Module 8 Disaster Preparedness
Module 8 Disaster Preparedness
V. LESSON CONTENT
1. WHAT IS DISASTER?
A sudden occurrence of an accident that causes huge loss of life and property . It is also called as a
calamity.
It is a serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material or
environmental losses that exceeds the local capacity to respond, and calls for external assistance.
A situation or event which overwhelms local capacity, necessitating a request to a national or
international level for external assistance; an unforeseen and often sudden event that causes great
damage, destruction and human suffering.
Types Of Disaster
1. Natural Disaster:
This category of disasters include those caused by hydro meteorological, geological, and biological
hazards.
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3. Complex emergencies
Complex emergencies, which result from internal or external conflict, can be slow to take effect and
can extend over a long period. In a complex emergency, there is the total or considerable breakdown of
authority which may require a large-scale response beyond the mandate or capacity of any one single
agency, especially in resource limited countries.
Complex emergencies are categorized by:
• extensive violence and loss of life;
• displacements of populations;
• widespread damage to societies and economies;
• need for large-scale, multi-faceted humanitarian assistance;
• hindrance or prevention of humanitarian assistance by political and military constraints;
• significant security risks for humanitarian relief workers in some areas. In WHO (2002)
Natural Disasters
Volcanoes
A volcanic eruption is the spurting out of gases and hot lava from an opening in the Earth’s crust. Pressure
from deep inside the Earth forces ash, gas and molten rock to the surface.
Earthquake
An earthquake is a violent shaking of the ground. Sometimes it is so strong that the ground splits apart.
When parts of the earth, called plates, move against each other giant shock waves move upwards towards
the surface causing the earthquake.
Avalanche
An Avalanche is a movement of snow, ice and rock down a mountainside. Avalanches happen very
suddenly and can move as fast as a racing car up to 124mph.
Avalanches can be caused by –
snow melting quickly
snow freezing, melting then freezing again
someone skiing
a loud noise or an earth tremor
Flood
A flood is caused by an overflow of water which covers the land that is usually dry. Floods are caused by
heavy rain or by snow melting and the rivers burst their banks and overflow. Costal floods are caused by
high tides, a rise in sea level, storm waves or tsunami (earthquakes under the sea).
Drought
A drought is the lack of rain for a long time. In 1968 a drought began in Africa. Children born during this
year were five years old before rain fell again.
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Every year, millions of people are affected by both human-caused and natural disasters. Disasters may
be explosions, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornados, or fires. In a disaster, you face the danger of
death or physical injury. You may also lose your home, possessions, and community. Such stressors place
you at risk for emotional and physical health problems.
Stress reactions after a disaster look very much like the common reactions seen after any type of
trauma. Disasters can cause a full range of mental and physical reactions. You may also react to problems
that occur after the event, as well as to triggers or reminders of the trauma.
Risk Factors
A number of factors make it more likely that someone will have more severe or longer- lasting stress
reactions after disasters:
Severity of exposure
The amount of exposure to the disaster is highly related to risk of future mental problems. At highest
risk are those that go through the disaster themselves. Next are those in close contact with victims. At
lower risk of lasting impact are those who only had indirect exposure, such as news of the severe damage.
Injury and life threat are the factors that lead most often to mental health problems. Studies have looked at
severe natural disasters, such as the Armenian earthquake, mudslides in Mexico, and Hurricane Andrew in
the US. The findings show that at least half of these survivors suffer from distress or mental health
problems that need clinical care.
Age
Adults who are in the age range of 40-60 are likely to be more distressed after disasters. The thinking
is that if you are in that age range, you have more demands from job and family. Research on how children
react to natural disasters is limited. In general, children show more severe distress after disasters than do
adults. Higher stress in the parents is related to worse recovery in children.
Several factors related to a survivor's background and resources are important for recovery from disaster.
Recovery is worse if you:
INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGE
Damage may occur to houses, business centers, hospitals, and transportation services. The local
health infrastructure may be destroyed, which can disrupt the delivery of routine health services to an
affected population. People who vacate damaged housing and other buildings may be without adequate
shelter. Roads may be impassible or damaged, hindering relief efforts, limiting access to needed
medical supplies and care, affecting the distribution of food throughout the country, and increasing the risk
of injuries as a result of motor vehicle incidents. Environmental hazards can cause a disruption to utility
services (e.g., power, telephone, gas) and to the delivery of basic services.
HUMAN IMPACT
Injury or death are the most immediate effects of disasters on human health. In the wake of a disaster
and the ensuing infrastructure and societal damage, morbidity rates for a variety of illnesses may increase
as populations become displaced and relocated to areas where health services are not available. Or
populations can find themselves in areas not equipped to handle basic needs at the level necessary to
manage a surge of patients. Damage to infrastructure can lead to food and
water shortages and inadequate sanitation, all of which accelerate the spread of infectious diseases. Loss
of loved ones, social support networks, or displacement can result in psycho-social problems. Proper
management of dead bodies also becomes a challenge and every effort should be taken to identify the
bodies and assist with final disposal in accordance with surviving family member wishes and the religious
and cultural norms of the community.
Environmental Hazards
Defining the relationship between a disaster and its specific health effects requires broad scientific
investigation. Nevertheless, using available and reliable evidence and information, we can classify a
disaster’s health effects as either direct or indirect.
Direct health effects – Caused by the disaster’s actual, physical forces. Examples of a direct
health effect include drowning during a tsunami or injury caused by flying debris during a hurricane or
tornado. These health effects typically occur during the event.
Indirect health effects – Caused by unsafe/unhealthy conditions that develop due to the
effects of the disaster or events that occur from anticipating the disaster. Some indirect health effects may
not appear until several weeks following a disaster while other indirect health effects may occur
immediately after, or even prior to, the disaster.
3. PREPARATORY MEASURES
Preparedness
The preparedness phase includes the development of plans designed to save lives and to minimize
damage when a disaster occurs. Disaster prevention and preparedness measures should be developed
and put in place long before a disaster strikes. Preparedness plans should be developed based on the
identification of potential disasters and the related risks associated with those disasters.
When possible, this should include hazard mapping to specify locations at high risk for specific
disasters. The plan should include training of health personnel, community members, and other potential
first-responders, as well as establishing systems for communicating warnings to the community.
Strategies for evacuating at-risk communities before impending disasters should be well thought out
and communicated to community members. Weather patterns, geophysical activities, terrorist activities,
industrial activities, wars, and other activities associated with a potential disaster should be monitored so
that officials can anticipate impact, issue timely warnings and, when possible, evacuate at-risk populations.
This phase should also include an inventory of available resources to respond to a potential disaster. An
inventory will help estimate the additional resources needed and speed up the mobilization of resources
following a disaster.
Finally, partnerships should form in the preparedness phase to establish alliances, outline respective
roles and define everyone’s responsibilities.
Response
The response phase is the actions taken to save lives and prevent further damage in a disaster. This
phase begins immediately after a disaster has struck. During the response phase, plans developed in the
preparedness phase are put into action.
While some disasters last only for a few seconds (e.g., earthquakes, explosions), others might last for
several days, weeks, or even months (e.g., floods, droughts). The primary focus of the response phase is
to provide relief and take action to reduce further morbidity and mortality. Such actions include providing
first aid and medical assistance, implementing search and rescue efforts, restoring transportation and
communication networks, conducting public health surveillance, and evacuating people who are still
vulnerable to the effects of the disaster. Also during this phase necessary supplies, including food and
water, are distributed to survivors.
Recovery
As the immediate needs of the disaster are addressed and the emergency phase ends, the focus of the
disaster efforts shifts to recovery. The recovery phase includes the actions taken to return the community
to normal following a disaster.
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Actions during this phase include repair and maintenance of basic health services, including sanitation
and water systems; repair, replace or rebuild property; and the proper management of dead bodies. Proper
care of dead bodies is necessary to help minimize the psychosocial effects on families. The management
of dead bodies involves a series of activities that begin with the search for corpses, in situ identification of
bodies, transfer to a facility serving as a morgue, delivery of the body to family members, and assistance
from local health authorities for the final disposal of the body in accordance with the wishes of the family
and the religious and cultural norms of the community. Documenting the cause of death, manner of death,
and relationship to the disaster is important to better understand the human health effects of a disaster.
map and post it near their door. You should also plan where your family will regroup if you must evacuate
your house. Pick one location right outside your home, and one outside the neighborhood, in case you
must leave the area. Decide ahead of time where you would go in case of an evacuation, whether its a
friend’s or relative’s house or a Red Cross shelter.
4. Sign up for emergency alerts and know how officials will communicate with you during a
disaster
alerts
You can get these on your cell phone, if you haven’t disabled them already. We know the blaring noise
overtaking the silent mode on your phone can be annoying, but this is probably the best way to learn about
emergencies if you are constantly attached to your phone. The emergency alert system also broadcasts
over the radio and television. Tune in on social media as well, but don’t expect to rely on it exclusively as
you may not keep your Internet connection in an emergency.
“In accordance with Section 185, Fair Use of Copyrighted Work of Republic Act 8293, the copyrighted works included in this material may be reproduced for educational
purposes only and not for commercial distribution.”
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VI. ASSIGNMENT (Note: You need not answer this, you may just look up for this for you to be ready
for the next lesson)
a. What is leadership?
VII. EVALUATION (Your activity will serve as your evaluation for this module)
VIII. REFERENCES
www. cdc.gov./nceh/bsb/disaster/Facilitator Guide pdf
www.ifrc org/Global/Publications/disasters/all.pdf
www.redcross.org/take-a-class/disaster-training
Wikipedia
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purposes only and not for commercial distribution.”
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