Disasters have a significant impact on human life and the entire community because they result in losses including life or even property. There are two main reasons why disasters happen including the actions of the forces of nature and human activity. Therefore, disasters can be classified as either natural or manmade depending on the circumstances under which they take place. When disaster strikes, major public health personnel, including the public health nurse, take actions in an attempt to deal with the effects of the disaster. In the simulation involving the disaster in Franklin County, a number of personnel were involved in responding to the disaster. However, each of them had specific roles even though they were working together.
Role of Public Health Personnel
The Public Health Director was the first person to be contacted and this was facilitated by the incident commander. Basically, the Public Health Director occupied the highest office in the County. This gave him powers to hold meetings and discuss the progress of the disaster response efforts. The Public Health Director liaised with his deputy and launched the incident command department that was responsible for the planning and execution of response measures (Kumar, 2010). The director also held emergency operations briefings to get a glimpse of the progress of the response excise. He also used the briefings to communicate to the public health team with regards to the areas that required assistance.
Environmental health specialists were responsible for the assessment of community safety within the environs of the Franklin County community (Ramroth, 2007). They were able to execute their role by inspecting restaurants to check whether there was compliance to the guidelines related to food preparation and sanitation. Furthermore, they also inspected areas that acted as accommodations to pets to ensure that there was proper sanitation, food safety, and safe points for resting.
Community Health Nurses played an integral role in the rescue activities related to the disaster. Their role was mainly to conduct door to door interview to gather information on the impact of the disaster on the residents of Franklin County. They were able to assess the status of the safety and health conditions of the members of the Franklin community (Guiberson, 2010). This was aimed at assessing the needs of the community to determine areas where it was important to provide assistance to flood victims.
Chain Of Command Used In the Simulation for the Community Health Nurse
During the simulation, there was a chain of command that established a number of hierarchies starting from the Public Health Director to the community health nurse. The Public Health Director occupied the highest position in the county and had several subordinates who reported to each other in a hierarchical manner. The Deputy Public Health Director was responsible for the establishment of the incident command department and reported directly to the director. The public Health Director assumed the role of holding press briefings through which he addressed the public on the progress of the rescue efforts for the disaster. Therefore, his deputy provided all the relevant information from the Incident Air Force Officer. The Public Health Director liaised with the Sherrif Director to launch the incident command department within the public health organization (McDonald, 2012).
Environmental Health Specialists reported to the Deputy Public Health Director and their role was to assess the impact of the disaster on the environment. They were also responsible for the inspection of buildings such as restaurants to ensure that they complied with the required sanitation guidelines. Lastly, there were the community health nurses who assumed the role of collecting information related to the health and safety statues of the people of Franklin County. They reported to the Environmental Health Specialists. Therefore, the chain of command involved the community health nurses reporting to the Environmental Health Specialists who reported to the Deputy Public Health Director who finally reported to the Public Health Director. Additionally, the Public Health Director worked along with the Sherrif Director to ensure the safety of the people of Franklin County during the disaster.
Resources Available For the Community Health Nurse to Handle Situations beyond Their Scope
In the simulation, the Community Health Nurse assumed the role of taking care of the victims of the disaster by ensuring that they were safe and provided with the necessary medical care. This involved identifying injured victims and treating them. However, there is a possibility that they can encounter a situation that falls beyond their responsibility. This means that they will have their resources stretched and even require the assistance of other personnel. Some of the resources that were available for the Community Health Nurse included rescue airplanes, food and water supplies, and tents (McDonald, 2012).
Rescue airplanes serve the purpose of airlifting victims of the disasters from areas that are rather inaccessible and take them to the nearest medical center whereby they would be attended by the community health nurses. Food and water supplies were made available to displaced communities who lost their property and had nothing to eat. This was beyond the scope of the community health nurse but volunteers offered food and clean water to ensure that displaced people were safe and healthy (Ramroth, 2007). Displaced people and other victims of the disaster could not have access to clean water and healthy meal s because the water system had been contaminated by the bursting of the sewerage system. Tents were used to accommodate displaced persons to ensure that they had decent shelters.
Actions Taken By the Community Health Nurse to Manage Possible Emergencies during Interviews
The community health nurse managed possible emergencies during interviews by ensuring high standards of safety. First of all, they ensured that interviews were conducted from places that less vulnerable to ensure that a reoccurrence of the disaster would not cause harm. Victims were evacuated from vulnerable areas and placed in safe points from where the nurse would conduct the interviews. However, the nurses encountered the problem of fears among interviewees and managed to calm such fears by reassuring them of their safety and anonymity of their identity. They were also assured that their comments would not be aired live (Kumar, 2010). Most of the victims were still in shock during the interviews and it was necessary that the community health nurse assured them of their safety in order to help them get rid of the trauma that develops after a disaster.
How Other Nursing Personnel Could Be Prepared In Responding To a Similar Emergency in a Bigger Area
The emergency situation in Franklin County was very demanding despite the fact that it occurred within a smaller area. However, the nursing personnel were able to manage the situation. In case a similar incident occurred in a bigger area, the nursing personnel could be prepared by adopting a number of recommendations. First, it is important that they deploy a high number of air rescue teams because the disaster is of a bigger magnitude and affects a larger number of people. Second, a high number of Community Health Nurses should be deployed to ensure that there is adequate assessment of the safety of victims within the area. Lastly, psychologists should be made available so that they can assist victims overcome the trauma of such disasters (Guiberson, 2010).
References
Guiberson, B. (2010). Disasters: Natural and Man-Made Catastrophes Through the Centuries. New York: Macmillan.
Kumar, M. (2010). Natural and Anthropogenic Disasters: Vulnerability, Preparedness and Mitigation. New York: Springer.
McDonald, R. (2012). Introduction to Natural and Man-made Disasters and Their Effects on Buildings. Chicago: Routledge.
Ramroth, W. (2007). Planning for Disaster: How Natural and Manmade Disasters Shape the Built Environment. New York: Kaplan Publishing.
