The Coordinated Regional Incident-Management Procedure or Gecoördineerde Regionale Incidentbestrijdings Procedure (GRIP) is a nationwide

emergency management Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actu ...

procedure in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The procedure is used by all emergency services, different layers of government and government agencies. The nationwide digital communication system C2000 is used for communications between the various emergency services and the policy teams and coordination centres.

Stages

The procedure is scaled according to the affected area of an incident. There are four stages with an unofficial Stage 0 for normal day-to-day operations during small incidents.

GRIP 1

Due to the nature of the incident several emergency services are needed (

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

, Emergency medical services,

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

) and their deployment needs coordination. A coordination team consisting of duty officers of the involved services is set up; there is no single commander.

GRIP 2

A single command is established. This team is housed at a central location in the region and consists of managers of the involved services. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of the affected

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

is informed; he will order (part of) the municipal policy team to convene. Since the mayor is the commander in chief in civilian emergencies his policy team will advise him on further actions such as evacuations.

GRIP 3

A large area is affected. The mayor will order his full policy team and the municipal disaster management team to convene. The regional operational team will also convene in full composition. A mayor of one of the municipalities in the region is appointed as coordinating mayor; this is usually the mayor of the largest city in the region. This person chairs the regional policy team which further consists of chiefs of the emergency services and other advisors. The

King's Commissioner A King's commissioner (, ''CvdK'') is the head of government and legislature in a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands. When the List of monarchs of the Netherlands, reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's commission ...

is informed, who in turn informs the Minister of the Interior. The incident can formally be classified as a disaster, although GRIP 3 can also be used in case of an impending disaster.

GRIP 4

The effects of the disaster affect more than one municipality or even more than one province or country. The King's Commissioner orders the Provincial Coordination Center (PCC) into action. The mayors of the affected municipalities still function as commanders in chief in their own areas, but the commissioner has the power to give mayors orders. The commissioner has a coordinating role as long as the incident's effects do not affect other provinces. If other provinces are affected the Minister of the Interior assumes the coordinating role; he has the power to give the King's Commissioners orders. The minister will make use of the National Coordination Centre (NCC), which is continuously staffed. The NCC functions as an international point of contact when other nations are involved, either as affected areas or when providing assistance.

References

{{Reflist Emergency management in the Netherlands Incident management