Running Head: DISASTER MANAGEMENT 1

Disaster Management

Institutional Affiliation

Date
Question 1

Natural disasters are natural events such as hurricanes, earthquakes and

volcanic eruptions that cause deaths or great destructions. Natural disasters are likely to

leave behind economic damage depending on the capability of the concerned people to

recover. Other natural disasters include epidemics of communicable diseases,

blizzards, avalanches, drought and wildfires, heat waves and tornados. Man-made

disasters are the deliberate human actions such as terrorism, explosions, airplane

crashes and wars that can cause deaths and mass damage. Other man-made disasters

include riots, bombings, the spilling of hazardous material, pollution and fires

Question 2

Flint contaminated water crisis. In Genesee County, state of emergency was

declared in Jan 2016 by Michigan Governor due to Flint water crisis. The Governor also

agreed that Flint was his man-made disaster. The water looked dirty, tested and

smelled bad. The Flint residents developed rashes, had hair loss and outbreak of

diseases like Legionnaire. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DHOS) on 2010, 20 th of April.

After exploding, Deepwater Horizon rig of oil sank discharging oil about 780,000 cubic

meters at the Mexican Gulf. The oil spilled was capped for 87 days threatening 8,332

species inside the water. Water and food resources are soaked up in the surroundings

as the oil was washed ashore becoming a health crisis in the United States.

Question 3

i. Prevention Stage
This is the first stage which is associated with identifying the possible risks of the

disaster, creating risk maps. Citizens at the community, individual and family level are

also educated on which actions to take to be prepared for disasters. A plan is developed

in order to meet the identified possible disasters. The plan includes creating resource

maps.

ii. Preparedness/planning stage

This is the second stage of disaster management. It includes:

Individual and Family Preparedness

Here individuals and families get the first aid training, disaster emergency kit

assembling, Identify a place away from home fixed for the meeting, and establishing a

plan for family communication.

Community Disaster Planning

The community disaster planning must include the authority, communication, logistical

management of equipment and supplies, human resources, rescue, and evacuation

(Hashemipour, Stuban, & Dever, 2017). The plan must be active and changes can be

made when needed as well as testing the plan must be done in various disaster

scenario exercises.

iii. Response stage

The stage starts immediately after a disaster occurrence. The stage may involve:

evacuation, and search, shelter in place, area to stage and disaster triage.
Areas of Operation in Disaster Response

Disaster Triage

The system of START triage which is the Simple Triage And Rapid Treatment mainly

used in incidences with the mass casualty. An injured person should receive triage in

not more than a minute depending on respiration, mental status, and perfusion

START Color-Coded Triage Tag has the following colors; green to imply the wounded

and walking, yellow to show the systemic and no complications to threaten life, Red to

imply conditions are life-threatening but still can be stabilized and attain high survival

probability, Black shows injuries and deaths are fatal and no saving can be done.

Hazmat tag implies contaminated.

Psychological Triage

There are keys to gauge the impact of mental health which include; extensive property

damage, severe and continuing financial difficulties, when the human actions led to the

disaster and high incidences of trauma, life threats and deaths. The horror, panic, family

separation, displacement, and relocation during the disaster may also be witnessed

Public Health Activities

When the rescuing and searching are going on the threats are surveilled, the data of

what is found is distributed, sharing the health information to the public, officials and the

media appropriately, epidemiological information is gathered and work and resources

are allocated to curb serious health problems.

iv. Recovery Stage

The recovery stage starts when the danger caused by the disaster is diminished. All

area locals, federal agencies and state; assist the victims to build again their lives, help

in restoring public services, evaluate and revise plans of the disaster, cleaning the

damage and start repairing

Question 4

Nurses have responsibilities and roles that are related to disasters. For Nurses

they need to get involved in all prevention stages and activities that are related to

disasters in the community (Veenema, 2018). Nurses are also supposed to educate the

community on matters concerning disasters as well as educating them on how to be

ready and respond to disasters. Nurses should be keeping updated on advances and

recommendations in measures to save a life.

 REFERENCES

Veenema, T. G. (Ed.). (2018). Disaster nursing and emergency preparedness. Springer

Publishing Company.

Hashemipour, M., Stuban, S. M., & Dever, J. R. (2017). A community-based disaster

coordination framework for effective disaster preparedness and response.

Australian Journal of Emergency Management, The, 32(2), 41.