damage control

Measures to minimize or curtail loss or harm. For example, As soon as they discovered the leak to the press, the senator's office worked night and day on damage control. Used literally since the 1950s, specifically for limiting the effect of an accident on a ship, this term began to be used figuratively in the 1970s.

(DOD) In naval usage, measures necessary aboard ship to preserve and reestablish watertight integrity, stability, maneuverability, and offensive power; to control list and trim; to effect rapid repairs of materiel; to limit the spread of and provide adequate protection from fire; to limit the spread of, remove the contamination by, and provide adequate protection from chemical, biological, and radiological agents; and to provide for care of wounded personnel. See also area damage control; disaster control.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: an effort to minimize or curtail damage or loss