I RECENTLY HEARD MENTION IN THE FRENCH NEWS OF A ‘PLAN NOVI’ – IS THIS NEW AND WHAT IS IT? F. G. The plan Novi is an emergency plan aimed at rescuing a large number of victims in one

location. It stands for no(nombreuses) vi(victimes). It is set off by the prefect if necessary and consists of setting up a crisis group at the prefecture, putting the hospitals on alert,

putting in place an operational command centre on the ground, mobilising air and land rescue vehicles and setting up a field hospital at the site. The teams should be ready to help victims

whether their cases are very urgent, such as needing flying to hospital, relatively urgent (needing an ambulance), mildly injured, or unhurt but shocked and in need of psychological support.