"A disaster is any natural or human-made incident that causes disruption, destruction, or devastation requiring external assistance" (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014, p. 248). Disasters can range from a house fire that affects one family to a bioterrorism act that involves thousands of people. Natural disasters have increased in the United States due to urbanization and overcrowding of cities."Projections suggest that by 2050, at least 46% of the world 's population will leave in areas vulnerable to natural floods, earthquakes, and severe storms" (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014, p. 249). Some examples of natural disasters are tornados, hurricanes, and blizzards. Additionally, human-made disasters have increased from the stressors of being overcrowded. …show more content…
Preparedness, response, and recovery are three stages of disaster management. "Nurses have skills that enable them to work in all aspects of disasters, such as assessment, priority sitting, collaboration, health education, disease screening, and mass clinic management" (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014, pp. 250-251). Nurses play very important roles in the different stages of disaster management. The Preparedness Podcast describes the phase of preparedness as making plans and having the needed equipment and supplies to save lives during and after a disaster event (www.thepreparednesspodcast.com). Everyone needs to be prepared for fear that a disaster can strike at anytime. FEMA has devised a four step plan on how to prepare for safety if a disaster occurs. The four steps include the following in order: learn how to obtain information during the disaster or emergency, make a disaster plan, complete the checklist and be sure to place in a location everyone can find easily, and practice the plan at least every 6 months. A number of emergency supplies need to be stored in container that can be carried easily. Various items include: 3 day water supply and food that will not spoil, change of clothes, first aid kit, …show more content…
The recovery phase deals with people returning back to their lives and making it as normal as possible. This is usually the most difficult part since it will not ever be exactly like it was before the disaster. The communities are rebuilt and organizations are restored by the best of everyone 's ability during this phase. Flexibility is vital in helping disaster victims. Nurses can make sure immunizations are up to date and continue to educate about hygiene due to increase risk of diseases. One responsibility of a nurse is community assessments. The nurse can monitor for health hazards while doing home visits. "Nurses play a key role in helping survivors by providing psychological support" (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014, p. 263). Mental health referrals need to be made for those in need. Case findings and referrals are crucial roles for the nurse during the recovery
Schmidt, C. K., Davis, J. M., Sanders, J. L., Chapman, L. A., Cisco, M. C., and Hady, A. R. (2011). Exploring Nursing Students’ Level of Preparedness for Disaster Response. Nursing Education Perspectives, 32(6), 380-383. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/docview/920892622/fulltextPDF/F759D54F8924633PQ/1?accountid=158614
Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2014). The disciplines of emergency management: Preparedness. Introduction to emergency management (Fifth ed., ). Waltham: Elsevier.
The major preparedness measures taken include strategic planning for disaster, making changes in procurement procedures, developing a communication plan, and investigating insurance coverage.
A natural disaster is defined as any event or force of nature that has catastrophic consequences. It destroys everything in its path and has no mercy for anything. It kills anything in its way and does not care about what people think. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey were both devastating storms giving some people the ultimate consequence. It made people value what they had when they had it. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey were not only devastating storms but they were also life changers to every living thing in the areas it effected.
Having a basic understanding of community or national emergency plans can assist families in disaster. This is especially true during the response phase. The National Response Framework (NRF) is a great example of a national community reference. According to FEMA’s publication, “The National Response Framework,” from 2013, the NRF is a guide which describes the basis of national response to any form of disaster. The NRF was developed from a long line of response guidance plans. The first was the Federal Response plan which was replaced by the National Response Plan. Then in 2008, the NRF was developed to make national response guidance more efficient as well as to include practices created after Hurricane Katrina. The NRF is comprised of 4 sections. These are the foundation document, the Emergency Support Functions (ESF) Annexes, the Support Annexes, and the Incident Annexes. These annexes describe how the NRF can be implemented. It is important to note that the NRF and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) are meant to work in conjunction with each other, while NIMS and its component the Incident Command System (ICS) supply the NRF with an incident management function (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2013c, pp. 2-3). The NRF is based on several guiding principles. These are engaged partnership, tiered response, scalable operations, unity of effort/unified command, and readiness to act (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2013c, pp. 5-6).
Natural disasters are scary and cause some serious problems. Those problems may be short-term, such as small flood meaning new crops need to be planted. However, the same disaster can also bring some long-term problems too. A long-term problem cause by a flood could be needing to get out of debt because paying for somewhere to stay until repairs are done costs money, then paying for the repairs such as water damage and damaged furniture also costs money. There are also so many different natural disasters that can cause life-changing problems. Some natural disasters that cause horrifying damage are volcanoes, hurricane, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods and so many more. After reading the articles “Memories of the Flood” and “Hurricane Mitch” I
1). This shows that the cdc is prepared for a zombie outbreak. The cdc has a list of things to put in a survival kit for any disaster that can happen. Some of the objects in the kit include ¨water, food (non-perishable), knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, ar-15, 12 gauge shotgun, soap, clothes, etc¨ (document 2). You can find the rest of this list on the cdc emergency page. The emergency list is important to have to be prepared if a disaster ever happens. Along with an emergency kit the cdc also has suggested things for an emergency plan. A emergency plan is a plan that you let your family, friends know what to do if a disaster happens, similar to a fire escape plan. Parts of the cdc´s suggested plan is to ¨identify emergencies that can happen in your area… pick a meeting place for your family to regroup… identify emergency contacts… plan your evacuation route¨ (document 2). The cdc has suggested parts to an emergency plan to help people who are not prepared for an
Their role is to ensure that those who help in the recovery are trained to respond to any such disaster.
In this piece the following questions will be addressed. Which economic system is best suited for handling a crisis of epic proportions (hurricane, flood, blizzard, forest fire, etc.)? Why? Describe and explain why a socialist system might be the best in responding to the needs of people struck by an emergency situation like the earthquake that occurred in Haiti in January 2010. Use the laws of supply and demand to explain why the cost to heat our homes and businesses goes up in the winter time. Socialism is more rounded to handle these types of situations with well-trained first responders that can control and organize the relief efforts and help to keep everyone calm and make sure help gets to the people that need it the most.
The goals include increasing nurses’ awareness of their roles and responsibilities in preparing for and responding to a disaster. There are web-based courses available for professionals who are not necessarily planning to deploy to a disaster site but working in hospitals, schools or long-term care settings. These individuals could help with the long-range planning of patients involved in a disaster. The course is designed to protect the nurse and the public through the use of universal precautions, protective equipment, evidence collection and isolation precautions. These are areas that the emergency nurse may not consider when volunteering on the front line of a disaster (Stokowski, 2012). Other areas of the course include how to prepare for a disaster, who to notify when an event is unfolding, the assessment, diagnosing and treating of injuries and illnesses, incorporating clinical judgment skills, and supporting the community after the disaster (Orr,
Throughout the recovery period, it is crucial to monitor local media sources for information about where to obtain emergency housing, food, medical, and financial assistance. Direct assistance to individuals and families may come from different organizations such as American Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA and non profit organizations. Such organizations can provide food, shelter, essential hygiene supplies and assist in the aftermath clean-up efforts.
The thought of an apocalyptic disaster can be very scary to think about, and in an emergency situation the truth of the matter is that many of us would not be prepared and sadly would not be able to survive. Just as we have seen in recent years through hurricanes, tsunamis, and other natural disaster more people would have been able to survive if they were only more educated about survival practices. This guide can be helpful for anyone that might come face to face with a disaster first hand. 1) Basic Strategies a) Don’t Panic: One of the most important steps, if not the most important is not to panic. It is fine to feel scared, but it is so important to plan the steps you take next.
Social work interventions in disasters have focused on the variety of ways that such events affect individuals, families, organizations and communities. Areas of concern have included traumatic stress, resources for disadvantaged and vulnerable populations and co-ordination of various intervention systems (Zakour, 1996).
Education of all personnel is key. Simulations like the Franklin County are great sources. Schools, hospitals, public and private companies to consider preforming drills or simulations in preparation for disasters such as. Many counties have such drills which sometime involve local hospitals, emergency personnel, and local high school students acting like victims with certain issues like head injury, burns, and other injuries which can occur. The television and radios do emergency testing which reminds watchers monthly the sound and the protocol that occurs in an emergency.
Sometimes one phase of the emergency management tends to overlap of adjacent phase. The concept of “phases” has been used since the 1930’s to help describe, examine, and understand disasters and to help organize the practice of emergency management. In an article titled Reconsidering the Phases of Disaster, David Neal cites different examples of different researchers using five, six, seven, and up to eight phases long before the four phases became the standard. (Neal 1997) This acknowledges that critical activities frequently cover more than one phase, and the boundaries between phases are seldom precise. Most sources also emphasize that important interrelationships exist among all the ph...