Coordinated emergency intervention

The Or.Mo.Se Plan and the National Crisis Management Centre (Centre National de Gestion de Crise - CNGC) are Central to these measures 

The aim of the Or.Mo.Se Plan is to respond to all major crises, on a national or international level, in the area of civil security or civil protection. To implement it, stakeholders make use of the CNGC's premises and means, making it possible: 

• To bring together all stakeholders, including decision-makers and offer a comprehensive and rapid response to any problem that arises
• To provide information relevant to the population and/or the media
• To be able to respond 24/7 

The CNGC is situated on the lower ground floor of the building that houses the National Council. It has a surface area of 250m². Its main access is via the ruelle Chanoine Georges Franzi.

The CNGC's premises are completely "blind" (no windows) for containment and security reasons. It houses sensitive materials (such as informatics, interactive materials, etc.), confidential data (contact details of the authorities, operational plans, etc.) and communication stations that are directly connected to the Cardelina digital security network.

It accommodates nine different units (crisis, Directors general, marine rescue, medical aid, police and traffic, environment and urban planning, Press, urban development and concessionary companies and the city hall), a shared area for discussions and a secretariat. These rooms are equipped with work stations and computer and communications equipment (telephone, satellite and specialist communications links).

The Palace Guards is in charge of the CNGC's logistics, which must be accessible and operational 24/7, 365 days a year.

Emergency plans that are adapted to all types of incident

Emergency plans are part of the general civil security measures. The plans cover the deployment, implementation and coordination of the activities of all those involved in general civil protection.

These operational plans constitute the overall general organisation of responses to incidents, and are adapted to suit the type of incident and its scale and development.

Dealing with major incidents: the "OR.MO.SE" plan

The OR.MO.SE. Plan (Organisation Monegasque des Secours - Monegasque emergency Unit) was first created in May 1988. It was designed with a view to dealing with major incidents likely to put numerous human lives at risk or cause major damage to property. It is regularly updated to respond to developments in the principality.

Its aim is to facilitate the activation and implementation of special measures when there is a risk that the ordinary emergency services will be inadequate to cope with a technological or natural disaster. To this end, it identifies public and private measures that may be implemented in the case of a disaster and sets out the conditions for their use by the competent authority, which will oversee the emergency operation.

It is activated by the Minister of State  (or the acting government minister), who is responsible for overseeing the operations.

Assisting a large number of victims: the plan "ROUGE" (RED plan)

This is a pre-established plan to be implemented in the case of a sudden incident that involves or may involve many victims.

It makes it possible to gradually increase the measures used, depending on the number of victims.

In anticipation of its implementation, the Plan Rouge can be activated by the duty officer of the fire and emergency service, the Fire and Emergency Service 's First Control Officer or the first doctor on site.

Dealing with air crashes: the "AIR CRASH" plan (plan "ACCIDENT D'AERONEF")

This specialised plan responds to danger from an air crash on the Principality's territory. This danger is particularly linked to activity at the Heliport – although most of the helicopter movements take place around the base, permission is sometimes given for flights over the inhabited area for essential reasons. The plan is also applied in the case of forced sea landings in territorial waters.

Protecting the marine environment: the "POLMAR" plan

Preserving the marine environment and its ecosystem has always been one of the Principality's major concerns. Because of the threats posed by oil pollution from ships, a specialised emergency plan was created to implement a fast and effective system to deal with this type of incident.

Taking account of the maritime measures available, the POLMAR plan is adapted to combat limited pollution that may reach the Monegasque coast

In the event of major offshore pollution, international cooperation is essential.

Because the Monegasque waters are narrow and are included in French waters, a reciprocal exchange of information must be made at the pre-alert stage with:

• CROSSMED (MRCC LA GARDE) which is responsible in France for centralising information on marine pollution, coordinating search and rescue operations and identifying offences
• The CAP FERRAT SEMAPHORE, which keeps a constant watch on the situation of the waters off the Monegasque coast

The POLMAR Plan can also be implemented under the RAMOGEPOL Plan, as set out by the RAMOGE Agreement. This agreement between France, Monaco and Italy, provides for coordination between these three countries with regard to surveillance and responding to marine pollution incidents in the coastal waters of the Provence-Alpes- Côte d'Azur, Monegasque territorial waters and the region of Liguria.

Dealing with radioactive and toxic risks: the "RADTOX" plan

This emergency plan was created to cover risks related to toxic substances and the consequences of contamination with these substances.

It is complemented by the use of shared specialised detection and decontamination equipment, under the auspices of a single authority, with an identical response concept

The main aim of the RADTOX Plan is to save and preserve human lives.

Dealing with shipwrecks: the "SECNAV" plan

The SECNAV plan is implemented in the case of shipwrecks. It stipulates how maritime and terrestrial rescue operations should be organised when a ship is in a situation that gives rise to concern that an incident on board could lead to the evacuation of passengers and/or recovering victims from the water.

The aim of this plan is to set out the measures to be taken, rescue methods to be used and the role of all the personnel involved in maritime rescue and dealing with a large number of victims of a maritime disaster on land.

The RAINER III tunnel rescue plan

The binational nature of the Rainier III road tunnel led to the signature in 11 October 2001 of an agreement between the Principality and France relating to security in the tunnel, which links the Monegasque road network with the Metropolitan route 6007 (the former RN7).

This agreement provides that the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes region, for France, and the Minister of Interior, for Monaco, should jointly establish an emergency plan that specifies the services to be alerted, command and operational methods and means of reciprocal information between the French and Monegasque Fire and Emergency services; the French and Monegasque emergency medical services, the French local and national police forces and the Monegasque Police Department.

The measures set out in this emergency plan aim to coordinate the activities of the relevant French and Monegasque emergency services as efficiently as possible, with assistance to victims as a priority.

The SCNF rail tunnel emergency plan

As part of the mutual assistance agreement between France and Principality of Monaco, in October 2010, the two States decided that it was necessary to draw up a binational emergency plan for the SNCF's tunnel, similar to measures taken with regard to the Rainier III road tunnel.

This plan specifies how each country should intervene in the event of a major accident in the tunnel. On the one hand, it sets out the territorial authority of the commander of emergency operations, and on the other, the means of communication that allow activities in the field to be coordinated. It also provides for joint emergency communication by the two countries in the field in the event of a crisis.

In addition to operational measures implemented in the field, coordinated via a command post situated in the railway station, the SNCF binational plan provides for a gradual increase in the powers of the command structure, necessitating the involvement of the Departmental Operational centre of the Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Principality's Crisis Management Centre (CNGC).

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