DISASTER NURSING NOTES

GOMER PACIO PONSO, RN

Instructor, UC-CON
NCM 120

WHAT IS A DISASTER?
⚫ “A disaster can be defined as any occurrence that cause damage, ecological disruption, loss
of human life, deterioration of health and health services on a scale, sufficient to warrant an
extraordinary response from outside the affected community or area”. (W.H.O.)

⚫ “A disaster can be defined as an occurrence either nature or manmade that causes human
suffering and creates human needs that victim cannot alleviate without assistance”.
American Red Cross (ARC)

CLASSIFICATION OF DISASTER
1. Natural Disaster – caused by natural or environmental forces.
 Earthquakes
 Floods
 Tornadoes
 Hurricanes
 Volcanic eruption

2. Manmade Disaster – the principal direct causes are identifiable human action, deliberate
or otherwise.
 Three categories:
1) Complex emergencies - involves situations where populations suffer
significant casualties as a result of war, civil strife, or other political conflict.
2) Technologic emergencies - those in which large numbers of people,
property, community infrastructure, and economic welfare are directly and
adversely affected by major industrial accident, unplanned release of
nuclear energy and fires or explosions from hazardous substances such as
fuel, chemicals, or nuclear materials.
3) Disasters that are cause by natural hazards but occur in natural
settlements
- have a more gradual onset and generally have a prolonged impact. (e.g.,
Droughts, Famine)

DISASTER CONTINUUM
Disaster Life Cycle
1. Pre-impact (before)
- preparedness, mitigation, and prevention
- occurs prior to the onset of the disaster
- includes the period of threat and warning
- may occur in all disaster
2. Impact (during)
- response; involves the disaster response/emergency management
- period of time when disaster occurs, continuing to immediately following
disaster
 - inventory and rescue period
- may be brief when disasters strike suddenly and is over in minutes (air
plane clash, building collapse) or lengthy as incident continues (earthquake, flood,
tsunami, etc.)
3. Post-impact (after)
- remedy and recovery period
- occurs when majority of rescues operations are completed
- lengthy phase that may last for years
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Principles of Disaster Management
⚫ Disaster management is the responsibility of all spheres of government
⚫ Disaster management should use resources that exist for a day-to-day purpose
⚫ Organizations should function as an extension of their core business
⚫ Individuals are responsible for their own safety
⚫ Disaster management planning should focus on large-scale event
⚫ Disaster management planning should recognize the difference between incidents and
disasters
⚫ Disaster management operational arrangements are additional to and do not replace
incident management operational arrangements
⚫ Disaster management planning must take account of the type of physical environment and
the structure of the population
⚫ Disaster management arrangements must recognize the involvement and potential role of
non- government agencies.

Phases of Disaster Management

1. Mitigation/Prevention
- preventing or minimizing the effects of a disaster
- Laws and regulations
2. Preparedness
- Preparing to handle an emergency
- Plans or preparations to save lives and plans for rescue, evacuation, caring for the
victims, training, resources
3. Response
- Responding to an emergency
- Actions taken to decrease mortality and morbidity and prevent further damage
4. Recovery
- Actions taken to return to normal

DISASTER PLANNING
- Addresses the problems posed by various potential vents, ranging in scale, from mass
casualty incidents.
- Requires the cooperative efforts of the hospital, community agencies and local government.

Three types of advanced planning activities:

1. Strategic Planning
- These are planning activities that focus on preparing the organization for any type
of threat. This is commonly referred to as the all-hazards approach.
2. Contingency Planning
- These are planning activities related to a site-specific threat that may occur at any
time. An example of this is the hospital setting would be planning activities from a
facility that is in close proximity to a nuclear power plant or an airport.
3. Forward Planning
- These are planning activities to a known imminent disaster; for example, a
pending snowstorm, hurricane or major rock concert.