A major emergency is an incident, which, usually with little or no warning, causes or threatens, death or injury, serious disruption of essential services or damage to property, the environment or infrastructure beyond the normal capabilities of the principal emergency services (An Garda Síochána, the Ambulance Service and the Fire Service) in the area in which the event occurs.
Major emergencies require the implementation of special arrangements and the mobilisation of additional resources by the principal response agencies (An Garda Síochána, the HSE and the local authorities) to ensure an effective, co-ordinated response.