Disaster Nursing

Disaster Nursing: Emergency Preparedness

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Disaster Nursing: Emergency Preparedness

A disaster is any destructive event that disrupts the normal functioning of a community and cause physical damage to the people and its surroundings. All disasters can be classified as either natural or man-made. Natural disasters are caused by natural or environmental factors. Such disasters include earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. Man-made disasters are those that are occur due to human mishap and can be intentional or accidental. Such disasters include explosions, terrorism, fires and motor vehicle accidents. Frequently, natural and man-made disasters can trigger each other. They can lead to the onset of another disaster. An example would be an earthquake that can lead to the explosion of an chemical plant (Beach, 2010).

Disasters occur in a continuous cycle that consists of four phases. How well responders act will determine how long the community stays in that phase. Those phases are mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. During the mitigation phase, preparations are taken to reduce the effects of a disaster before it actually occur. During the preparedness phase, activities are performed that will help handle a disaster when it strikes and identification of resources will be used. During the response phase, actions are taken by hospitals and healthcare agencies immediately before, during and after the disaster that will involve search and rescue. During the recovery phase, the community works together to restore minimum service and work toward total restoration. Nurses can contribute significantly to mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Nurses work systematically by gathering data, planning according to priorities to target all who might benefit,...