The Orsec plan (French: plan Orsec) 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 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, as there can be an 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.
Since 2007, the plan rouge is a specific case of the Orsec plan.
The Orsec plan is not a list of to do's, but the description of a general organization:
The structure is the following:
The launching of the Orsec plan is also an administrative act that allows specific pay back.