Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams Activity

The responsibilities of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) are highly significant as they identify deceased people and store their bodies in the unit. Furthermore, DMORT is commonly activated during large-scale disasters to ensure the proper identification of all victims. By and whole, DMORT operates after severe incidents with a high number of casualties, which considerably overwhelms forensic, local, or mortuary resources in the specific area. However, the functioning of DMORT is also strongly connected to the duties of funeral directors. To be more particular, such experts are responsible for arranging logistics of funerals after DMORT recognizes the dead bodies. In addition, they consider the wishes of victims and their families to organize the event in terms of location, date, memorial services, and buries. Overall, funeral directors and DMORT together form a team responsible for the arrangements concerning the burial of the deceased after severe incidents or disasters.

Furthermore, working in DMORT seems to be significant as experts need to have appropriate skills to be able to identify the person with an incredibly injured body. Sometimes, in severe accidents, people lose body parts vital for determining the deceased, and, consequently, such damages make the responsibilities of DMORT even more challenging. However, people in mortuary services play a pivotal role in ensuring a calm burial of victims for their families, considering that relatives do not need to stress over the possibility of identification mistakes. Overall, I would be honored to work in DMORT to help victims families after such disasters by adequately analyzing the bodies and ensuring accurate results. Still, it seems crucial to spend a considerable amount of time studying the specifics of such an occupation to become a professional in this field.

Chornobyl Nuclear Plant Disaster as Historical Event

The historical context surrounding the historical event

The major historical context surrounding the Chornobyl Nuclear Plant Disaster is the political one. The Soviet Union, which had been trying to keep its dictatorship regime, was gradually losing its power. However, at the time of the explosion, the Kremlin was still trying to hold to its power as much as possible. The major process going on in the world affairs of the time was the Cold War, the main players of which were the Soviet Union and the USA (Ball, 2019). Sports events rivalries, the Space Race, military dominance, cultural development, and many other aspects were involved in the ongoing non-military competition. This geopolitical tension in numerous spheres between the two countries made the Soviet Union try to disguise its problems, including the ecological ones.

The key historical figure or groups participation in the historical event

The key historical figure in the context of the Chornobyl Disaster was the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. His participation in the chosen historical event is the main and most infamous one. Instead of realizing the volume of the catastrophe and doing everything possible to save the lives of people both in the Soviet Union and abroad, the Kremlins leader was attempting to cover up the true facts about the accident (Rodgers, 2021). Only on the second day after the explosion, about 30 thousand people were evacuated from the town located near the reactor. However, Gorbachevs attempts to hide the truth failed when several days after April 26, reports from Sweden announcing a nuclear leak in the Soviet Union were published (Rodgers, 2021). Therefore, instead of acting as a wise and caring leader for his people, Gorbachev behaved cowardly and irresponsibly. Despite his own initiation of the politics of glasnost, meaning transparency and openness, Gorbachev failed at providing the people of his country and the world with truthful information. He tried to conceal the real scale of the tragedy, which only led to more losses of innocent lives and the deterioration of numerous peoples health due to radiation exposure.

The key historical figure or groups motivation to participate in the historical event

The motivation of Gorbachev to act as he did could be explained by his willingness to retain power and remain an equal competitor of the USA in the Cold War. The two countries had been competing for several decades in terms of who was the best in various areas of development. Gorbachev could not let the Chornobyl explosion nullify the achievements the Soviet Union had gained by then. Unfortunately, such intentions played a very bad trick on innocent people who were far from being involved in politics and were just modestly living and working in Soviet republics.

How the historical context caused or influenced the historical event

The disaster could have been, if not avoided, then at least eliminated if the Soviet Union leader and the ruling party were not concerned with the Cold War implications so much. The rulers of the Soviet Union, to which the Chornobyl Nuclear Plant belonged in 1986, were both unable and afraid to evaluate and admit the full scale of the tragedy. Eventually, as a result of the Chornobyl disaster, the Soviet Unions collapse neared (Coumel & Elie, 2013). Hence, the two events were interconnected: the Soviet Unions reluctance to react to the disaster led to innocent peoples suffering, and later, the people who revolted against their rulers managed to gain independence from the regime.

Connecting the historical event and current event

The understanding of the topic becomes easier once one connects the historical context with current events. In the case of the Chornobyl Nuclear Plant Explosion, the invasion of the Russian Federation to Ukraine has a twofold link with the historical background. For one thing, Russian president, Putin, is trying to prove his power. However, this time, he is doing that not against the USA and not in a non-military way but against a neighboring country that has never opposed Russia in any way. For another thing, Putin is putting peoples lives under threat by endangering Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear plants (Borger & Henley, 2022). Thus, by understanding historical context, it becomes evident that no historical event occurs in a vacuum.

References

Ball, P. (2019). The New Statesman. Web.

Borger, J., & Henley, J. (2022). The Guardian. Web.

Coumel, L., & Elie, M. (2013). The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 40(2), 157-165. Web.

Rodgers, J. (2021). How the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster shaped Russia and Ukraines modern history. Forbes. Web.

Disaster Preparedness for Influenza Prevention

Introduction

  • Influenza pandemic lead to calamitous consequences
  • Employees may contract influenza from residents
  • Friends and relatives of the residents are also at risk
  • Imperative to educate all parties
  • Vaccination of all parties is fundamental

Learning outcomes

  • Help understand the importance of receiving a flu shot
  • Prevent social disruptions and economic consequences of the spread of flu
  • Educators must understand the prevailing status and awareness of flu vaccination
  • The study creates knowledge for all the parties by highlighting the reasons for and importance of vaccination

Background

  • Vaccination is among the most proactive measures
  • Recommended for individuals older than six years
  • Reduces the percentage of individuals developing flu

Nursing Home Employees

  • Employees in a nursing home environment are susceptible to contracting flu
  • Option in the nursing home environment is left to the individual employees
  • Vaccinating employees help save lives, mitigate social disruptions and economic consequences

Nursing Home Employees Contd

  • Administrative staff have limited clinical information regarding influenza
  • They consider themselves immune to flu
  • The nursing home environment is contaminated with the influenza virus
  • Imperative for the staff to be vaccinated
  • Employees are highly exposed

Family and visitors

  • Influenza is a communicable respiratory infection
  • The flu pandemic in the public prevails when a fresh flu virus sub-type emerges
  • No infection-specific vaccine is in existence when the flu emerges
  • Individuals with poor health are more likely to contract flu
  • Better nutrition and health care influence the consequent morbidity and mortality

Family and visitors Contd

  • Individuals do not have to be in direct contact with the infected persons
  • The environment is often contaminated with the flu virus
  • Visitors and family to be vaccinated against flu
  • Restrict the visits by friends and family to curtail the spread
  • Should cooperate with health providers

Employee Preparedness

  • Employees in nursing homes should be well prepared
  • There is usually a short supply of vaccines
  • Have elaborated acquisition and distribution channels
  • Implement additional traditional prevention methods
  • Use protective equipment in addition to vaccinations

Employee Preparedness Contd

  • Have the ability to group residents
  • Curtail social activities and rehabilitation events
  • Facilitate the transfer of patients home or other nursing homes
  • Communicate with family and friends as well as the media

Residents

  • Different residents have different health needs
  • Are exposed to the danger of being infected
  • Paramount for the residents to be immunized against flu
  • Chronic diseases are among the leading reason for taking flu vaccination
  • There is perceived vulnerability to flu

References

Akan, H. (2010). Knowledge and attitudes of university students toward pandemic influenza: A cross-sectional study from Turkey. BMC Publ Health, 10(1), 412-413.

Bone, A. (2010). Population and risk group uptake of H1N1 influenza vaccine in mainland France 2009-2010: Results of a national vaccination campaign. Vaccine, 28(51), 8157-8161.

Cox, N., & Subbarao, K. (2011). Influenza. Lancet, 354(1), 1277-1282.

Hothersall, E. (2012). Factors associated with uptake of pandemic influenza vaccine among general practitioners and practice nurses in Shropshire, UK. Prim Care Respir Journal, 21(3), 302-307.

Iwasa, T., & Wada, K. (2013). Reasons for and against receiving influenza vaccination in a working-age population in Japan: A national crosssection study. BMC Public Health, 13(647), 1-7.

Jefferson, T. (2010). Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 7(1), 176-180.

Practices ACol. (2012). Recommended adult immunization schedule: United States. Ann Intern Med, 156(3), 211-217.

Crawford, N. (2011). Individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics associated with support of in-pharmacy vaccination among ESAPregistered pharmacies: Pharmacists role in reducing racial/ethnic disparities in influenza vaccinations in New York City. J Urban Health, 88(1), 176185.

Liao, Q. (2011). Factors affecting intention to receive and self-reported receipt of 2009 pandemic (H1N1) vaccine in Hong Kong: A longitudinal study. PLoS One, 6(3),177-213.

Public Health Lapses in Dealing With Hurricane Katrina

Available literature demonstrates that the United States public healths infrastructure is greater now than ever before as national attention has been focused on governmental public health capacity and capability (Madamala et al., 2011).

However, some sentinel events, such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, HINI outbreaks, and rapid advances in childhood obesity, have exposed weaknesses in specific occupational categories in the public health infrastructure (Mays et al., 2010). The present paper demonstrates how the health promotion and disease prevention categories within the public health infrastructure contributed to the degeneration of the public health situation immediately after Hurricane Katrina.

Eight years ago, in late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast area of the United States with raw force and vengeance, triggering one of the most horrible natural calamities ever recorded in the history of the country.

Prior to the Hurricane Katrina landfall in the gulf area, various federal and local agencies were engaged in concerted efforts to evacuate susceptible populations from high-impact areas. Despite these attempts, however, many individuals did not or could not evacuate, resulting in a situation where more than 1,300 people died unnecessarily for lack of basic care, support and protection (Logue, 2006). Those who did not die experienced untold suffering due to the flooding caused by the Hurricane.

Extant literature demonstrates that public health professionals should have a significant role both before and in the immediate aftermath of any disaster, either natural or human-made (Logue, 2006 p. 10).

In the United States, public health services are delivered to the population through the collective actions of governmental and private agencies that can be divided into 3 broad categories, namely personal health services, community health services, and administrative services (Madamala et al., 2011). The health promotion and disease prevention categories within the public health infrastructure fall within the realms of community health services (Logue, 2006).

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the right thing to do could have been to immediately avail public health leadership and public health presence to assist in the prevention of disaster-related mortality, consequent excess morbidity and underlying environmental health issues such as water pollution and mosquito infestation (Logue, 2006).

But this was not to be, hence triggering the perception among many people that the health promotion and disease prevention categories within the public health infrastructure failed in their cardinal duty of monitoring the health status of the affected population, with the view to identifying and solving community health challenges occasioned by the impact of Hurricane Katrina (Schneider, 2012).

The two departments also failed in their duties to diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community, to inform, educate, and empower people about health issues, and to mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems (Logue, 2006 p. 10). Lastly, these departments, along with the surveillance and risk communication entities within the public health infrastructure, failed in their role to inform, influence, communicate, and collaborate with many other external agencies that to a large extent contribute to public health services in the United States (Schneider, 2012).

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is well documented in the literature (e.g., Logue, 2006; Schneider, 2012). More than 1,300 people lost their lives and thousands suffered unnecessarily due to worsening health conditions occasioned by excess flooding, mosquito infestations, and numerous water-borne diseases.

This paper has demonstrated how the health promotion and disease prevention categories within the public health infrastructure failed to not only move with speed to arrest the deteriorating public health situation immediately after Hurricane Katrina made a landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, but also to collaborate with other external agencies to ensure minimal suffering of the affected populations.

Consequently, it is plausible for the government and public health leaders to re-examine national, state, and local health departments and agencies concerned with disaster preparedness and response, and to also train public health officials in disaster preparedness.

References

Logue, J.N. (2006). The public health response to disasters in the 21st century: Reflections on Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Environmental Health, 69(2), 9-13.

Madamala, K., Sellers, K., Beitsch, L.M., Pearsol, J., & Jarris, P.E. (2011). Structure and functions of state public health agencies in 2007. American Journal of Public Health, 101(7), 1179-1186.

Mays, G.P., Scrutchfield, F.D., Bhandari, M.W., & Smith, S.A. (2010). Understanding the organization of public health delivery systems: An empirical typology. The Milbank Quarterly, 88(1), 81-111.

Schneider, M.J. (2012). Introduction to public health (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Disaster Preparedness for Healthcare Facilities

Reports from the scene are spotty in terms of numbers killed or injured, and you do not know how many patients you may be getting

Effective disaster management in a health care setting relies on timely and accurate information to assist decision-making. Due to the nature of the emergency event described and the lack of credible information, initial response should be based on the assumption that the majority of injuries are traumatic unless new data is available. In case of an emergency event, the following sources of information can be used to estimate the number and the severity of casualties:

  • An emergency manager could be contacted to get relevant information from first responder organizations.
  • Twitter could be used to gather the latest information about the situation on the emergency scene. Twitter users provide firsthand accounts of the events as they unfold in real time, including photos and videos. In addition to regular users, major news outlets such as CNN use Twitter as a means of delivering the latest reports. Twitter has a feature called Twitter Alerts which is used by a number of emergency agencies, including American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency, to issue alerts in case of an emergency situation.
  • TV news reports typically include some footage from the scene which could be used to assess the severity of the emergency situation.
  • Emergency channel on the radio could be monitored to get information from the scene as it becomes available.
  • Call Detail Records data can be used to estimate the number of people at the scene of the emergency event (Gething & Tatem, 2011).

In order to manage an emergency situation with the minimum disruption to regular hospital functioning, it is necessary to develop emergency management plan (EMP) and provide relevant training to the health care personnel before the event (OSHA Best Practices for Hospital-Based First Receivers of Victims, 2005). Such plan should be initiated in case of an emergency situation in order to establish a chain of command, gather information regarding the nature of the disaster, prepare the hospital for patient surge, and provide the best care possible given the resources and physical conditions (Adapting Standards of Care Under Extreme Conditions, 2008, p. 18).

When faced initially with a disaster situation in a health care setting, what should be the first five steps? Why?

The following five-step plan is proposed to deal with a disaster situation in a health care setting:

  1. Initiation of the EMP. Incident command system should be initiated to establish a chain of command. Hospital staff should be notified about the nature of the disaster to start preparations.
  2. Establish a command center. A command center is a specific location used to monitor and coordinate hospital-wide activities in the case of a disaster. To minimize confusion, communication should be coordinated with emergency communications structures at the local level. (Adapting Standards of Care Under Extreme Conditions, 2008, p. 14).
  3. Gathering information about the nature of the disaster. All the available sources of information should be monitored to create accurate situational awareness.
  4. Preparing the hospital for new patients. Non-essential, routine care activities and time-consuming formal procedures should be eliminated for the time of the emergency situation to maximize human resources. In order to accommodate patients in critical condition, all patients in non-critical condition should be relocated or discharged. Patients should be informed about the reason of their discharge. A press room is to be set up in a hospital with clear directions marking a way to the room and designated parking spaces for media personnel (McLain, n.d., p. 5).
  5. Treating patients injured during the event. In extreme conditions, it is necessary to carefully monitor resource allocation to provide the best care possible for patients in critical condition.

References

Adapting Standards of Care Under Extreme Conditions. (2008). Web.

Gething, P., & Tatem, A. (2011). Can Mobile Phone Data Improve Emergency Response to Natural Disasters? PLoS Medicine, 8(8). Web.

McLain, S. (n.d.). The Oklahoma City Bombing: Lessons Learned by Hospitals. Web.

OSHA Best Practices for HOSPITAL-BASED FIRST RECEIVERS OF VICTIMS. (2005). Web.

Emergency Disaster Preparation in the Hospital

Triage System Identification

The Emergency Severity Index (ESI) is a triage system that allows for sorting patients according to the severity of their states and evaluating the necessary resources. Level 1 implies that a nurse should assess whether a patient needs life-saving interventions or not. If yes, the nurse refers the patient to the corresponding unit and procedure, including hemodynamics, electrical therapy, breathing, et cetera (Hong et al., 2015). If level 1 is marked by no, the nurse proceeds with patient evaluation, focusing on the risks, resources needed, and the overall, urgency of the situation. Considering the threat of terrorist attacks and explosions, the hospital should be prepared for severe burns, suffocation from smoke, and other related issues. Children are at a high risk of dehydration, skin contamination, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress (Council & Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, 2015). Accordingly, to set level 1 triage, the nurse should observe the patients body and pay attention to clinical signs of breathing and consciousness.

Level 2 refers to the case when a patient does not have life-sustaining procedures at the time of sorting. However, if he or she is in a high-risk situation, disoriented, or experiences panic, his state is to be identified as level 2. If the danger zone vitals, such as saturation, pulse, and respiratory rate, are normal, the patient is assigned level 3 triage (Hong et al., 2015). Depending on the resources needed, the patient is given levels 4 and 5, respectively. Thus, the main benefit of this system is a structured and quick assessment based on meaningful clinical vitals, which allows for sorting out the flow of patients in an emergency.

Additional Precautions

Since the flow of patients is expected to be high, it is critical to prepare resources that can be used to rapidly help them. In particular, first aid for wound care and initial treatment resources are to be prepared in advance, which can involve cleansing agents, intubation, dressing, grafting, and medications. Among the relevant resources for non-life-saving processes, there should be diagnostic tests, oxygen administration, medications, and so on (Council & Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, 2015). The hospitals staff should be reminded of burn trauma management and protocols of action. With sufficient resources in the hospital, it would be more effective to address patients health needs and achieve greater coordination between care providers.

Another area of additional precautions is related to the workforce that would be directly involved in the emergency care process. First, one or two triage clinicians should be chosen to be responsible for sorting the patients, and it is preferable to assign this role to experienced staff members. Second, professionals who would provide first aid care are given certain areas of responsibility, including but not limited to wound management, resuscitation, and so on. Third, the hospital needs more nurses to ensure that all the patients receive the necessary procedures on time. Since the case implies mass casualties, it is critical to have qualified and educated staff.

Agencies Involved

The agencies to be involved are law enforcement agencies, both local and state ones, which is important for having minimal losses. The counter-terrorism measures of these agencies may include border patrol and airport security to timely detect terrorists (Petkova et al., 2017). Among other preventative efforts, there can be community engagement and education to recognize the signs of terrorism. For example, intelligence-led policing can be realized through the Neighborhood Watch programs. However, as terrorists are relatively rare, it is significant to educate the population and provide them with information brochures.

In addition, police agencies should be contacted to notify them of the threat, so that they can be ready for organizing people and ensuring social order while transporting affected children to the hospital. The contribution of the military law enforcement agency can be necessary in case of an armed force encounter or the need to protect the community members (Petkova et al., 2017). Another potential development of this situation is a siege of the school. If the local and state agencies would be unable to resolve the case, it is essential to contact federal agencies that have more resources and workforce. It is also important to ensure that all the agencies coordinate with each other and make sure that their actions are not contradictory.

Community Emergency and Disaster Management Team

The Community Emergency and Disaster Management Team should be a liaison with the involved agencies, the hospital, the school, and the parents of students. Considering that the members of this team are volunteering citizens, they would be able to provide qualified assistance and guide other people. For example, their help can be useful until the arrival of medical services and the police. At the same time, they can act as care assistants in transporting and instructing patients and their families (Goralnick et al., 2017). In case of an identified emergency disaster, this team can offer basic care to minimize the damage and reduce further deterioration of patients health outcomes. In addition, the team can be involved in disaster preparedness by educating teachers, medical staff, and citizens in general.

The cooperation with media is an integral part of any emergency as the local press would highlight the event and keep the viewers aware of the recent decisions and results. In the given case, a leader of the Community Emergency and Disaster Management Team can be assigned the role of a person who would speak with the media representatives. It is better, however, to engage the hospital leadership in this important issue as well, which would provide more comprehensive information (Magruder et al., 2016). The paramount goal of journalists is to offer verifiable information to avoid misunderstanding. Nevertheless, this information should be balanced and accurate, without exaggeration to cause fear in citizens. Every citizen has a right to access information, and the role of the response team is to serve as the link that aggregates information and translates it to the local press.

Communication with the parents of the students who can be affected by the explosion or otherwise in the given emergency is probably one of the most complicated tasks. It should be put on nurses who were trained to speak about problematic health issues and who are ready to provide the first psychological aid. In this case, some part of communication can be taken by the emergency management team since their community members can be impacted (Goralnick et al., 2017). For both nurses and the team, it is of great importance to providing reliable information regarding their childrens conditions and risks. In addition, the families of the involved children should be offered psychological assistance and medical services, if necessary.

References

Council, D. P. A., & Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine. (2015). Ensuring the health of children in disasters. Pediatrics, 136(5), 1407-1417.

Goralnick, E., Van Trimpont, F., & Carli, P. (2017). Preparing for the next terrorism attack: Lessons from Paris, Brussels, and Boston. JAMA Surgery, 152(5), 419-420.

Hong, R., Sexton, R., Sweet, B., Carroll, G., Tambussi, C., & Baumann, B. M. (2015). Comparison of START triage categories to emergency department triage levels to determine need for urgent care and to predict hospitalization. American Journal of Disaster Medicine, 10(1), 13-21.

Magruder, K. M., Kassam-Adams, N., Thoresen, S., & Olff, M. (2016). Prevention and public health approaches to trauma and traumatic stress: A rationale and a call to action. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 7(1), 1-9.

Petkova, E. P., Martinez, S., Schlegelmilch, J., & Redlener, I. (2017). Schools and terrorism: Global trends, impacts, and lessons for resilience. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 40(8), 701-711.

Earthquake Prevention From Healthcare Perspective

An earthquake is a natural disaster that, despite the ability to be predicted by scientists, results in unpredicted scopes of severity for the population every time the rupture happens. In terms of primary prevention of such a disaster, it is necessary to establish a public body or organization responsible for the creation of an extensive network of food, water, and first-aid kits to last people through the first days while waiting for backup. This prevention may be secured by the community health nurses, as they directly communicate with public organizations on the matter of support (Abdi et al., 2020). This prevention stage is held during the so-called interseismic phase of the elastic building prior to the earthquake, as this stage may exist a long time before the actual rupture.

Secondary prevention, being the most emergent challenge for medical workers, comprises a variety of interventions. When it comes to nurses competence during this stage, they are obliged to secure management of the injured patients and patients with prior medical conditions that put them at higher risk of suffering the consequences (Rezaei et al., 2020). Secondary prevention takes place almost immediately after the rupture, during the phase of earthquake aftermath.

Finally, the most important intervention during tertiary prevention is the follow-up on the survivors physical and mental rehabilitation. With an already stable pattern of health care providers in the area, local nurses could organize a system of regular check-ups for the patients who require special attention after the disaster (Abdi et al., 2020). This stage also takes place in the aftermath phase of an earthquake. Both interseismic and aftermath phases of the disaster were chosen for the interventions due to the fact that earthquake rupture that takes place between the phases does not allow for explicit medical intervention. Preventive measures and rapid disaster response, in their turn, fall into the nurses responsibilities.

In terms of facilitating various organizations, it is necessary for the community health nurses to cooperate with the local government. For example, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) secures the functioning of the Natural Disaster Response and Recovery Program, which aims at developing strategies and planning relief missions in case of an emergency (USDOI, n.d.). When cooperating with them, community health nurses are capable of developing a health care blueprint for natural disasters. The other significant source of facilitation is the NGOs, who might secure a number of volunteers to assist the relief mission in case of emergency.

References

Abdi, A., Vaisi-Raygani, A., & Najafi, B. (2020). Reflecting on the Challenges encountered by nurses at the great Earthquake in the West of Iran: A qualitative study. Web.

Rezaei, S. A., Abdi, A., Akbari, F., & Moradi, K. (2020). Nurses professional competencies in providing care to the injured in the earthquake: A qualitative study. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 9(1), 188.

US Department of Interior [USDOI]. (n.d.). Natural disaster response and recovery. Web.

Crises and Disaster Management

Disaster and crisis are inevitable aspects in our day to day life. This is because they occur unexpectedly. The best thing is therefore to put on strategic plans that are aimed towards curbing any form of disasters and crisis once they occur so as to avoid occurrence of major losses that could take different forms for instance destruction, injuries or even death.

There have been various disasters that have been witnessed in various parts of the world each of them being associated with different effects.

This piece of work gives an in depth discussion of the cultural considerations that are faced by disaster and crisis related workers with much emphasis being given to the Hurricane Katrina crisis workers and Sri Lankan tsunami community support officers.

There are various response efforts that have been taken by the responsible individuals and agencies in order to curb the Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Sri Lanka each of them having different levels of effectiveness in regard to the solutions they provide in the situations.

In the case of the tsunami in Sri Lanka, some of the responses taken include provision of medical treatment, accommodation as well as food and drinking water to the affected individuals. Psychological distress was also identified as a major problem and hence the appointment of community based mental health workers to deal with the situations.

The fact that the health workers were community based gave them a good opportunity to understand the people due to cultural similarities. Choosing the community support officers based on cultural background was however linked with some limitations as some skills and knowledge was lacking hence making their practices and activities ineffective to a certain degree.

A good example is where nine out of 14 communities affected by the tsunami lacked a psychiatrist, an element that is very crucial in dealing with the mentally affected victims and those with varying psychosocial needs (Mahoney et al, 2006).

The Hurricane Katrina victims also suffered from different problems for instance trauma and stress and therefore certain measures had to be put in place to deal with the situation. Some of the needs to be catered for included medical conditions, shelter as well as food.

In the evacuation process, cultural aspects led to inefficiency and ineffectiveness which exacerbated the losses incurred especially in terms of death of victims. A relevant example is in regard to the time taken in evacuating people of different cultural backgrounds. The black victims waited for approximately five days to be evacuated while the number of days taken to evacuate the whites was estimated to be three days.

Cultural difference is also seen in regard to the number of people employed in different positions to handle the hurricane Katrina crisis. The chances were accorded according to races and hence some of them were incompetent and had no required qualifications such as psychiatric history (Mills, Edmondson &Park, 2007).

From the above discussion, it is evident that disasters and crisis are associated with various forms of losses and they therefore necessitate effective measures to be taken to prevent them or else handle them once they occur.

The Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami are good examples and they provide us with the measures that are undertaken by the responsible people. Culture is an element that has been depicted to have a lot of influence on the response efforts undertaken where it has enhanced some efforts in some instances and dragged some in other instances.

Reference List

Mahoney, J. et al. (2006).Responding to the mental health and psychosocial needs of the people of Sri Lanka in disasters. International Review of Psychiatry, December 2006; 18(6): 593597

Mills, M.A, Edmondson, D. &Park, L.C. (2007). Trauma and Stress Response Among Hurricane Katrina Evacuees. American Journal of Public Health / Supplement 1, 2007, Vol 97, No. S1

Disaster of Hurricane Katrina in 2005

It has been a little over five years since Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of United States of America, in Louisiana. This catastrophic disaster caused unthinkable havoc not only on the land, but also took a toll on the economy as well. The oil industry, fishing industry and the tourism industry were hit the hardest.

All that was left to salvage after Hurricane Katrinas havoc, were the images of the once thriving neighborhoods, abandoned homes, and empty lots.

These were also joined by the empty fishing boats that had once been busy in the sea, with fishermen who were earning a living comfortably, but not anymore. One could also see empty oil rigs from a distance. Dead bodies were all over and the horrific sight culminating from the actions of Mother Nature were unfathomable. Evacuations were in order and the American people did try to do what they could, but it did not seem enough.

The states entire economy was almost wiped out, but nothing could have been done to stop the Hurricane from striking Louisiana. This disaster took a heavy toll on the affected victims and it pushed some of them to committing suicide, while others suffered psychological trauma.

Others turned to substance abuse, in a bid to erase the horrible memories of losing loved ones. Essentially, the loss to accessible health care was a major contributor to deaths, due to untreated chronic diseases (Palser, 2007).Inherently, the young generation of Louisiana was somehow vulnerable to long term psychological effects of loss, mental instability and fear.

This hurricane was categorized as a category four hurricane. The estimated damage cost that was left behind after the massive destruction was valued at over one hundred billion dollars.

The measures that had been put in place to avoid this kind of a disaster were not sufficient enough. This is because they had put up levees that had been designed to hold off category three hurricanes. These were overwhelmed and gave way, which led to immense flooding of the city and the displacement of over one hundred and fifty thousand American citizens.

Amidst all the stories that were told by the victims of Hurricane Katrina, a lot of issues were uncovered. The then president George W. Bush faced a lot of criticism for his governments slow response to the crisis. The President did not set foot in New Orleans and other areas that had been affected for a number of days.

The government was also blamed for poor disaster management. The Federal government was accused of ignoring warnings that were issued months prior to the approach of the disaster. This was evidenced by the reduction of the funding for disaster management by thirty nine percent and rechanneling it these to other uses (Reed & Theiss, 2005).

Additionally, it was evident that the rich were able to flee in good time and those who were regarded as the less fortunate were left to suffer. There was immense looting of shops, as the New Orleans people did not have food and water for a couple of days and there was no other means of survival.

This disaster is said to have painted a dull picture of the African American community that was living in New Orleans. The media was on record showing images of the black community looting and it did not matter whether it was for survival. Some people were also recorded as saying that should there have been a larger population of whites in Louisiana, the situation probably would have been contained.

Even though this kind of disaster has been termed as quite huge and might not have been easy to handle, it was still not understandable why the numerous warnings were ignored as well as why the funding for such was reduced.

This negated the United States image abroad, as it was not clear why such a nation that is perceived to be the richest nation on earth could not be in a position to handle such a disaster.

In contrast, the government had all the money they wanted, when it came to waging war in foreign lands and offering financial support to third world nations, whereas it lacked the money for effective disaster management.

What really shocked the people of New Orleans and the Americans at large, was the fact that aid from Venezuela was rejected just because the American elites did not have a liking for the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. It is said that America was in a plot to have Chavez ousted from his presidency. This in itself was a bad and very selfish political decision to undertake.

A number of other nations complained that they had their aid sent back by the American government and this was not well received. Other issues that were experienced by New Orleans were health problems such as environmental pollution, water borne diseases and sewerage mixes. Most oil rigs on the Gulf of Mexico were destroyed and this definitely hiked the oil prices.

It has been a tough lesson to learn from, when it comes to disaster management. This was a wakeup call to the federal government, as it was able to put adequate measures that would make the management of such a disaster effective and efficient in future. Setting aside a kitty for disaster preparedness was a positive start.

A program to secure the coastlines is well under discussion, but it might take a while before implementation, as massive funding is required. The coast guards have also been engaged in disaster preparedness and tactics training, based on how to evacuate civilians in large multitudes in a bid to save lives (Davis et al., 2006). The government is also in the process of stabilizing the sewer systems to avoid clogging.

Oil companies are trying to come up with ways of securing their business, while making sure that such a disaster is averted in future, for the benefit of their business. The oil rigs in the ocean have been fortified using levees adequate for averting category four hurricanes. The rigs have also been raised, in a bid to counter the high tide waves that come smashing and washing away anything that stands in their way.

This was one of the worst disasters to have ever hit American. In conclusion, it is imperative that the government adheres to warnings in order to avoid the number of deaths that were experienced when Hurricane Katrina struck.

References

Davis, L. E., Rough, J., Cecchine, G., Schaefer, A. G. and Zeman, L. L. (2007). Hurricane Katrina: lessons for army planning and operations. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation

Palser, B. (2007). Hurricane Katrina: aftermath of disaster. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books.

Reed, J. and Theiss, M. (2005). Hurricane Katrina: Through the eyes of storm chasers. Helena, MT: Farcountry Press.

The red sludge ecological disaster

Introduction

The Hungary sludge flood that occurred on Monday 4th October has hit the news and the world as one posing danger to the eco system. A state of emergency was declared in Hungary on Tuesday 5th October 2010 in three of its states following a toxic red sludge flood flowing from a failed waste reservoir at Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in Ajkai, affecting several neighboring towns and causing massive destruction.

Hundreds of people had to be evacuated and temporarily relocated after the torrent flowed into homes, swept cars off road and caused destruction on roads and bridges as the industrial waste flowed into several nearby towns (Gorondi, 2010). The sludge flood left four dead, about six people missing and more than 120 people injured.

The Red Sludge Ecological Disaster

The environmental affairs state secretary informed the MTI news that as of Thursday, approximately one million cubic meters of the red sludge had leaked from the reservoir affecting an area of approximately 40 square kilometers. He further referred to the sludge flood as an ecological catastrophe thereby suspending all the activities of the company and ordering it to repair the broken reservoir (Gorondi, 2010).

He further warned that content of the sludge featured heavy metals some of which may cause cancer and respiratory complications especially with the warm weather that is aiding evaporation hence transforming the red sludge into dust. He also predicted further environmental hazards especially if the sludge found its way into the ground water (Jahn 2010).

The red sludge reached the Danube River on Thursday 7th October 2010. This has posed threat to some of the nations along one of the major European water way and also saw one of the Hungarian tributary dead. The sludge flood also caused death to aquatic and wildlife in the areas flooded by the industrial waste. The rescue team tried to salvage the situation by pouring plaster and acetic acid into the affected areas in order to lower the Ph levels that were initially highly alkaline.

Tons of plaster was also poured into the Marcal River in attempt to prevent the sludge from spreading further. However, the aquatic life in this river was adversely affected and the waste found its way into the Raba River, which then flows to River Danube. The Hungarian rescue agency confirmed that the Ph of the sludge seeping into River Danube has been decreased and it is unlikely to lead to further environmental degradation.

Environmentalists have warned that the flood may cause long term damage to the regions top soil thereby affecting farming activity. Approximately 2000 acres of top soil will eventually have to be replaced to make the land suitable for Agriculture since the sludge has destroyed the nutrients required to keep the soil fertile and capable of supporting agriculture (Jahn 2010).

The red sludge is a waste product resulting from bauxite refining which is the basic product for the production of alumina. It is composed of heavy metals and is toxic if ingested hence posing danger to life.

Residents used snow shovels and wore no more protective materials other than rubber gloves in attempt to salvage their possessions. Dozens of them received severe burns as the red sludge penetrated through their clothing.

Hungarian environmentalist explained that the burns resulted from accumulation of the sludge in the reservoir for a long time causing it to become extremely alkaline with a Ph of 13 (Gorondi, 2010). Those that were injured by the sludge had to be closely monitored since the chemical burns could take longer time to emerge and could eventually cause severe damage to the bodys deeper tissues.

It remains unclear as to what caused the reservoir to collapse. Meteorologists at AccuWeather.com have proposed that recent unusually high precipitation in areas in central Europe may have been one of the factors that contributed to the collapse of the reservoir as spring and winter rainfalls were 200% above normal (Jahn 2010). This may have consequently weakened the walls that contained the sludge causing it to collapse and cause the leakage.

According to the companys management, the sludge does not pose danger to human life and the occurrence would not have been prevented by any precautions on their side. They argue that the plant had recently been inspected and displayed no signs of irregularity. However, the collapsed reservoir was not leaking by Thursday and a protective wall was built around the damaged part and measures have been put in place to alert incase of emergency (Jahn 2010).

Industrial poisoning is one of the major problems facing any worlds ecosystem. Some occur merely as fatal accidents while others happen as a result of carelessness and negligence by the company employees. Industrial accidents are inevitable to occur and sometimes the magnitude of the damage is not evident until it is too late to contain it.

The Hungarian prime minister suggested that the leakage could have emanated from human error but the company responded by issuing a report that indicated that the company management could not have predicted the occurrence of the natural catastrophe hence could not have done anything to prevent it.

A number Hungarians lost their lives to the sludge while others were severely injured and millions worth of property was destroyed. According to environmentalists, a report filed in 2003 cautioned the government on the risks of the accumulated red sludge and estimated that the content of waste weighed up to 30 million tons.

When the red sludge is allowed to accumulate over the years, it forms one of the largest amounts of toxic waste in the country. This occurrence should help the Hungarian government and the management of the company to embrace the views of environmental groups in the future and address the situations brought to their attention by these groups to avoid loss of life and property through industrial accidents

Conclusion

While uncertainties still surround the cause of the sludge flooding in Hungary, it is vital that the company takes responsibility of the situation, assess the damage the spillage caused, establish safer method of storing and discarding the waste products from their manufacturing processes as well as devising mechanisms to prevent the same occurrence from taking place in the future.

The government on the other hand should stop playing the blame game and aim at protecting its citizens from having to endure such demise again. It should strengthen its governing policies on industrial manufacturing industry as well as improving its responsiveness to disaster mechanisms in order to protect life. The Hungarian government should also seek to find the cause of the sludge flooding and take stern measures to avoid such cases in future.

Reference List

Gorondi, P. (2010). The daily caller: Crews struggle to clear toxic Hungary sludge flood. Web.

Jahn, G. (2010). Toxic red sludge reaches the Danube River. Associated press. Web.