...Abstract Disasters have devastating and severe acute and long-term consequences for individuals and communities. The paper expounds on the social ramifications of disasters, while highlighting a disaster’s effects in vulnerable populations. The collaborative actions of communities, governments, public health, media, and health professionals are also depicted in the paper. Lastly, implications for Advanced Practice Nurses concerning leadership, involvement in public policy and education, and development of advanced disaster planning are illustrated. Keywords: disaster, disaster response and planning, social ramifications, advanced practice nursing. Disaster--the term itself invokes feelings of dread, despair, and devastation. Furthermore, the effects of disasters on human condition are far-reaching and unpredictable. For health care professionals, disaster preparedness and response entails an understanding of the socio-economic issues and the collective responsibilities of multiple agencies when a disaster strikes. Disasters affect individuals, families, societies, and communities, with little time for any warning or preparation.1 The collective obligations of government, communities, hospitals, and medical professionals are underscored during this trying time. Introduction What is a disaster? Calamity, catastrophe, tragedy, are just some of the words uttered when a disaster occurs. Perry and Quarantelli2 explained that disaster has several meanings depending...
Words: 2807 - Pages: 12
...leadership of their elected officials in order to lead them through the devastating time; to act swiftly and quickly with an immediate response and reassuring the community that their lives will promptly return to normalcy. Nonetheless, no matter the size of the city, the local government leaders are responsible to oversee all four phases of the Emergency Management process, which are Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Mitigation. Furthermore, whenever we discuss disaster, the first thought that comes to mind is “Hurricane Katrina” because of the blatant misguided approach and lack of timely and effective response during this disaster recovery. But if I were to guess the major reason for such disastrous approach is because the government was focusing on a short-term relief while disregarding the long-term recovery process. Based on the readings and research, it would appear that historically this has been the situation for many other cases. When we are looking at “Long-Term Recovery”, it involves more than just removing and cleaning up wreckage, which many consider to be short-term recovery solutions. According to FEMA, long-term recovery refers to the "need to re-establish a healthy, functioning community that will sustain itself over time....
Words: 2822 - Pages: 12
...Neighborhood Community Emergency NUR408 July 8, 2013 Community Emergency Preparedness and Response Paper Emergency preparedness is an important procedure that is needed to protecting or limiting the amount of injuries or death caused by either natural or manmade disasters of citizens in any community. The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of community emergency preparedness, and events that can occur if there is a lack of preparedness and planning. This paper will demonstrate and summarize the actions of health care workers, steps taken, and needed to reduce risk factors, the role of public health agencies, and the community’s involvement to assist with their own safety. For example, did city officials prepare the residents of the neighborhood adequately? What is required to handle a wildfire emergency? What other public health agencies could have assisted with this emergency and how would this affect the outcome of the wildfire at the neighborhood forest? Wikipedia defines (“Emergency,” n.d.) as, “A situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or environment.” Emergency preparedness involves interventions to prevent situations from becoming worse. Identifying potential risk factors is the key for communities to devise an effective emergency plan to decrease the potential for increase injuries or death. How a community recovers from a disaster is just as important as the preparations taken to minimize...
Words: 1887 - Pages: 8
...Community Emergency Preparedness and Response Paper Kelly M. White NUR/408 August 10, 2015 Amy Reagan Community Emergency Preparedness and Response The terms “preparedness” and“readiness” can be used interchangeably. Preparedness is defined as the existence of plans, procedures, policies, training, and equipment necessary at the Local, State, and Federal level to maximize the ability to prevent, respond to, and recover from major events (Katz, 2013). Emergency preparedness is essential in assisting with disasters and emergent issues that happen around the world. Media coverage of disasters across the globe occur in real time with an intensity level that makes one believe that natural or manmade disasters happen more frequently. Disasters, in all forms, is a part of life and how we deal with these events depends on how well we are prepared. It is of the utmost importance that all of the population be aware of what to do and who to contact when an event is about to happen or while it is unfolding. A community’s ability to recover and be self-reliant after a disaster also depends on how well the community prepares for and responds to these emergencies. This paper will discuss and examine how the resources and people of the chosen neighborhood responded to the emergency at hand, a forest fire ravaging for more than 5 days (Neighborhood 2.0-News). The Neighborhood There is an uncontained forest fire that has been burning for more than 5 days in a forest west of the Neighborhood...
Words: 2744 - Pages: 11
...Natural Disasters Index Introduction Types of Disasters Effects of Disaster on Economy Effect of Disaster on Health Care Organization * Sudden Influx * Damage to Facilities * Inadequately Prepared * Specialty Treatment Availability Effects on the Population * Immediate Health Impact * Long-Term Impacts Steps in Disaster Management * Mitigation * Preparedness * Response * Recovery Real Incident Study * Background: * Immediate Response Considerations: * Evacuation: * Special Immediate Concerns: * Recovery Process: * Facility Considerations: * Lessons Learned at This Point in Response/Recovery: * Takeaways from this incident: Conclusion References Introduction According to dictionary.com Disasters means “a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood…” Disasters such as Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, tornados, epidemic disease outbreaks and more can damage any population and have a tremendous effect on the health care organizations that respond. Many health care organizations face major challenges during natural disasters. There are many different causes for those challenges.According to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in 2002, international disasters affected 608 million people and killed more than 24,000. The recent natural disaster in the...
Words: 3393 - Pages: 14
...Community Preparedness and Response NUR/408 Community Preparedness and Response This paper discusses The Neighborhood - Pearson Health Science season two, episode five at the University of Phoenix student website. The examination of the actions of health care workers in response to the health concerns of key characters will be highlighted including the community hospital, senior center, school, and the Bley household. The role of the preparedness of the public health agencies, who initially responded to the community emergency, and who should monitor the effects on the community health will be assessed. Identification of how public health care teams can enhance the citizens’ preparedness for emergencies will be explored as well as suggestions to improve personal preparedness in a similar community emergent event. The Neighborhood The Neighborhood has a population of 64,200 including all ages from zero to over 90 years-old. An uncontrolled forest fire has been burning for over five days. As firefighters battle the fire, city officials state the community is not in any danger. However, the thick smoke is covering the town. The healthcare workers are working hard to treat people of the community with chronic lung problems (Pearson Health Science, 2009). Hospital The local hospital is a 362 inpatient bed facility (Pearson Health Science, 2009). The raging fire has the emergency room and local offices seeing an increase of patients suffering breathing problems...
Words: 2133 - Pages: 9
...FACTORS INFLUENCING AWARENESS OF DISASTER MITIGATION AND PREPAREDNESS AMONG NURSES AT THE CASUALTY DEPARTMENT AT KNH MALIK MWENDO H32/2258/2010 A Research Proposal Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements For The Conferment of The Degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing Sciences In College of Health Sciences at The University of Nairobi. March 2014 List of abbreviations KNH - Kenyatta National Hospital JCAHO- Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations ABSTRACT CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Background Information A disaster can be defined as a sudden extraordinary event that brings great damage, loss, destruction and injury to people and their environment (Stanhope and Lancaster, 2008). Bradt and Drummond (2007) also defined a disaster as a phenomenon that leads to massive destruction of infrastructure. A disaster can be classified either as man-made or natural incident that causes destruction that cannot be relieved without assistance. Disasters can also occur either internally, that is within the healthcare facility, or externally, that is outside the healthcare facility (Hassmiller, 2008). Disaster preparedness and management has changed dramatically since September 11, 2011. This incident raised the awareness towards disasters that made disaster management and response an issue that needed to be urgently addressed. After that in America there was the advent of the biological warfare that involved envelopes of anthrax...
Words: 5989 - Pages: 24
...Developing and Implementing the Plan Emergency managers at all levels spend an enormous amount of time planning for the next disaster event. The time invested will help to prepare the whole community better when the emergency operations plan is ever needed. Planners realize how critical plans is when there is a disaster. Plans help the community during the entire process of the event. They will increase response times and will speed up the recovery process. The understanding of a good emergency operations plan is to save people’s lives and protect property. Having a well thought out plan in place will benefit the whole community. Mitigation Strategies The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) suggests that all emergency managers follow the guidelines designed in the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101 when developing a plan (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 201 para 1). The framework of an emergency operation plan consists of goals, actions, and the action plan. The purpose of a plan is to identify the risk...
Words: 1223 - Pages: 5
...This paper contains information on the assessment of Davis County, Utah. To give you a small image in your mind to start with; Utah has the youngest population, the most households consisting of married couples with children, the most stay at home moms, 2nd highest fertility rate and is mostly white. The following is a map of Davis County. Population of Davis County as of 2012 was 315,809. The majority of the population is male with a male to female ratio of 50.2:49.8. Davis County is a predominately white area with 93.2% of the population being white. The average age of the Davis County population is 26.8. The average household income is 69,147. The unemployment rate in 2010 was 5.3%. 6.6% of the population lives in poverty. The current amount of college students is 14,267. 1,758 people received SS in 2006. There were 5,590 births and 1,211 deaths in 2012. The primary language in this county is English. Meaning this is a population of young white people. 92.1% of this population is LDS. The LDS church creates a culture itself. With such a high percentage practicing the same religion, many of the members of this county have a similar, conservative life style. This culture views health as something very important. The LDS church has something called the word of wisdom, which advises against alcohol and drugs. Due to the word of wisdom many people turn to prescription medication. This is how many people deal with anxiety, stress and depression in Davis...
Words: 1154 - Pages: 5
...Emergency Preparedness Planning Guidelines Version 3, October 2006 Table of Content Foreword 4 Part 1 - Introduction to Emergency Preparedness Planning 5 CARE Approach to Emergency Preparedness 5 Measurement of Preparedness 6 Emergency Preparedness and Contingency Planning 6 Emergency Preparedness Planning Steps 8 Writing and Distributing the Plan 8 Monitoring and Updating the Plan 8 Part II – The Written Plan 10 Executive Summary 10 1. Formation of Emergency Response Team 10 2. Information Collection 11 3. Country Office Capacity Inventory 12 3.1. Country Office Organization Chart 13 3.2. Country Office Human Resources 13 3.3. Country Office Physical Resources 13 3.4. Country Office Key Staff Contact Information 13 3.5. RMU, CARE Lead Member, and CARE International Key Contacts 13 3.6. In Country Coordination Mechanisms and Contacts 13 4. Risk Analysis 13 5. Scenario Development 15 5.1. Scenario 1 16 5.1.1. Scenario Description 16 5.1.2. Impact Analysis 16 5.1.3. Identification of Risk Reduction Measures 17 5.1.4. CARE Prevention and Mitigation Measures 19 5.1.5. CARE Response Strategy 19 5.1.5.1. Criteria for Engagement 20 5.1.5.2. Partnership Analysis 20 5.1.5.3. Geographical Focus 21 5.1.5.4. Objectives of CARE Interventions 21 5.1.5.5. Trigger Indicators 21 5.1.5.6. Key Interventions/Actions 22 5.1.5.7. Entry and Exit/Transition Strategy 24 5.1.6. Local Considerations 24 ...
Words: 14772 - Pages: 60
...DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM Clark Subic Marketing is proud to present a one-of-a-kind, exclusive program of disaster preparedness and risk reduction. Choose from 4 diverse courses all tailored to help your governmental or private organization ready for the inevitable. Held in Subic Bay at facilities formerly occupied by the United States Military, these programs are comprehensive in scope, understandable to a broad range of participants and ideally suited for any large public entities, municipalities, college and universities or sizeable privately-held public facilities. City governments, provincial governments, college campuses, convention venues, and large corporations will benefit and find themselves in a state of preparedness for a diverse set of disaster scenarios by participating in these exclusive seminars. With increases of natural disasters, amplified potential terrorism risk, global climate change and the intrinsic-dangerous geographical location of the Philippines, it is imperative that governments and large public entities be prepared for disasters. The Philippines is subject to a diverse set of threats, be it natural or man-made, a thorough and well thought-out preparedness plan is crucial today more than even. [pic] |FOR SEMINAR BOOKING AND INFORMATION | |Click to Send Secure Inquiry for Disaster Preparedness Program ...
Words: 4117 - Pages: 17
...Aleyamma John Epidemiology: Global and Public Health NUR/408 Community Emergency Preparedness and Response 20 February, 2012 Amy Reagan, MSN, RN Community Emergency Preparedness and Response This paper describes in detail the community preparedness and emergency response. Season 2, Episode 5 explains about the events that took place in the Neighborhood during the forest fire. This paper will also illustrate the problems faced in the Neighborhood during a disaster and the role of various community health services. The various community services can impact members within a community and prepare them for any emergent situation. This episode goes on to describe how the forest fire affected the lives of people within the Neighborhood as well as the health care facilities. The fire seemed to deteriorate the health of many by causing an increase in respiratory illnesses like asthma, emphysema, and exacerbate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Hospitals and clinics saw a rise in emphysema and asthma cases. They were experiencing a shortage of staff and beds. This stressed the entire staff at the hospital. Schools also had children developing breathing issues. A young girl named Kelsey Young was brought to the school nurse as she had shortness of breath. Violet, the school nurse found her coughing frequently, increased respiratory rate, and wheezing in her lungs. Kelsey's mother had to come pick her up from the school as she did...
Words: 2294 - Pages: 10
...Holmes E. Miller Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA 18104 Kurt J. Engemann Iona College, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Ronald R. Yager Iona College, New Rochelle, NY 10801 ABSTRACT Recent events such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, power outages, and the threat of pandemics have highlighted our vulnerability to natural disasters. This vulnerability is exacerbated by many organizations’ increasing dependence on computer, telecommunications, and other technologies, and trends toward integrating suppliers and business partners into everyday business operations. In response many organizations are implementing disaster recovery planning processes. In this paper we discuss how to identify threats and scenarios; how to articulate the disaster recovery strategies; and four elements of the generic disaster recovery plan: Mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. We then provide examples of software that can help disaster recovery professionals in the planning and implementation process. Finally we present some trends that will reinforce the criticality of the issue. Keywords: Disaster Recovery Planning; Business Continuity Planning; Risk Assessment INTRODUCTION Several major natural disasters that have occurred in the past few years have placed disaster management on the front pages: The Tsunami of late 2004, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 affected both life and property and emphasized our vulnerability to natural threats. EM-DAT (2006) figures...
Words: 7241 - Pages: 29
...hazards in an effort to avoid or ameliorate its impact. A supply chain, or supply network is a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service in physical or virtual manner from supplier to customer. Customers in this case are people facing the crisis. They formed the focus of the entire supply chain development. Over the past few years, the natural disasters floods, hurricanes etc have highlighted the low levels of disaster preparedness and inability of the hospitals and relief organizations to respond effectively. The quick response of relief organizations in the early stages of disaster can lower its impacts afterwards, avoiding severe loss of human lives and physical assets. This necessitates forming Supply Chain Strategy as a major component of Disaster Management Plan (DMP). Only a quick response and operationally effective supply chain can successfully put a Disaster Management Plan in action. The paper proposes a decision process for establishing an effective Supply Chain which...
Words: 3169 - Pages: 13
...to force readily available and the easiest way for the government to deploy immediately. Hence, this paper evaluated the extent of the involvement of Philippine National Police in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) in Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan, Philippines. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to solicit information from the seventy-six (76) police officers of Boracay. Collected data were sequentially analyzed using appropriate statistical tools such as frequency count, percentage, rank, mean, standard deviation and paired T-test for significant differences. The demographic profile of the respondents indicated that majority of the respondents are young, male officers who have served the department for less than eight (8) years, but had attended limited training on disaster management. Results also indicated that there was a “high involvement” among police officers in Boracay in terms of Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Response. However, data shows that Disaster Recovery and Mitigation are “moderately involved” by the respondents. One of the most encountered issues and challenges by the respondents is proper coordination and leadership among local officials in Boracay. Further, there were no significant differences found in the involvement of police officers in the four components of DRRM Keyword: Boracay Island, Involvement, Mitigation, Preparedness, Recovery, Response 1. Introduction Boracay Island has been considered the economic driver...
Words: 2693 - Pages: 11
