title: An alarm procedure.
abstract: Each disaster procedure is initiated by an alarm scheme, alerting all involved personnel, directly or indirectly in this procedure. Certain mathematical principles can be applied to calculate the number of people who can be reached within a fixed period of time, or to calculate the time needed to alert a fixed number of people. With this methodology a formidable amount of people can be reached within a few minutes. The advantages and disadvantages are further described.
mesh_terms: D004189:Disaster Planning; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013689:Telephone; D013997:Time Factors