Complex Humanitarian Disaster and Coping with Traumatic Experiences - Essay Example

?Disaster Relief 538024) Introduction With the population of the world increasing at a steady pace it is but inevitable that man would inhabit places that were otherwise considered to be unsafe. Also, the current degree of climatic change has had many adverse effects in the ecological balance of nature leading to serious natural calamities. (Cochrane HC, 1975,) The impending and critical requirement of clean and abundant energy has called for the use of further nuclear energy without addressing the safety concerns of this energy form or the operational stability of the facility. All these natural and artificial reasons have made humans a potential target for disasters to strike. The high population density means that a large amount of life would be affected due to any calamity. (Cuny FC, 1983) Source: Klugman Jeni, 1999, Physical impairment of war Complex Humanitarian Disaster Disasters affecting humans can be classified as originated due to natural calamities and one that is caused by complex humanitarian emergencies. (Burke Frederick, 2006) The responses to both these situations are different and differ in the duration of the disaster and the interaction with other members of the society. The differences of both these disasters can be elaborated through the following salient points 1. Disaster response- Endogenous and exogenous The three main areas of discussion cover the response mechanism, compensatory response and anticipatory response. Natural disasters are followed by a short term knee jerk response when the aim is to mitigate the immediate concerns of the people involved including food and shelter. (Disaster Relief Operations, 2008) The long term response involves a rehabilitating process which takes place over a course of time. The complex emergency response on the other hand takes place when there is an armed resistance taking over the people. (Disaster Relief Operations, 2008) In such cases the interaction or help from the society is minimal as men resort to food hoarding leading to rise in prices and people taking up armed resistance to consolidate their positions through the use of force. Relief also extends to people engaged in wars having to leave behind or sell their land at very low prices during migration. (Albala Bertrand, 2000) The available resources during complex humanitarian disasters do not reach the hungry and disease is a widespread phenomenon during such emergencies. On the other disasters due to natural calamities like the Tsunami have people pouring in a lot of funds which need to be managed very carefully by the local government. A proper disaster plan should therefore enable the action team to formulate a date for completion. (Disaster Relief Operations, 2008) Complex emergencies on the other hand do not have a specific time limit to be over since it depends mainly on addressing the root cause of the revolt. The longer it takes to discuss and find a political solution to the problem the greater delay it takes to manage the disaster.( Cochrane HC, 1975) Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (CHE) is primarily caused due to inequalities existing in society and one group trying to assert its influence. The degradation of the economic condition in a society also leads to people getting restless leading to conflicts. (Klugman Jeni, 1999) Source: Disaster Relief Operations, 2008 2. Emergency response and Restitutive response- The emergency response to both the natural and complex disasters are different. For a natural disaster, the rehabilitation activities are usually carried out at the site of the calamity. Make shifts tents erected seek to provide temporary shelter and food to the victims. Complex emergencies on the other hand have their relief areas located quite far from the actual region of strife. It is hoped that the exodus of refugees that takes place due to war would find a safe place here and after the war is over; would return to their homes. (Burke Frederick, 2006) Restitutive responses are also different in the sense that a great deal of funding from local and international agencies try to restore the damaged infrastructure as quickly as possible so that people can get on with their lives. (Disaster Relief Operations, 2008) In complex emergencies along with the material restoration the socioeconomic and political capabilities of the warring societies have to be improved so that the level of mistrust is removed and people can begin to co-exist in harmony. (Holsti K J, 1991) Coping with Traumatic experiences PTSR or Post Traumatic Stress Reaction are classified as a range of psychological behaviour that are result of natural, manmade or calamities arising due to war. These include sleep disorders, severe depression and panic attacks. Research data suggest that close to 50% of people who develop traumatic stress disorders return to their normal life after a period of 3 to 6 months. (Harrison J et al, 2006) The previous notion was that people serving in the army who suffered psychological disorders were weak and this problem could be eradicated by recruiting personnel who were stable psychologically. This myth was soon dispelled and it has been agreed that varying degrees of stress disorders in personnel were due to a variety of factors which was a combination of the nature of the person, the circumstances and the actual kind of war activity they is engaged in. (Harrison J et al, 2006) For people who fought in the World War, the stress due to the incessant shelling and bombing along with seeing decapitated bodies of their colleagues were different to the kind of stress developed by some army personnel who served the Gulf war. (McClure Peter, 1999) This is because a large percentage of people who served in certain areas during the war against Saddam neither saw the war nor did take part in combat. It was a period of waiting for 6-8 months in the hot sun waiting for the enemy which never came. During the First World War a concept called PIES was introduced which were described to be the basic tenets of Forward Psychiatry. This stands for Proximity, Immediacy, Expectancy and Simplicity. (PIES) (Harrison J et al, 2006) Proximity refers to the closeness of the treatment to the actual unit. This could help in identify distressed individuals and treatment offered within the unit itself. If the reactions are not too severe these personnel could be re-assigned to duties of lesser strain so that they still feel part of their peer group. Source: Harrison J et al, 2006, PIES Immediacy refers to treating the individuals at an early stage so that the stress factors are contained in an early stage. The usual technique adopted so that they are fit and back on track is to provide an ideal amount of rest, warm clothes and sumptuous food. (Medical Support to Joint Operations, 2007) Expectancy refers to the effective counselling that could be provided to stress individuals to reassure them that they would be able to recover in time and return to their fighting capabilities sooner rather than later. Simplicity refers to the fact that it has been found out stressed individuals are better off talking and sharing their problems with colleagues, family, friends rather than Mental Health Professionals. Some of the roles that could be taken up to mitigate these traumatic stress disorders include 1. Identify personnel with potential stress problems and advise the unit commander. 2. Provide a lending ear in hearing out the problems that are faced by these personnel. People tend to feel a lot more relaxed in speaking to role one nurses and venting out their problems reassures them to an extent. (Wessely Jones, 2003) 3. Some stressed people do not come out in the open due to the stigma attached with these problems. ((Harrison J et al, 2006) ) It is therefore important for nursing staff to spread the message of support and engage the personnel in boosting their morale. Getting a simple message like informing the unit member about the well being of their family also might go a long way in relieving stress problems faced by the individual. Military response to complex disasters The military response to a natural or complex humanitarian disaster is usually the most effective and efficient method in limiting casualties. This is because there is clear chain of command which disseminates information logically and in a single voice. (Eva Jenson, 1997) The personnel carrying out these duties are also disciplined; a nature borne out of their strict training regimen. The military first conducts an initial assessment of the situation and gauges the magnitude of the calamity and the area of population that has been affected by the disaster. Other assessed factors include water requirements, transport, food, power and effective communication at the site of the affected area. These military plans are encapsulated in a set of Joint Planning Guides (JPG) and Joint Contingency Plan (JCP). (Eva Jenson, 1997) JPG contains directives for action to be taken during certain emergencies like evacuation and non combat operations. JCP on the other hand lays down rules to be engaged in while dealing with potential problems that have with minimal warning time and might affect the region in future. Another important aspect of engaging military during complex emergencies is there should be an effective communication to the public at large regarding the actual role of the army to avoid scepticism and mistrust. The local population needs to be taken into confidence and all players that are party to the conflict should be engaged in discussions to resolve the issue. (Anderson M, 1999) Acts of looting that are common during such situations needs to be stamped with authority and also co-ordinating relief activities of various NGO’s and volunteers along with their own rehabilitation activity forms an important part of the military response. (Disaster Relief Operations, 2008) There should also be an effective mechanism to disperse information regarding the reconstruction and developmental activity that is taking place to the public at large to keep them in confidence. It should also be kept in mind that when military operations for disaster management are carried out in foreign countries, the local population with its different sects and communities should feel that the foreign hand is impartial in its duties and not favouring any one particular faction of its choice. (Damian Lilly, 2002) This will also enhance their credibility among the public. Source: Eva Jenson, 1997, Disaster Management A mechanism is also drafted to gauge the effectiveness of the operations that are carried out by establishing procedures called Measurement of Activity (MOA) and Measurement of Effect (MOE). (Disaster Relief Operations, 2008) Comparing the health index and mortality rates both prior to military engagement and after a certain period of time are ways to ensure assess the outcome of the work done. Military intervention may sometimes have a negative effect in controlling humanitarian disasters as happened in Somalia and Bosnia. (Brown MT, 1997) This is because different factions of the society might eye this foreign interference with suspicion. The people who in these conditions most vulnerable to attacks are the health aid workers and foreign NGO’s since a general perception arises that these agencies are hand in glove with the military agencies. Therefore it is very important for the military to generate a perception among the public that they are here for the greater good and would be leaving their territories once conditions have normalised and peace prevails. (Esther Brimmer and Marret Jean-Luc, 2008) The relief operations that are provided by military assumes greater significance since these are carried out using a greater deal of moral authority and the dissemination of information and help to the affected people is more systematic. Effective planning ensures that the relief material that is being provided reaches the needy and does not fall into the hands of unwanted elements. There were severe problems in Somalia where relief items that were being provided to the draught hit areas were being stocked up the warehouses of local landlords who were also heavily armed. (De waal, 1994) Military interventions were able to control this to a large extent but at the extent of loosing lot of lives since these henchmen needed to be engaged militarily. Another setback that posed to the military personnel was they were fighting a relatively unknown enemy in a new territory. The most common strategy that is used by the military when engaging with people affected by complex humanitarian disasters is that they establish a line of communication with the factional leaders who is popular in a particular region. This is primarily done to gain a foothold into the public and earn a certain degree of acceptance. However the disadvantage of such a strategy is that the factional leaders indirectly gets a sort of acceptance which may not be the most ideal thing since this leader might essentially be a fundamentalist leader who is very regressive in his policies to woman and other religions. (Pugh M, 2001) Accepting such a leader and giving him a sort of legitimacy might prove to be two faced sword in the long run. The other issue which might be raised among the local population deals with issues of national sovereignty. Foreign intervention as in the case of America entering Afghanistan primarily for the task of rebuilding the infrastructure and economy is being viewed by a large percentage of the public as an assault on the sovereignty of Afghanistan. ( Kenneth Katzman, 2011)It is true that the war was primarily to hunt down Osama and his Taliban allies but once Taliban was overthrown the focus shifted back to this foreign force which was considered to be a friend not worth trusting. The public generally viewed this prolonged occupation as a means to get control of the vast reserves of untapped minerals and oils that were lying in the Afghan soil. Any military intervention to control internal civil war or external attacks on member countries are always viewed as opportunistic and one that will never be neutral. (Eva Jenson, 1997) The approach of the military in such cases is to dispel fears by trying to resolve the source of the conflict between different factions. (Anderson M, 1999) Such methods bring more goodwill to the military and the degree of humanitarian assistance that is achieved using these measures is far greater. The military option for providing relief to strife torn areas should be assessed very carefully to ascertain whether this intervention apart from the aid being provided by international Red Cross organisations will serve the purpose better or would it further deteriorate the situation. (Eva Jenson, 1997) The military aid could also be provided in varying stages of involvement. Without being directly involved at ground zero the military could also use its vast expertise in training and advising health workers in managing the huge influx of refugees. This would show that the military intends nothing other than to provide a helping hand to the affected public. (Eva Jenson, 1997) The military should try to establish a successful rapport with the general public and understand that it main intention in the strife torn area is primarily to provide relief and engage in minimal military activity. (Civil-Military Co-operation, 2006) Any actions of the military taken with a degree of superior authority vested in them without taking the local population into confidence would have a negative cascading effect on the cooperation between the army and the public. Conclusion This report briefly discusses the various types of disasters that warrant the requirement of humanitarian relief and aid. The responses to disaster caused by natural calamities and those caused by complex humanitarian emergencies are different. It has been found while natural disasters like tsunamis and flood cannot be predicted in advance; correct government policies go a long way in controlling ethnic conflicts and internal civil wars. Military intervention helps in effective distribution of aid material while trained military nurses help military personnel deal with traumatic stress disorders when working in combat zones. Bibliography 1. Albala Bertrand, 2000, Responses to complex humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters : an analytical comparison, Third World Quarterly Vol 21, p. 215-227 2. Burke Frederick, 2006, Globalization and Disasters: Issues of Public Health, state capacity and political action, Journal of International affairs. 241-265 3. Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC), 2006, Joint Doctrine Publications 3-90, Ministry of Defence 4. Disaster Relief Operations, 2008, Joint Doctrine Publications, Ministry of Defence 5. Esther Brimmer and Marret Jean-Luc, 2008, Concept Paper: Civil-Military Relations in Disaster Response, Global Public Policy Institute. 6. 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