disaster control resides primarily with municipal mayors, who can use their own municipal services as well as regional operational services.
If necessary, they can also ask assistance from other partners.

• Municipalities: ± 500
• Fire brigade districts: 35
• Medical districts: 26
• Police districts: 25

The medical and police districts are practically identical. In the future, the districts of fire departments, medical services and the police will fully overlap.
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (Ministry of BZK) at the central government level has been charged with the system responsibility for disaster control and crisis management.
This means that this ministry deals with the laws and regulations, and makes available additional facilities for the tasks at provincial, regional and municipal levels.

In our country, disaster control, fire services and medical assistance for disasters and accidents have been arranged by law. There may be developments necessitating an adaptation of the law, such as agreements at the European level. For instance, the Ministry of BZK together with two other ministries recently incorporated the so-called Seveso II Directive into the Netherlands’ laws and regulations.
This guideline concerns environmental care, employee safety and disaster control. Companies working with dangerous substances must now keep the municipality and the regional fire brigade informed more extensively, and municipal authorities have more possibilities to inspect these companies.

Another change is that, in the future, disaster control plans will be published. Such publications will fit in with a broader public information campaign on disaster control.
An example is the annual ‘PO Box 51’ public information campaign, which explains why each year sirens throughout the Netherlands are tested on the first Wednesday in June, and what one should do if the sirens sound on another date.

Active preparations for a disaster or a crisis are not limited to formulating a scenario or a disaster control plan: training, exercises and the purchase of materials are also involved. Several training institutions recently combined forces and founded a consortium to provide training courses to anyone involved in disaster control or crisis management. This consortium includes Bestuursacademie Nederland (BAN), Crisis Onderzoek Team (COT) of the University of Leiden, Nederlands Bureau Brandweerexamens (NBBe), Nederlands Instituut voor Brandweer en Rampenbestrijding (Nibra), Politie Instituut Openbare orde en Veiligheid (PIOV), and Stichting Opleiding en Scholing Ambulance Hulpverlening (SOSA).
Tests will always be needed to establish whether plans work, which is why exercises are the final step in effective preparations.

There are various types of exercises. Not only must operational assistance and the correct use of available materials be tested, but -since disaster control is often a matter of achieving the best form of organization - much attention needs to be paid to multidisciplinary and administrative exercises. Such exercises will not of course be useful until the right agreements have been made at an administrative level.

Naturally, the operational services must have high-quality communications equipment available, so that the fire brigade, police force and medical assistance services can quickly request information from and communicate with each other. A pilot project involving an integrated controlroom system (GMS) is currently under way. This system is much more comprehensive than that behind the Europe-wide alarm number (1-1-2) for alerting the fire brigade, police or ambulance service. The future linking of various databases will ensure that all necessary information can be directly accessed.

For communications between services, in one district a pilot project involving large, advanced connection network (C2000) is in progress. Once the network has proved itself, it will be implemented on a national scale.

The quality of relief in disasters remains a subject requiring much care. At both the administrative and the executive level, everyone involved in relief work must always be prepared for all possible situations. The national government puts a lot of work into these preparations, and makes additional facilities available. There are specific training courses for all officials involved in disaster control and crisis management at an administrative, public servant or operator level. The disaster control plans must also be continuously tested in actual practice by means of drills, and multidisciplinary and administrative exercises.

The authorities at the municipal, provincial and national levels know best which supplementary measures are necessary to ensure that disaster control teams will function correctly in actual practice.

Furthermore, the local and regional levels can best judge how to prevent disasters and limit risks. Early attention to safety and prevention remains of the utmost importance.