Disaster management and emergency prepardeness Flashcards
What did the United Nation’s general assemble create?
the first 3 core humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality and neutrality -> adding independence in 2004
What was adopted ?
Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief
was adopted
What does this provide?
globally accepted ground rules for humanitarian responses, both in disasters and
complex emergencies.
What is a disaster?
- An event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a
community or society. - Disasters are serious disruptions to the functioning of a
community that exceed its capacity to cope using its own
resources (International Federation of the Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies (IFRC). - Event or natural catastrophe that causes great damage
(material, economic, environmental) or loss of life.
What are some factors contributing to inc frequency, complexity and intensity of disasters ?
- climate change
- urbanisation
- Poverty
- Population displacement
- Pandemics
What are the 5 phases of disaster management?
- Planning/ Prevention
- Preparedness
- Mitigation
- Response
- Recovery
What is the objective in disaster releif?
to save lives, ensure health and safety, and meet the subsistence needs of the people affected
What is involved in a Response ?
Actions taken during or immediately after to save lives and prevent further damage
- Search and rescue
- EMergency medical care
-Relief provisions
- Temporary shelter
- Repair to critical infrastructure
What is RECOVERY?
- Actions to return an affected community to its pre-disaster state or better, and ideally to make it less vulnerable to future risk
- Rebuilding homes
- Replanting crops
What emergency management in UK?
Primary - police, fire services
International frameworks - Incident Command System (ICS) - to coordinate people within disaster management
- During response local repsonsers advised to establish Science and Technical Advice Cell 5STAC) to provide timely advice
What legislation to do with animals? (animal welfare act)
- The Animal Welfare Act promotes the relief of suffering and under this legislation an emergency responder may by default be placed in a position of temporary responsibility for that animal if there is no owner capable of fulfilling their responsibilities for it.
- Animal Welfare Act 2006 Section 4 “It is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal by an act or failure to act”
What does the Fire and Rescue Services Act say?
- The Fire and Rescue Services Act Sect 11, Power to Respond to Other Eventualities, is the
legal framework that supports the FRS in being equipped to deal with a foreseeable
situation that affects the life and health of plants or animals.
When emergency responders cannot act in an instinctive way..?
- Protection of badgers act
- Control fo non-indigenous species
Why bother with animals in disasters?
- Intrinsic value
- Human animal bond
- Conservation
- One Health - protecting public health
Evacuation & people?
- There is no other factor contributing as much to human evacuation failure in disasters as pet ownership → 20-30%!
- Pets can influence people’s decision-making during disasters → potentially impacting emergency responder ability to perform their duties safely.
- Pet loss has been shown to have a detrimental effect on individual and community recovery.
Disaster Response for animals?
- Assessment of the situation → gather information that will be critical to planning and implementing an effective response.
What is the impact of the disaster on people and animals and what are their needs? - Planning interventions → where/what interventions should be prioritized based on assessment of impact, needs and the situation. An intervention is an action taken to save animal lives and reduce suffering.
- Conducting response operations → effective coordination, logistics and management of the response team and their operations. Ensuring physical and mental health of the team
What should assessment be focused on?
- Impact of a disaster
- Unmet needs of affected animals & people
- How many animals?
- What resources are needed?
- Is an intervention needed or not?
- What is already being done?
- Transportation and logistic considerations
What two steps of Assessment?
Remote assessment and then field assessment
- Permission for deployment, liasing with local authorities
- Rapid field then thourough assessment
interventions
- Assess capacity – skills set, expertise, resources.
- Consider logistics.
- Assess risk (what could go wrong).
> Prioritise interventions (urgency/impact)
* Animals experiencing stress/fear/discomfort
* Meet basic needs for survival (thirst and hunger)
* Mitigating threat of disease and 2nd infections as well as risk of further
discomfort.
What interventions might we get
- Veterinary care -> providing immediate and necessary vet care to injured/sick animals
- Water & food distribution - not wildlife
- Search & rescue
- temporary sheltering
What role of vets in interventions?
Must focus on treating injuries and health issues arising from disaster aftermath, incl:
- Cases of shock, injury, intox, suffociation
- First aid for wounds, and injuries
- Tx of infetions,
- Supportive care
- Euthanasia
Sheltering interventions?
- Temporary sheltiering for short term but resource-intensive, planning
- Logistics - adaptable, close to resources & affected animals
T/F Animals same priority as people
False - PEOPLE take priority
