Disaster Health Management in a Community - Assignment Example

Disaster Health Management Institution Name Disaster Health Management Module 1 Activity 1.1: 1. Develop for yourself a working definition of disasters from a community perspective. Disaster consists of a serious interruption to the community due to occurrence of events that require ample coordinated response from the government, the community, and other entities to assist the community to pull through. It also refers to serious interruptions to the community causing threats, such as injuries or illnesses to the community members, or extensive damage to property in degrees that are uncharacteristic of the normal everyday capacity of the local authorities to handle. The serious threats or disruptions also require special mobilisation or coordination of resources, rather than those owned by the local authorities. Alternatively, it could be defined as severe disruption of the way a community functions. More specifically, it involves widespread material, human, environmental and economic effects that are beyond the capacity of the affected community to address through the use of own resources. The said disruption refers to injuries, illnesses or loss of human lives. It also means severe or widespread damage or loss of property or to the environment. 2. Three recent events and why they meet this definition of a disaster The Haiti earthquake that transpired on January 2010 can be defined as a disaster based on the fact that it had extensive material, human, environmental and economic effects. For instance, over 200,000 deaths occurred and 2 million houses were destroyed. It also required emergency services beyond what the Haiti government could address. For instance, over 3 million people were in need of an emergency assistance, yet the government could not meet this requirement (List25.com, 2013). The Pakistan Earthquake of 2005 is also a disaster, as it caused extensive disruption to functions of communities in Pakistan. It led to huge injuries and loss of lives and property, with over 75,000 people reportedly killed and another 106,000 injured. Additionally, it required emergency services and finances beyond the capacity of Pakistani government. Over US$5.4 billion was used in emergency response (List25.com, 2013). The 2010-11Queensland flood also falls under the category of a disaster due to the extensive property loss it caused. It is estimated that some 200,000 people and 70 towns were affected. Additionally, the state of Queensland also declared the event a disaster, as it had disrupted normal functions of the community, leading to evacuation of thousands of people from affected areas. Activity 1.2: 1. “Disasters are a social phenomenon” By terming disaster a social phenomenon, disaster is depicted as a complex social construct whose occurrence and impacts extend beyond the functioning of one specific community of the functional areas or the local or national level. This is since its impacts also cut across several public policies. In this way, management and mitigation of the risks also cuts across many functions and levels of the government or the society. Therefore, disaster is perceived as a social disruption that comes about within the social structure and may be managed and solved by manipulating the social structure. In this case, although disasters are regarded as social problems, they can best understood through the lens of social change. This describes what social phenomenon is (Rodriguez et al., 2007). Hence, disaster is intrinsically based on social change. Therefore, disaster is an event that causes substantial negative implications. Therefore, rather than viewing disaster as a function of agents, it is perceived as originating from human-induced susceptibility. Disaster is in this case a socially-defined event that is to be recognized as a drastic change across any given social time. Perry (2014) sees it as an event that integrates destructive agents with a susceptible population, as a result disrupting the social needs necessary for social order or physical survival. 3. How has this understanding changed over the last 20 years and how would it be different in a resource poor society? The earlier understanding of disaster as social phenomena during the late 1980s and early 1990s was that disasters are distinct in underscoring social phenomena and excluding physical agents in causing the disaster (Perry, 2014). Additionally, disaster was seen as a collective stress situation that arises when members of a society do not access expected conditions of life from the social system. In the 1990s, sociologists began to define disaster as social events that arose due to failure of social cultural systems. Thereby, disaster as a social phenomenon was interpreted in terms of social-cultural or cross-national aspects of phenomena. Perry (2014) observed that these understanding went on until early 2000s when sociologists used the approach in relating disasters to knowledge to depict disasters as signifying collapse of cultural protections captured in the policies, folkways, habits and laws, through which the communities or societies are guided. According to Perry (2014), in 2005, social researchers later reviewed the dimension of their typology of disaster as social phenomena by integrating the regional, national, segmental or local community aspects. Therefore, the disaster was presented as being social, as it is endangered in social structure and changes, which trigger disruption. Activity 1.3: 1. Consider the outbreak of Swine Flu in 2009. Do you consider this was a disaster? Explain how this may be considered a disaster and how it may not. The outbreak of Swine Flu in 2009 is a disaster. This is because the outbreak caused serious disruption to community health, through illnesses and loss of lives. For instance, CDC estimates show that between 2009 and 2010, some 60.8 million cases of illnesses, 274,394 cases of hospitalization and 12,469 deaths in the United States alone were reported (CDC, 2014). Managing the disease also required coordinated response and coordination of resources by the government, the general communities along with other health institutions, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), so as to enable the affected communities to pull through. For instance, the CDC, European Union coordinated with the United States government and the European countries to suspend nonessential flights to the United States (CDC, 2012). Further, its effects were also widespread and beyond community or local government control, through the use of resources at their disposal. This made U.S. President Barack Obama to declare it a national emergency on 24 October 2014. To qualify as a disaster, the event should cause serious disruption to communities, managing the situation should also require coordinated response, as well as coordination of resources by the government, community, region or international organizations, since it is beyond a single government or local government to manage it. 2. List and explain the factors that you consider influence an event being considered a disaster. Several factors influence an event being considered as a disaster. First, the events involve significant change to a community or organisation. An overwhelming pressure for rapid decision-making may also exist. Despite this, since the disaster is a rapidly evolving situation, the right information for proper decision-making may not be available. Reaction from the community is another factor as there may be differences in the way the community reacts to the event (Watson et al. 2007). For instance, the community may become outraged over the unnatural events that are given extensive government intervention and media coverage. Divergent community reaction is another critical factor as the communities may react differently to different events. For instance, events that are due to someone else’s fault may cause outrageous reaction. Activity 1.4: 1. Are disasters increasing or is it just better reporting. This perspective is supported by Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), which estimates that the rate of disasters has increased since the 1950s, based on its examination of hundreds of the natural and man-made disasters that go as far back as 1950s (Guha-Sapir et al., 2012). The increase in the number of disasters may be attributed to the continual rise in population density and global climate-change, whose effects have exposed the earth to flooding and earthquakes, both of which have triggered illnesses and infections. Therefore, it should not be perceived that the increased cases should be attributed to the increased reporting by the media or technological growth. At any rate, the media should be lauded for reducing the number of deaths due to improved awareness of communities, preparedness and response management (Guha-Sapir et al., 2012). 2. Identify the factors that may be increasing the rates of disasters and those that may be reducing them? There is an increased rate of disasters due to the rise in natural hazards due to anthropogenic climate change, leading to flooding and significant tectonic hazards of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which cause deaths and extensive loss of property. For instance, in Venezuela, in the year 1999, flash floods killed over 30,000 people in modern-high-rise buildings, under the same circumstances (Hupper & Sparks, 2006). There is also an emerging consensus that increased disasters are due to the increased rise in human activities due to technological development. For instance, increased population growth and increased rate of megacities over the last two decades has exposed humans to increased risks of natural hazards. In another example, the Iranian city of Tehran, which has over 12 million people, is built on an active fault system. As a result, the city has been severally destroyed by the earthquake, leading to extensive loss of human lives and property (Hupper & Sparks, 2006). Increased environmental degradation is another critical factor. For instance, some agricultural practices and urban development activities minimize infiltration, making the floods to worsen. Man’s activity to destroy mangrove swamps in Sri Lanka so as to create more space for settlement, increased vulnerability of the coastal communities to tsunami disasters. Deforestation also cause change in the rainfall patterns, leading to floods. For instance, destruction of forests in the mountain catchment areas of Himalaya increased run-offs and flooding in Bangladesh (Hupper & Sparks, 2006). Improved education, media reporting and extensive research due to technological development have, however, provided man with better information and resources of how to manage the disasters. Activity 1.5: 1. Briefly detail the normal psychological reaction to the loss and grief associated with disasters. The likely emotional response during a disaster includes being heroic, where the community has a sense of selflessness and takes part in saving others’ lives. This is followed by a sense of honeymoon of shared survival and anticipating help from the community, media or politicians. Afterwards, there is a sense of disillusionment, or feelings of frustration and anger, which happen after the first euphoria decreases and support from outside reduces. Lastly, there is the feeling of reconstruction, or recognition that the individuals have the fundamental responsibility for their own safety (CEDM, 2014). Activity 1.6: 1. List the core principles of disaster management and for each write a very brief description. Resilience: this entails the community’s capacity to endure the effects of a disaster and to re-establish effective functions associated with the interactions. Responsiveness: this is the community’s capacity to react and to manage the disaster impacts. Adaptability refers to the nature of the community to be flexible enough to adapt to the new realities after the disaster. Greatest good for the greatest number: This ethical principle seeks to ensure equity and justice in terms of distribution of resources in the community during disasters. Surge capacity: This refers to the capacity to expand the capability of the response during a sudden increased demand in disasters. Activity 1.7: 1. Identify the key legislative provisions that are relevant to disaster management in a jurisdiction with which you are familiar. In Australia, the primary powers and responsibilities to manage disasters lies with the state government. Each state in Australia has enacted laws that put the state governments and response agencies such as ambulances, fire, police and the public health, in a position to respond rapidly to disasters. For instance, in Queensland the two major legislations include the Public Safety Preservation Act 1986 (Qld) and the Disaster Management Act 2003 (Qld). The Public Safety Preservation Act 1986 (Qld) is specifically concerned with declaring emergencies in case of explosion, fire, oil, explosion or incidents that cause extensive loss of lives and property (Eburn, 2013). 2. Where would a disaster management find the legal protection necessary to order an community evaluation in the threat of a flood? The disaster management would find legal protection necessary in ordering the community to be evaluative in the event of a flood if the disaster causes danger, distress, damage to property and loss of lives. The flood does not have to be widespread. For instance, in Queensland under section 6 of the Public Safety Preservation Act 1986 (Qld), the disaster does not have to be extensive, once the disaster declaration is made, it overrides any emergency declaration. In such circumstances, the law protects the disaster management in ordering community evaluation. Activity 1.8 1. External assistance will always be helpful and should be welcomed. Provide a brief commentary on this proposition. External help is essential for countries situated in high risk regions of the world, which may be rapidly growing or impoverished. While some countries in the region may be endowed with resources that can be useful for management of disasters during emergencies, others may lack the resources. During the disaster, there is a high likelihood of having decreased capacity to plan, prepare and cope with the emergency event. Hence, external assistance from the endowed countries would always be welcome. Module 2 Activity 2.1 1. Create a table which identifies the top five risks for your community (where you live), assesses the risk and identified the management strategies designed to mitigate the risk. Table 1: Top five risks for Cairn, Queensland Disaster Risk &Vulnerability Assessment Management strategy Drought due to EL-Nino rains or erratic rainfall -Chronic food shortage, lack of basic services, isolated due to remoteness, electric ant invasion -community organisations set up, farming shifted to safer zones, -education on advanced farming techniques Irrigation Flood -Difficulties in evacuation due to remoteness of the place -High density of built environment in some areas streams that flow into Trinity Inlet (Granger et al. 1999). -Set up emergency rescue services in the community, move settlements to higher areas from the flood-prone areas of the Barron River delta (Granger et al. 1999). - build levees that protect the airport - effective planning processes to avoid catastrophes -building flood prone areas, building damn reservoirs Cyclone risk -Difficulties in evacuation due to remoteness of the place -High density of built environment in some areas of wind risk exposure due to deforestation (Granger et al. 1999). -Set up emergency rescue services in the community -Effective town planning through compliance with building code standards for domestic structures to ensure easy movement during evacuation or emergency response Landslide -natural surface by including the construction of roads and the excavation of building site, flash flooding and debris flows - strong social networks during crisis, education to cause awareness of safety precautions, migrations Earthquake -Nearly86% of buildings build on ‘soft’ sediments of the riverine deltas and coastal plains, or the sands, silts and clays of the lower footslope (Granger et al. 1999). -Concentration of infrastructure, buildings and people (Granger et al. 1999). -Production of disaster management community awareness through the media. -Expansion of emergency rescue and medical services Activity 2.2 1. Identify and briefly describe the principles of management of non-routine risks. Disaster preparedness is a core principle of disaster management. Identification of risks to the community makes it easy to plan and prepare for the most likely risks. Community and organisational participation in management of risk is also a core principle. Increased community and organisational participation distributes the responsibility for managing the risk. If there has to be changes in individuals’ behaviour, then risk assessment and management should move beyond the idea that risk is independent of cultures and community (Kapucu & Garayev, 2011). Activity 2.3 1. Identify a disaster plan and briefly describe its core components. A disaster plan balances reduction of risks and creating of resilience in the community while at the same time ensuring the community responds and recovers effectively. In planning, the ways in which the community approaches the disaster to achieve positive Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery outcomes is documented (Prosser & Peters, 2010). These four also form the core components in planning. Prevention deters, hinders, and mitigates disasters while ensuring the community is ready to tackle the risk events. Preparedness ensures people and their property are protected from disasters by training and exercising arrangements in response to and recovery from the disaster. Response entails planning to respond quickly and decisively to disaster events. Recovery entails planning to return the community and national life to normalcy (Prosser & Peters, 2010). 2. Briefly evaluate it against the principles of disaster planning. It ensures that actions taken in implementing disaster risk management are integrated into the local policies, cultural practices, programming and planning. They are anchored in the empirical knowledge on how the community is expected to behave during the emergencies. They seek to ensure observance of basic rights of the communities or human dignity, as people need to be respected, including their right to life and safety (Etkin & Davis, 2007). They also seek to ensure information sharing, as any organisation or individuals who take part in the risk assessment have to share life-preserving information with the affected community. It also seeks to ensure collaboration between the community, the government and emergence response agencies, rather than competition among them (Etkin & Davis, 2007). Activity 2.4 1. Preparedness involves more than planning. Identify strategies other than planning that are essential to effective community resilience and preparedness. Disaster management strategy is another strategy that entails developing and implementing actual activities based on plans and policies created in managing the disaster. This strategy will comprise advice on economic, social and environmental impact of the disaster (Yodmani, 2001). Infrastructure protection strategy entails describing various strategies needed for protection of the critical infrastructure the community uses. The strategy may include rapid, surveillance and security response. Business continuity strategy consists of approaches needed for ensuring that organisations, especially the health services, are continuing to operate uninterrupted in the event of a disaster. It requires having prior understanding of the organisation’s available resources (Yodmani, 2001). Module 3 Activity 3.1 1. List and briefly describe the components of an incident assessment. In the event of a disaster, there has to be an assessment to evaluate the nature, degree and effects of the disaster. The critical components to be considered include; policy, social, planning and operating environment. In regards to the policy, the disaster assessment should be made to be community based by being conducted in line with the local community’s policies. The planning for the assessment should take into account the acceptable community-based risk assessment methodologies. The operating environment, social structure or cultures should also be taken into consideration to make the assessment to be tailored to the community (Tshitannye et al., 2011). Activity 3.2 1. Critically evaluate the options for overall command of an incident in your community. The incident command system consists of the response management framework of a disaster. It is made up of the authority, the duties and responsibilities for response and the management of recovery. In Cairns, Queensland, the local government has the authority to act or exercise powers in the event of disaster such as fire. The emergency fire rescue, the Red Cross and the police have the roles and responsibility to act and respond in collaboration with the local public hospital. The response management include the local community, politicians, business operations and the media who happen to come up with a strategic action plan. The local government and emergency response organisations such as the Red Cross later carries out evaluation and reporting to evaluate the effectiveness of the response and to report on the outcomes to identify the impact of the event to the community (Granger et al 1999). Activity 3.3 1. Write a brief paragraph summarising the components of the Incident Command System. The incident command system has four critical components. Planning entails carrying out an analysis of the action plans, such as performance monitoring, demobilisation and inquiry methods, relative to the implications of the event to the community, customers, businesses and the environment (Yodmani, 2001). Operations involve steps taken to address the immediate issues with the view of resolving any problem. Logistics takes care of the financial, legal or human resources matters by providing transportation, accommodation or telecommunication. Lastly, communications entails processes aimed at identification of the community stakeholders, such as the community members, the customers, shareholders, regulators and suppliers. 2. Examine the mass gathering incident that occurred at the Hajj in January 2006. Identify improvements that have occurred in preparedness since that event. The annual pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) in Saudi Arabia is a mass gathering of over 2.5 million able-bodied Muslims (Ahmed & Balaban, 2013). On January 2006, a stampede occurred during the last day of Hajj. At least 380 people were killed and 289 injured. The incident happened when a bus carrying passengers arrived at the access ramps of the Jamarat Bridge at Mina Valley, causing pilgrims to trip, thus leading to a lethal crush. After the incident, several developments have occurred. For instance, the Jamaraat Bridge was demolished and replaced with a multi-level bridge with massive columns. Medical preparedness was also improved, resulting to provision of onsite physician-level medical care. Similarly, hospital command centre was set up and the local hospitals involved in emergency planning (Soomaroo & Murray, 2012). 3. What are the principles that should govern the deployment of foreign medical teams to a disaster in an underdeveloped country The local capacity should be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours. The medical team on arrival should run the routine medical facilities. Non-medical necessities such as food, shelter and sanitation should be given greater urgency than disaster medical needs, after the disaster. The medical assistance team should respond to the primary care, instead of establishing foreign field hospitals. The medical assistance team should have internal protocols that prevent the initial broadcast notifications from causing confusion. They should have principal contact address (Department of Health, 2014). Module 4 Activity 4.1 1. Identify and briefly describe the key strategies required for community recovery. The strategies for community recovery comprise reorienting emergency management and recovery strategies to prioritise communication and interaction among community members. The strategies include community formation, which comprises convening the community immediately by defining those affected and ensuring mutual care. Communication ensures promotion of social unity of the members. Normalisation of communication on the disaster and its impacts should be done through anecdotes to encourage communication on experiences (Vavidel & Rav, 2010). Disaster-related social representations should be formed to facilitate communication on experiences. Common reality should also be created to provide facts on the event and limit uncertainties. Forming a frame of reference is also essential. This should be followed with preservation of complexities and differences to create mutual respect. Next, there should be preservation of identities to reserve personal identities. Additionally, reference groups should be facilitated. Lastly, assistance measures should be integrated to support social representations of disasters. 2. Identify the ethical principles that underpin disaster management Respect to human dignity: Observance of the fundamental rights of the beneficiaries as members of the affected community has basic rights, such as the right to safety, to be consulted and to be listened to (Etkin & Davis, 2007). Protection of lives: The risk information that is critical to saving lives has to be shared to the community at risk. Respect to human dignity: The groups that collect post-disaster damage and assessment of capacity should share the information with the government and disaster response agencies. Integrity: There should be collaboration between the disaster response agencies and teams, rather than competition to serve the needs of the poor and the vulnerable (Etkin & Davis, 2007). References Ahmed, Q. & Balaban, V. (2013). Saudi Arabia: Hajj Pilgrimage. Chapter 4 Select Destinations The Middle East & North Africa. Retrieved: CDC. (2012). First Global Estimates of 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Mortality Released by CDC-Led Collaboration. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: CDC (2014). CDC Estimates of 2009 H1N1 Influenza Cases, Hospitalizations and Deaths in the United States. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: CEDM. (2014). Disaster Management: Principles and Practice. Psycho-social considerations. Department of Health (2014). Communication protocols for major incidents in WA Health. (OD0513/14). Government of Western Australia. Retrieved from: http://www.health.wa.gov.au/circularsnew/pdfs/13085.pdf Etkin, D. & Davis, I. (2007). The Search for Principles of Disaster Management. Retrieved: Guha-Sapir D, Vos F, Below R, with Ponserre S. (2012). Annual Statistical Report for 2012 from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). Retrieved from: http://cred.be/download/download.php?file=sites/default/files/ADSR_2012.pdf Granger, K., Jones, T., Leiba, M. & Scott, G. (1999). Community Risk In Cairns: A Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment. Canberra: Australian Geological Survey Organisation Hupper, H. & Sparks, S. (2006). Extreme natural hazards: population growth, globalization and environmental change. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 364(1845), 1875-1888 Kapucu, N. & Garayev, V. (2011). Collaborative Decision-Making in Emergency and Disaster Management. International Journal of Public Administration, 34, 366–375 List25.com. (2013). 25 Worst Natural Disasters Ever Recorded. Retrieved: Perry, R. (2014). What is a disaster. Retrieved: Prosser, B., & Peters, C. (2010). Directions in disaster resilience policy. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 25(3), 8-11. Rodriguez, H., Quarantelli, E. & Dynes, R. (2007). Handbook of Disaster Research. New York: Springer Science & Business Media Soomaroo, L. & Murray, V. (2012). Disasters at Mass Gatherings: Lessons from History. PLoS Curr 2(4), Tshitannye, O., Khotlele, K., Matebane, K., Tshifaro, T. & Mnguni, S. (2011). Disaster Management Plan. Retrieved: Watson, J., Gayer, M. & Connolly, M. (2007). Epidemics after Natural Disasters. Emerging Infectious Diseases 13(1), 1-6 Vavidel, S. & Rav, B. (2010). Disaster Management: A Global Issue. International Journal Of Civil And Structural Engineering 1(1), 80-80 Yodmani, S. (2001). Disaster Risk Management and Vulnerability Reduction: Protecting the Poor. Paper Presented at The Asia and Pacific Forum on Poverty Organized by the Asian Development Bank Read More