There are different types and causes of disasters; man-made, natural and a combination. Man-made disasters are caused by human error or human actions that cause harm to the environment, and people (Baack & Alfred, 2013). Natural disasters are caused by nature a hurricane for example; and a combination; NA-TECH (natural-technological) examples are earthquakes that cause structural damage such as a collapse of a bridge (Nies & McEwen, 2011). Communities must have effective emergency preparedness in place to reduce the causalities from a disaster.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss potential disasters that could affect a community and cause mass causalities. Further discussion will include who is responsible for the management preparedness, what barriers must be considered and finally this paper will discuss the health care facilities role in emergency supplies and care of the patient in a disaster situation.
The Community
Communities throughout the country and the world are susceptible to disasters. The environment and location of a community often predisposes a greater susceptibility to the type of disaster. For example Central Pennsylvania would not be susceptible to an avalanche however communities in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado would have increase vulnerability. Understanding the types of disaster for which the community is susceptible is essential for emergency preparedness (Nies & McEwen, 2011). All communities are susceptible to man-made disasters; terrorism, fires, and mass transit accidents and emergency preparedness are essential. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) is responsible for disaster planning.
Assessment, Predictability and Preventio...
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Both man-made and natural disasters are often devastating, resource draining and disruptive. Having a basic plan ready for these types of disaster events is key to the success of executing and implementing, as well as assessing the aftermath. There are many different ways to create an emergency operations plan (EOP) to encompass a natural and/or man-made disaster, including following the six stage planning process, collection of information, and identification of threats and hazards. The most important aspect of the US emergency management system in preparing for, mitigating, and responding to man-made and natural disasters is the creation, implementation and assessment of a community’s EOP.
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
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Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2011). Community/public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (5th ed.). St.Louis, MO: Saunders.
Flanagan, B.E., Gregory, E.W., Hallisey, E.J., Heitgerd, J.L., and Lewis, B. (2011). A Social Vulnerability Index for Disaster Management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. 8(1), 3-6. http://svi.cdc.gov/Documents/Data/A%20Social%20Vulnerability%20Index%20for%20Disaster%20Management.pdf.
Emergency management is often described in terms of “phases,” using terms such as mitigate, prepare, respond and recover. The main purpose of this assignment is to examine the origins, underlying concepts, variations, limitations, and implications of the “phases of emergency management.” In this paper we will look at definitions and descriptions of each phase or component of emergency management, the importance of understanding interrelationships and responsibilities for each phase, some newer language and associated concepts (e.g., disaster resistance, sustainability, resilience, business continuity, risk management), and the diversity of research perspectives.
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As public health professionals, community health nurses have a significant role to play in both disaster preparedness and response (Clark, 2008). Disaster preparation involves the public health personnel as a result of the knowledge of the community and its inhabitants. As public health personnel are knowledgeable of potential issues with patients and environment. Community nurses use their nursing process of assessing, diagnosing, planning, implementing, and evaluating. Prior to the disaster, the community is assessed by the nurse by identifying high risk residents like a ventilator dependent patients who would be affected by the loss of electricity. In addition, being aware which businesses or buildings can be damaged if a disaster should occur needs to be considered. For example, water treatment plant in Franklin County provided clean county water. It no longer has electricity and loss the ability to provide clean water. The publics’ water is at risk of contamination which easily harbor bacteria that lead to lead to epidemic like MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus). The possibility lead to 3 point public announcement to ad...
Therefore, it is important for the community to have public health workers by our side to help us in the time of need, when we need it the most. There are multiple unpredictable disasters that can happen that comes with a vary of combination of deaths, injuries, illness in the community. More than 50% of the U.S. population is vulnerable to the effects of a disaster. This is why we need public health to guide us in the right direction. Some common disasters are natural and technological disasters (Landesman,
Of the four phases of emergency management, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, perhaps the place that individuals can make the biggest difference in their own state of resiliency and survival of a disaster is in the preparedness phase. Being prepared before a disaster strikes makes sense yet many people fail to take even simple, precautionary steps to reduce the consequences of destruction and mayhem produced by natural events such as earthquakes, volcanos and tornados (see Paton et al, 2001, Mileti and Peek, 2002; Tierney, 1993, Tierney et al, 2001).
The increase in unpredictable natural disaster events for a decade has led to the need for disaster preparedness as a central issue in disaster management. Disaster preparedness reduces the risk of loss of lives and injuries and increases a capacity for coping when a hazard occurs. Considering the value of the preparatory behavior, governments, local, national and international institutions and non-government organizations made some efforts in promoting disaster preparedness. However, although a number of resources have been expended in an effort to promote behavioural preparedness, a common finding in research on natural disasters is that people fail to take preparation for such disaster events (Paton, 2005; Shaw 2004; Spittal, et al, 2005; Tierney, 1993; Kenny, 2009; Kapucu, 2008; Coppola and Maloney, 2009). For example, the fact that nearly 91% of Americans live at a moderate to high risk of natural disasters, only 16% are prepared for a natural disaster (Ripley, 2006).