During the Cold War, the West German medical profession was confronted with the unprecedented threat scenario of nuclear mass destruction. Against this background, Jochen Molitor analyzes the ways of thinking and action patterns of medical experts in preparation for an emergency, taking into account military doctors as well as civilians, leading chamber officials as well as the medical peace movement. The focus of the presentation is the genesis of disaster medicine. Their development from the medical service preparation for a feared nuclear war to the emergency medical response to the new damage scenarios of the "risk society" provides not only multiple insights into the nature of the medical profession, but also about the history of threats and fear in the Federal Republic of Germany.