PART ONE - MEDICAL CARE. Chapter 1 Surgery and traumatology - surgical management of severely injured patients when resources are limited: Introduction; Management in hospital; Head injuries; Chest injuries; Abdominal injuries; Limb injuries; Adapted surgical technologies. Chapter 2 Anaesthesiology and resuscitation: Introduction; The context of anaesthesia in disasters; Patient population; Primary anaesthetic skills; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Advanced anaesthetic skills; Logistics; Training and education. Chapter 3 Chemical injuries: Introduction; Mechanism of toxic injury; Medical preparedness plan; Medical action plan; Decontamination; Triage; Medical care at the scene; Management in medical facilities; Disaster follow-up. Chapter 4 Communicable diseases: General overview; Coping with communicable diseases in emergencies; Intervention strategies; Standard activities: tools; Therapeutic approaches; health education; Setting priorities. Chapter 5 Mental health: Introduction; Post-traumatic reactions; Management of the psychological and social component in disasters; Vulnerable groups; Prevention; The cultural aspect of mental health in disasters and complex emergencies. Chapter 6 Radiation injuries: Introduction; Technical considerations; Irradiation accidents; Clinical and biological consequences of exposure to ionising radiation - therapeutic approach; Management and communication during irradiation incidents. PART TWO - PUBLIC HEALTH. Chapter 1 Epidemiology: Disaster epidemiology; Application of epidemiology in disasters; Complex humanitarian disasters. Chapter 2 Environmental health: Introduction; Interaction between a population and its environment; Problems caused by exceptional situations; Water; Environment sanitation; Housing and energy. Chapter 3 Nutrition: Introduction; Nutritional assessment; Determining nutritional requirements; Management of a nutritional emergency; Human resource development. PART THREE - DISASTER MANAGEMENT. Chapter 1 Definition, classification and scoring of disasters: Introduction; Methodology; Discussion; The medical severity index of disasters; Discussion. Chapter 2 Order in the chaos - modelling medical management in disasters: Introduction; The general picture; The turning point between accident and disaster; Capacities in the medical assistance chain; The medical rescue capacity; The medical transport capacity; The hospital treatment capacity; Definition, classification and assessment of disasters; Determination of medical disaster preparedness; Triage and the 1-6 hour period following a disaster. (Part contents).