Disasters
Disasters are events that disrupt the normal conditions in a community causing suffering to the people of the society or infrastructural damage beyond the adjustment limits of the community. Man-made disasters are easily preventable through proper policies and effective public awareness programs. However, natural disasters happen suddenly with little or no warning bringing the need for disaster preparedness to minimize their impacts. Hospitals and local emergency services play a crucial role in disasters. This is because, in any disaster situation, the priority is safeguarding human health and life.
Top Disasters to Prepare For
Different parts of the world experience different natural calamities hence every region has unique disaster preparedness protocols. Also, various disasters require different preparedness levels or procedures depending on their nature and effects. However, there is no single standard that can be used to evaluate the overall effects of a natural catastrophe (John Hopkins Foundation, 2010). Different professionals will use different angles to assess the impacts of a disaster. Health care providers use the effect of a disaster on people’s health and the mortality rates due to the health issues to evaluate its impact. According to research done by the University of South Carolina, researchers on disasters between 1970 and 2004, heat waves are the leading causes of deaths in the United States at 19.6% of all deaths resulting from disasters. This is followed by winter weather at 18.15% and flooding at 14% (Pollard, 2016).
Heat Waves
The frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves in the United States that are expected to grow in the future as summer temperatures increase across the 48 adjacent states (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014). This will increase the number of heat-related deaths that occur due to illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Although everybody is sensitive to extreme heat events, older people are the once who are at the highest risk of suffering from heat-related illnesses and death. These deaths can be prevented through medical outreach and intervention. With the rapid increase in the number of people aged over 65 years, it is important that heat wave preparedness plans be put in place to prevent deaths (Gronlund & Zanobetti, 2012).
Winter Storms
Winter storms may range from moderate snow to blizzards lasting several days. Cold temperatures, high winds, and heavy snowfall may accompany the winter storms. This can cause hazardous conditions that may such as icy roads, wind-driven snow deterring visibility, fallen trees, power outages and destructions in communication lines. Most people end up trapped in their houses or cars without basic services including emergency and medical services. Trying to move around in these weather conditions is very dangerous and is strictly prohibited. Approximately 70% of deaths in winter storms result from automobile related accidents (National Fire Protection Association, 2016).
Floods
Floods are the most common natural disasters in the United States, and preparedness plans should accommodate provisions to mitigate potential damage. Most people ignore to prepare for floods as a potential disaster because they live outside commonly flooded areas, which is not encouraged. In 2011, over 33% of all flood recovery funds were paid out to homes in areas with low flooding risks (Jonkman & Kelman, 2014). The contributing factor towards this phenomenon is that flood zones change annually, but most people do not know this. To know if one is living in a flood zone, one should check the FEMA website that is updated annually to reflect the changes in flood zones. Another important factor that most people are not cognizant with is that significant rainfall may cause flooding in areas that are not in flooding zones if there is a problem in the drainage system.
Lessons Learnt About Managing a Disaster
Health care facilities should not only prepare for an emergency situation involving common occurring events but plan for all scenarios including rare events that have never before occurred in the area. An all-hazard approach is recommended by FEMA to hospital emergency situations to enable resource optimization and organizational efficiency in the facilities (Nolen & Lasey-Mabe, 2015). This will help in preparing for rare disasters like the Boston Marathon bombings.
For effective disaster preparedness, hospitals should use all the available information to plan effectively for a situation. An example is a research done in 2014 that showed there is an increased risk in patients being admitted in health care facilities for renal failure, septicemia, electrolyte disorder, and urinary tract infections (Bobb, Obermeyer, Wang, & Dominici, 2014). Other sources of information include the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration that gives warnings concerning natural disasters, and the other relevant authorities like the police. However, other informal sources of information like social media and the media can also be used. This will give hospitals more time to assemble trauma teams and find additional help.
Management of disaster impacts may continue long after the disasters have ended. This mostly applies in situations where the catastrophes’ bring other indirect impacts like the prevalence of diseases that comes with floods. Studies show that there is a significant increase in mortality rates in flooded areas compared to non-flooded. This requires hospitals to prepare for situations that come after the floods.
References
Bobb, J. F., Obermeyer, Z., Wang, Y., & Dominici, F. (2014). Cause-specific risk of hospital admission related to extreme heat in older adults. JAMA, 312(24), 2659. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.15715
Environmental Protection Agency. (2014). Heat-related deaths. Retrieved from https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/pdfs/print_heat-deaths-2014.pdf
Gronlund, C. J., & Zanobetti, A. (2012). EHP – heat, heat waves, and hospital admissions among the elderly in the United States, 1992–2006. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from Environmental Health Perspectives, http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1206132/
John Hopkins Foundation. (2010). Disaster Definition. Retrieved from http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-refugee-and-disaster-response/publications_tools/publications/_CRDR_ICRC_Public_Health_Guide_Book/Chapter_1_Disaster_Definitions.pdf
Jonkman, S. N., & Kelman, I. An analysis of the causes and circumstances of flood disaster deaths. Retrieved from http://www.citg.tudelft.nl/fileadmin/Faculteit/CiTG/Over_de_faculteit/Afdelingen/Afdeling_Waterbouwkunde/Hydraulic_Engineering/Research_Groups/Hydraulic_Structures_and_Flood_Risk/Members/Jonkman_RB/doc/Disasters_floodfatalities.pdf
National Fire Protection Association. (2016). Severe winter storms. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from National Fire Protection Association, http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-consumers/emergency-preparedness/natural-disasters/severe-winter-storms
Nolen, L., & Lasey-Mabe, C. (2015, November 19). Emergency preparedness in hospital settings. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from Advance Healthcare Network for Nurses, http://nursing.advanceweb.com/Features/Articles/Emergency-Preparedness-in-Hospital-Settings.aspx
Pollard, K. M. (2016). Which types of disasters are the deadliest in the U.S.? The answer is surprising. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from Population Refernce Bureau, http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2011/disasters-by-type.aspx
