Louis Crocq, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Paris-V, is a psychiatrist to the French armed forces and the creator of medical-psychological emergency units. A former a consultant on crisis psychology for the General Secretariat of French National Defence, he is the author of Les Traumatismes psychiques de guerre (1999).
Sophie Huberson is a general delegate of a professional syndicate and a graduate of the French Institute for the Study and Research of the Security of Business Enterprises (IERSE). She specialises in risk and security management of leisure sites.
Benoît Vraie is responsible for supply chain risk management for Marsh Risk Consulting.

In the existence of any group, business or nation, a crisis is a serious, uncommon event that suddenly imposes an emergency situation and the management of the vital issues at stake. The experience inevitably causes stress, which can be described as a biological, neuro-physiological and psychological alarm system of mobilisation and defence that triggers off a reflex mechanism that we cannot command but that we can (and should) partially control and channel, if we are to make the right decisions.
Three experts in crisis psychology share their experiences in this book, which is both a theoretical reflection on crises and stress and a practical manual on the types of behaviour to adopt during each phase of an emergency, from the initial management of a developing crisis situation to the psychological debriefing at its outcome.
This is an indispensable book to prepare for any dire situation that may arise in the future.


We live at a time when major crises must be faced more and more often: international crises and armed conflicts; political, social and economic crises; health crises and pandemics; catastrophes and other collective accidents; violent attacks; hostage taking; and crises inside business enterprises or organisations.
The goal of this book is to improve the way we handle catastrophes and other crises. It targets decision-makers, senior government officials, elected representatives, business leaders, emergency services (police and fire departments, medical services), as well as concerned and curious readers who wish to understand the processes at work.
Included here are a number of crisis-related exercises and some historical examples of crises in which decision-makers handled stress with varying degrees of success: Kennedy and the 1962 Cuban crisis, rescue operations and the management’s reactions following the sinking in 1987 of the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, the organisation of medical-psychological assistance in the wake of the Concorde crash in July 2000, the mobilisation of crisis units when an imminent flu pandemic is announced.