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disaster preparedness/management

Terms in this set (33)

def disaster
any event that causes a level of destruction, death, or injury that affects the abilities of the community to respond to the incident using available resources
def mass casuality
involves 100+ individuals
def multiple casuality
involves 2-99 individuals
def casualties
can be those injured or dead. classified as a direct victim, indirect victim, displaced person, or refugee
major categories of disasters
natural
human-generated
natural disasters
1. sudden impact or acute onset
2. slow or chronic impact
human-generated disasters
1. unintentional
2. intentional: mnemonic
-biologic
-nuclear
-incendiary
-chemical
-explosive
-technologic-more recently added
disaster risk and impact=
hazard+vulnerability- capacity
-hazard: i.e. infectious disease, hurricane, chemical spill
-vulnerability: i.e dense population, poverty, pre-existing damage
-capacity: i.e storm-forecasting, emergency response systems
major effects of disasters
include effects on...
1. populations
2. the environment
3. food and waste supplies
4. infrastructure
5. psychological, social and economic stabiltiy
4 phases of disaster management
prepare, prevent, respond, recover

understand risk ->plan for risk-> build for risk -> mitigate risk -> insure for risk -> respond to events-> recover and improve-->
describe disaster management: prevention
nurses may be involved in the following activities
-identify potential hazards
-identify vulnerabilities
-strengthen capacity: identify existing strengths, attributes and resources available within a community, organization or society to manage and reduce disaster risks and strengthen resilience
describe disaster management: preparedness
nurses may be involved in the following activities
-issue timely warnings
-implement protective actions
-undertake emergency management activities
-evacuate population pre-disaster as needed
disaster management: reaction
-establish control of the situation by:
--identifying the disaster management team leader
--determining and clearly articulating roles of each member of the team, including your own role
--setting up a viable and realistic triage system
-implement life-saving actions (i.e. START, decontamination)
-implement public health management and surveillance (i.e. quarantine)

other activities which nurses would not usually be directly involved: restore emergency communications and restore emergency transportation
describe START
Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment
-triage system most commonly used in the US for large-scale disasters
-involves three activities:
1. assess respiration, perfusion, and mental status (RPM)
--respirations: rate < or > 30/min
--perfusion: capillary refill < or > 2 second
--mental status: conscious or unconscious- if conscious, able or not able to respond or follow simple commands
2. correct life-threatening conditions
(1) support impaired airway
(2) control bleeding
3. classify and tag
START tages
black= dead/dying
-mortal wounds
-dead or will die despite medical attention

red= immediate
-altered RPM

yellow=delayed
-majority of victims
-RPM "normal"

green= minor
-"walking wounded"
-may be tagged later
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