Book excerpt: This issue of Critical Care Clinics, guest edited by Drs. Marie Baldisseri, Mary Reed, and Randy Wax, in collaboration with Consulting Editor John Kellum, is devoted to Intensive Care Unit in Disaster. Topics in this issue include: Intensive care role in disaster management; Preparing the ICU for disaster; Augmenting capacity; Triage; Natural disasters; Biological/pandemic disasters; Chemical disasters; Radiation; Anthropogenic (terrorist/criminal act) disasters; Special populations (i.e., chronically ill, morbidly obese, pregnant); Pediatrics; Austere environments; Hospital as disaster Ground Zero; and Special considerations (i.e., mental health, ethics, public relations).