Public Health and Occupational Health Concerns for Hospital Staff during a Hurricane - Research Paper Example

HURRICANES Nova Southeastern College of Health Care Sciences Department of Health Science DHS Number Title Assignment Week Number Date HURRICANES Introduction A hurricane is a category of tropical whirlwind or unembellished tropical rainstorm that customs in the southern Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and in the eastern pacific ocean (Roger & Roger, 2007). It is habitually complemented by thunderstorms as well as a movement of blustery weather adjacent the seeming of the earth in an anticlockwise fashion (Heitmuller & Perez, 2005). The ensuing discussion is going to focus on the environmental impacts of a hurricane, the public health concerns that may result from the evacuation of a hospital during a hurricane and the occupational health concerns for hospital staff during a hurricane. The paper will also give a recommendation of the possible mitigation measures that can be taken into account in order to address these concerns. Environmental Impacts of a Hurricane Hurricanes are responsible for a myriad of environmental effects in the area that they occur. They can cause cataclysmic impairment to coastlines and numerous hundred miles inland (Hemming & McCallum, 2006). This means that any property or any life that is within that area can be potentially destroyed. A hurricane can yield winds that surpass 155 miles per hour. These are very strong winds that can equally destroy both life and property in the region that the hurricane occurs. They hurricane can also generate storm improvements along the coast and lead to wide-ranging destruction from hefty rainfall (Hanfling, Lawrence & Powell, 2012). This frequently hints to inundations as well as soaring debris which are accountable for more disparaging consequences. The unwarranted flood or rainfall can prompt mudslides or even landslides. Research shows that mudslides and landslides equally contribute to the destruction of property and the loss of lives (Heitmuller & Perez, 2005). It is also possible to experience situations of vicious flash flooding. The four significant elements most expected to cause severe environmental effects from a chief hurricane are entrenched tornadoes, dominant winds, hefty rains and a storm increase (Heming & McCallum, 2006). The length of the storm bearing is dependent on how enormous the hurricane is. For example in the case of hurricane Katrina, it is assessed that it was ten meters long (Heitmuller & Perez, 2005). The floods and storm leads to widespread destruction to the property and trees, more especially those which are near the coastal region of the place that the hurricane has taken place. The storm surge is instigated by the onshore blast of the water that comes with the hurricane and is largely due to the commanding wind and the areal degree of those powerful winds (Roger & Roger, 2007). This storm surge is predominantly detrimental when it overlaps with great wave. It can also be convoluted by the landscape of the coastline as well as the gradient of the fundamental shelf. An advanced storm rise in the coast of the Gulf usually underwrites to a higher storm surge. The storm upsurge is likely to be low if the slope is a bit steep. The escalation in the sea level triggered by exceedingly low pressure as a consequence of the hurricane has considerably smaller impacts to the environment in question (Heitmuller & Perez, 2005). Public Health Concerns of a Hurricane Public health concerns can arise as a result of the evacuation of a hospital during a hurricane. The first public health concern is the relocation of the greatest delicate patients and premature infants from the hospital (Hanfling, Lawrence & Powell, 2012). Issues surrounding the effective mode of their transportation are likely to arise. This would be for example whether they will be transported by air or road and the efficiency of that transportation system. It will be extremely difficult for the hospitals as well as the doctors to discern whether these infants and fragile patients will arrive safely in another health facility. This is mainly because their evacuation is likely to take place amidst the storm. This can even make the patients die from the shock that is accompanied by the hurricanes or even aggravate their illnesses. It is equally of concern that these patients are likely to be evacuated during the night. The vision at night is impaired and this can cause a major disturbance in the evacuation of the patients. The hospital will therefore be left on a dilemma on whether to transfer the patients who are critically ill as well as the infants during the night amidst the storms or should they wait for the day to break so that they can transfer them before flooding overwhelms the place. Both choices are very challenging to make as it is not easy to decipher the probability of success of any of them. It is also of major concern that the health facilities as well as the health professionals are likely to be interrupted in returning to their regular functions (Roger & Roger, 2007). This can cause a delay in the treatment of the critically ill patient who, if not treated in the required time, can succumb to death. The best mitigation measure for this concern of evacuating the fragile patients as well as the infants is for the policy makers to do an assessment the lessons that they would have attained from the hurricane (Heming & McCallum, 2006). This will put them in a better position to come up with effective measures on how to deal with any hurricane that they would be faced with in the future. They will also be able to calculate the risk levels of the approaches used in evacuating these patients. If the risk levels are high, they can propose different strategies that will reduce those risk levels and ensure a safe evacuation of the patients. The evacuation of medical facilities from the hospitals also presents a major concern during a hurricane. It is possible that during the hurricane the medical facilities are likely to be demolished and the infrastructure is likely to be lost. This potentially means that the number of patients to be evacuated will rise than was initially expected. The health facilities will incur heavy costs to evacuate these patients. Huge costs will also be incurred in the purchase of the medical facilities also. A destruction of the medical facilities also means that the health records of the various patients in the hospitals will be lost. This will be a major setback for the hospital as they will be forced to start a fresh diagnosis of all the patients. The procedure will involve the usage of extra money that may not be at the disposal of the hospital at that particular moment. If the records are lost and a fresh diagnosis is not carried out on the patients, there are chances that the health professionals may administer a wrong medication to the patients as a result of confusion. This will only aid in aggravating the health conditions of these patients who may die in the process. A lot of time will also be wasted during the diagnosis in which case some of the patients may succumb to their untimely deaths. A mitigation measure for this concern is that the health facilities should develop emergence preparedness policies that will take into account the effects a storm can have on its infrastructure and the medical facilities (Hanfling, Lawrence & Powell, 2012). Comprehensive and efficient plans on how the disaster evacuations should be conducted ought to be set up. The health facility would for example make a purchase of extra generators for the purposes of backup in case the ones that they have fail. These generators can be placed on the very top floors of the health facility so that they are not easily destroyed during the hurricane. This will also aid in protecting these backup generators against the floods that usually come with a hurricane. If a need arises to leave the pumps of fuel on the basement of a health facility, then it is important that they be efficiently protected by putting concrete around them. Encasing these fuel pumps with concrete will ensure that they are properly protected from the floods and that their chances of being destroyed are kept at the very minimum. It will also make sure that the fuel pumps do not fail when they are needed the most by the health facility. Occupational Health Concerns for Hospital Staff during a Hurricane During a hurricane, occupational health concern for hospital staff will also arise. Bodily and environmental exposures frequently established in hospitals and health facilities comprise slick floors, electrical perils, noise, pitiable lighting, and insufficient exposure to air. Unfolding the magnitude of musculoskeletal damage in nurses and other health professionals in a hospital, one survey disclosed that nurses missed seven hundred and fifty thousand working days a year as a consequence of the pains that they experience in their backs after a hurricane. This is shown to be two times that one of the average of the nation (Triolo, 1989). A mitigation strategy against this concern is for most of the nurses, if not all, to be given training opportunities on the prospective occupational health and safety menaces that are likely to be occasioned by a hurricane. Once they are aware of these hazards, then they will be in a better position to reduce the risks associated with them. They will also be able to avoid possible accidents and this will eventually lead to a low stress levels for the nurses. The hospital staff can also be exposed to the physical hazards that are directly caused by the hurricane (Hanfling, Lawrence & Powell, 2012). This would be during the evacuations that they will be carrying out for the patients. To ensure that they are protected, the hospital staff should also be encouraged to put on their lab coats and other protective clothing as this is a disaster. Summary From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that a hurricane can have detrimental effects on the environmental, economic and social status of the people. It is therefore important that adequate and proper mitigation measures are put in place so as to counter attack these effects. References Hanfling, D., Lawrence, G.O. & Powell, T. (2012). Emergency preparedness & public health: The lessons of hurricane Sandy. American Medical Association. Heitmuller, T.P. & Perez, B.C. (2005). Environmental impact of hurricane Katrina on Lake Pontchartrain. US Geological Survey. Heming, J. & McCallum, E. (2006). Hurricane Katrina: An environmental perspective. The Royal Society Publishing. Roger, A.P.J. & Roger, A.P.S. (2007). Hurricanes: Their nature and impacts on society. England: National Center for Atmospheric Research. Triolo, P.K. (1989). Occupational health hazards of hospital nurses. US National Library of Medicine. Read More