There are different types and causes of disasters; man-made, natural and a combination. Man-made disasters are caused by human error or human actions that cause harm to the environment, and people (Baack & Alfred, 2013). Natural disasters are caused by nature a hurricane for example; and a combination; NA-TECH (natural-technological) examples are earthquakes that cause structural damage such as a collapse of a bridge (Nies & McEwen, 2011). Communities must have effective emergency preparedness in place to reduce the causalities from a disaster.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss potential disasters that could affect a community and cause mass causalities. Further discussion will include who is responsible for the management preparedness, what barriers must be considered and finally this paper will discuss the health care facilities role in emergency supplies and care of the patient in a disaster situation.
The Community
Communities throughout the country and the world are susceptible to disasters. The environment and location of a community often predisposes a greater susceptibility to the type of disaster. For example Central Pennsylvania would not be susceptible to an avalanche however communities in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado would have increase vulnerability. Understanding the types of disaster for which the community is susceptible is essential for emergency preparedness (Nies & McEwen, 2011). All communities are susceptible to man-made disasters; terrorism, fires, and mass transit accidents and emergency preparedness are essential. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) is responsible for disaster planning.
Assessment, Predictability and Preventio...
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Both man-made and natural disasters are often devastating, resource draining and disruptive. Having a basic plan ready for these types of disaster events is key to the success of executing and implementing, as well as assessing the aftermath. There are many different ways to create an emergency operations plan (EOP) to encompass a natural and/or man-made disaster, including following the six stage planning process, collection of information, and identification of threats and hazards. The most important aspect of the US emergency management system in preparing for, mitigating, and responding to man-made and natural disasters is the creation, implementation and assessment of a community’s EOP.
The world experiences disasters every day and there has to be someone there to help. That someone could be considered Disaster Medicine EMS or rescue workers who get called out for natural disasters, terrorist attacks, major events, etc.…An excellent example of a terrorist attack would be the Boston Marathon where a major event was held and many people were hurt from a bomb going off . That terrorist attack took more than just rescue workers, paramedics, and other experienced professionals, it took civilians helping each other until professional help arrived. Natural disasters could be consider tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, or any other weather condition that requires outside resources.
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
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Therefore, it is important for the community to have public health workers by our side to help us in the time of need, when we need it the most. There are multiple unpredictable disasters that can happen that comes with a vary of combination of deaths, injuries, illness in the community. More than 50% of the U.S. population is vulnerable to the effects of a disaster. This is why we need public health to guide us in the right direction. Some common disasters are natural and technological disasters (Landesman,
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Emergency management is often described in terms of “phases,” using terms such as mitigate, prepare, respond and recover. The main purpose of this assignment is to examine the origins, underlying concepts, variations, limitations, and implications of the “phases of emergency management.” In this paper we will look at definitions and descriptions of each phase or component of emergency management, the importance of understanding interrelationships and responsibilities for each phase, some newer language and associated concepts (e.g., disaster resistance, sustainability, resilience, business continuity, risk management), and the diversity of research perspectives.