Disaster Management

Dr. S. Pravallika,
Assistant professor,
Dept of Community Medicine, NMC.
 Contents
 What is disaster?
 Types of disasters
 Recent examples of disasters
 Consequences/Effects of disaster
 Disaster Management
 Summary & Conclusion
 Disaster
Any occurrence that causes damage, ecological
disruption, loss of human life or deterioration of health and
health services on a scale sufficient to warrant an
extraordinary response from outside the affected community
or area.
 Types of disasters
• Disasters are classified into natural and man-made disasters
 Cyclone • Industrial accidents
 Earthquake • Nuclear accidents
 Tsunami • Environmental pollution
 Hurricane • Transport accidents
 Volcanic eruption • War & political unrest
 Landslide • Biological emergency
 Floods
Cyclone Titli- Srikakulam AP
Kerala floods
Tsunami Indonesia
Earthquake Nepal
landslide Cloud burst
 Man made disasters
• Sudden disaster
a. Bhopal gas tragedy, 1984
b. Chernobyl nuclear power station, 1986
c. Transport accidents
• Insidious disasters
a. Environmental pollution with chemicals & radiation
b. Global warming
• Wars & civil conflicts
 Chernobyl nuclear reactor
Kathmandu (Nepal)
explosion
India
 Effects of disaster
a. Injuries & deaths
b. Emotional stress
c. Epidemics of disease
d. Increase in indigenous diseases

Development is impaired. Hindrance to national/community

development.
 Disaster Management
• There are three fundamental aspects of disaster
management.
A) Disaster Response
B) Disaster Mitigation
C) Disaster Preparedness
Disaster cycle
 Disaster Response
The Management of mass casualties can be
further divided into:
 Search and Rescue
 First aid
 Triage and stabilization of victims
 Hospital treatment and Redistribution of
Patients to other hospitals
 Search & rescue
After a major disaster,
 Most immediate help comes from the
uninjured survivors.
 Organized response services will meet only a
small fraction of the demand.
 First aid & Field care
• Health care resources, Bed availability and surgical
services should be maximized.
• Provision for food and shelter.
• A centre to respond to inquiries from patient’s
relatives and friends.
• Priority should be given to victims identification
• Adequate mortuary space should be provided.
 Triage
• Triage consists of rapidly classifying the injured on the
basis of severity of injuries and likelihood of their
survival with prompt medical intervention.
• The principle of “First come, First treated”, is not
followed in mass emergencies.
• Higher priority is granted to victims whose prognosis can
be dramatically affected by simple intensive care.
• Moribund patients who require a great deal of attention,
with questionable benefit have the lowest priority.
Colour coding

Red - high priority treatment or transfer

Yellow - medium priority
Green - ambulatory patients
Black - dead or moribund patients
• Triage should be carried out at the site of disaster, to
determine transportation priorities.
• Health workers should be taught the principles of triage.
• Persons with minor or moderate injuries should be treated at
their own homes to avoid social dislocation.
Tagging

• All the patients should be identified with tags stating their

name, age, place of origin, triage category, diagnosis and
initial treatment.
Identification of Dead

a. Removal of the dead from the disaster scene.

b. Shifting to the mortuary.
c. Identification.
d. Reception of bereaved relatives.

Proper respect for the dead is of great

importance.
 Relief phase
• The type and quantity of humanitarian relief
supplies are usually determined by two main
factors.
1) The type of disaster.
2) The type and quantity of supplies available
locally.
Immediately following the disaster the most critical
health supplies are those needed for treating casualties,
and preventing the spread of communicable diseases.

Following the initial emergency phase, needed supplies

will include food, shelter, blankets, clothing, sanitary
engineering equipment and construction material.
 There are four principle components in managing
humanitarian supplies:
a. Acquisition of supplies.
b. Transportation.
c. Storage.
d. Distribution.
Disease Control

The principals of preventing and controlling communicable

diseases after a disaster are:
a) Implement as soon as possible all public health measures,
to reduce the risk of disease transmission.
b) Organize a reliable disease reporting system to identify
outbreaks and to promptly initiate control measures.
c) Investigate all reports of disease outbreaks rapidly.
Vaccination

Vaccination programmes usually against

typhoid, cholera and tetanus is under taken.
Nutrition

• The immediate step for ensuring that the food relief

programme will be effective include :
a. Assessing the food supplies after the disaster.
b. Gauging the nutritional needs of the affected population.
c. Calculating daily food rations and need for large population
groups.
d. Monitoring the nutritional status of the affected
population.
Rehabilitation
• The final phase in a disaster should lead to restoration of the
pre-disaster conditions.

• In first weeks after disaster, the pattern of health needs will

change rapidly, moving from causality treatment to more
routine primary health care.
WATER SUPPLY
The main public safety aspect of water quality is
microbial contamination.
Chlorination is best way of disinfecting water.
FOOD SAFETY
Personal hygiene should be monitored in individuals
involved in food preparation and kitchen sanitation
is of utmost importance.
BASIC SANITATION AND PERSONAL HYGIENE
Emergency latrines should be made available to the
displaced.
Washing, cleaning and bathing facilities should be
provided to the displaced people.
VECTOR CONTROL
Control programmes for vector-borne diseases
should be intensified in the emergency and
rehabilitation period in endemic areas.
Of special concern are:
 Dengue fever and malaria (mosquitoes)
 Leptospirosis and rat-bite fever (rats)
 Typhus (lice and fleas)
 Plague (fleas)
 Disaster Mitigation
Emergency prevention and mitigation involves measures
designed either to prevent hazards from causing emergency
or to lessen the likely effects of emergencies.
Measures like flood mitigation works, appropriate land use
planning, improving building codes and reduction/protection
of vulnerable population and structures.
Mitigation complements the disaster preparedness and
disaster response activities.
 Disaster Preparedness
• Preparedness is “a programme of long term development
activities whose goals are to strengthen the overall capacity
and capability of a country to manage efficiently all types of
emergencies.
• The objective is to ensure that appropriate systems,
procedures and resources are in place to provide prompt
effective assistance to disaster victims thus facilitating relief
measures and rehabilitation of services.
• Community members, resources, organizations and
administration should be the cornerstone of an emergency
preparedness programme.
• The reasons of community preparedness are:
a) Members of the community have the most to lose from being
vulnerable to disasters and the most to gain from an effective
and appropriate emergency preparedness programme.
b) Those who first respond to an emergency come from within
the community.
c) Resources are most easily pooled at the community.
d) Sustained development is best achieved by allowing
emergency-affected communities to design, manage and
implement internal and external assistance programme.
The tasks to be carried out for disaster preparedness are:
1) Evaluate the risk of the country or particular region to
disaster.
2) Adopt standards and regulations.
3) Organize communication, information and
warning systems.
4) Ensure coordination and response mechanisms.
5) Adopt measures to ensure that financial and other
resources are available for increased readiness and can
be mobilized in disaster situation.
6) Develop public education programmes.
7) Coordinate information sessions with news media.
8) Organize disaster simulation exercises that test response
mechanisms.
preparedness
Thank
you