Module 8 emergency preparedness Flashcards
Complex human emergencies are associated with
global instability economic decay political upheaval collapse of government structures violence and civil conflicts famine mass population displacements
Disaster defined as
Serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of exposure, vulnerability and capacity, leading to one or more of the following:
- human loss
- material loss
- economic loss and impact
- environmental loss and impact
ecological disruption or emergency
Results in deaths, injuries, illness, and property damage that cannot be effectively managed using routine procedures or resources.
health disaster
Catastrophic event that results in casualties that overwhelm the healthcare resources in the community and may result in a sudden surge of patients, a change in standards of care, and a need to allocate scarce resources
hazard
potential threat to humans and their welfare
- presents the possibility of the occurrence of a disaster.
Risk
actual exposure of something of human value and is often measured as the product of probability and loss.
diaster epidemiology
the measurement of the adverse health effects of natural and human-generated disasters and the factors that contribute to those effects
How disasters affect the health status of a community
- Premature deaths, illnesses, and injuries
- Destroy the local healthcare infrastructure -> inability to respond to emergency, and disruption of routine health care
- Create environmental imbalances, increasing communicable disease and environmental air, soil, and water hazards
- Affect the psychological, emotional, and social well-being of the population
- Cause shortages of food -> severe nutritional deficiencies
- Cause large population movements -> burdens on other healthcare systems and communities
Life cycle of a disaster: 3 phases
Pre-impact
Impact
Postimpact
basic phases of disaster management
preparedness mitigation response recovery evaluation
preparedness
proactive planning
mitigation
measures taken to reduce the harmful effects of a disaster
response
implementation of the disaster plan
recover
focus on stabilizing and returning the community to normal
evaluation
conducted to determine what worked, what did not work, and what specific problems and challenges were identified.
