Lecture 1 and 2 BCM 324.pptx ,2024 by barnabas

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1. BPH 316. DISASTER MANAGEMENT LECTURE 1 – Introduction and concepts

2. Definitions Cuny - “ a situation resulting from an environmental phenomenon or armed conflict that produces stress, personal injury, physical damage, and economic disruption of great magnitude. ”

3. Perez and Thompson in their series on Natural Disasters, define a disaster as: “ the occurrence of widespread, severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property, with which the community cannot cope , and during which the affected society undergoes severe disruption. ” Cause not mentioned in the definition

4. Both of these definitions note that a disaster disrupts the society stricken by the event. Cuny stresses that the event resulting in a disaster does not comprise the disaster: it is what results from the event that comprise the disaster, not the precipitating event itself. The occurrence of an event may produce a disaster. A disaster happens when the damage rendered by an event becomes so great that the local mechanisms for response become overwhelmed and outside assistance is required to cope with the damage.

5. The definition of a disaster adopted by the World Health Organization and the United Nations as established by Gunn: “ the result of a vast ecological breakdown in the relationships between man and his environment, a serious and sudden (or slow, as in drought) disruption on such a scale that the stricken community needs extraordinary efforts to cope with it , often with outside help or international aid. ” This definition also indicates that it is the damage that results from the impact on society that constitutes the disaster, not the event that is the disaster.

6. An event that results in a large number of casualties (mass casualties) may or may not constitute a disaster. If local resources are unable to cope with the numbers and/or types of casualties and outside medical help is requested, then the event has created a disaster.

7. Examples of events that may generate mass casualties include transportation accidents, tornadoes, terrorist bombers, avalanches in inhabited areas, etc. The impact of such events depends upon the ability of the affected society to cope with the circumstances: whether the society remains intact and mechanisms can be developed within the infrastructure to cope with the circumstances.

8. Many consider events that produce multiple or mass casualties as a disaster, since the immediately available local resources transiently may be overwhelmed; but if such events rapidly are brought under control, and the effects on the medical community are short- lived, without a need for outside assistance, there is no disaster.

9. Medical Disaster/Health Disaster The most common medical definition of a disaster is an event that results in casualties that overwhelm the healthcare system in which the event occurs. A health disaster often is considered a medical disaster. A health disaster encompasses impaired public health and medical care to individual victims. A medical disaster relates to the healthcare or break in healthcare to individuals as a result of an event.

10. OTHER CONCEPTS HAZARD - A hazard is anything that may pose a danger; thus, it is used in this discussion to mean a natural or man-made phenomenon or a mixture of both that has the potential to adversely affect human health, property, activity, and/or the environment. All disasters are related to a specific hazard or combinations of hazards whether of a natural phenomenon or a result of human actions.

11. RISK (R) While a hazard is something that can cause harm, a risk is measur e of how great the chance (high or low) that a hazard will actually lead to harm/disaster. For example, the probability of an earthquake occurring in the northern Europe is quite low compared to such a hazard be- coming realized in California (California might have weaker geologic structure and more vault lines, residence are more vulnerable) Not taking your coursework seriously can be a hazard and the risk of failing the test will be high for students who only read the notes (are more vulnerable?) hazard + vulnerability (inability to withstand negative effects) = risk Risk applies only to one specific hazard.

12. Brain storm on examples of hazards and risks? An electric cable is a hazard. If it has exposed wires, then it becomes high risk cable Bore holes are hazardous. If they are exposed, then they pose high risk to the users Floor tiles are hazards, slippery ones are of high risk Improperly kept grain can be a hazard with high risk if they get aflotoxins Earthquakes in a desert and in a city. Where is the risk higher? Any more?? Untreated water, if it gets contaminated?

13. A hazard is something that exists with the capacity to cause problems in the future. An earthquake fault under a city, a steeply inclined hillside with erosion patterns above a housing development, or a high voltage power line above a swimming pool are all hazards. They all have the potential to cause problems, but the problem has not manifested itself as an event.

14. EVENT An event occurs when the hazard is realized or becomes manifest. It means an occurrence that has the potential to negatively affect living beings and/or their environment. An event is not a disaster

15. A disaster is an effect of an event that overwhelms the infrastructure that is in place when the event occurs. For example, an earthquake of significant magnitude occurs and all of the local response agencies are fully committed to the event, but they do not have sufficient resources (personnel or materials) to provide for all of the people who need help.

16. Many consider events that produce multiple or mass casualties as a disaster, since the immediately available local resources transiently may be overwhelmed; but if such events rapidly are brought under control, and the effects on the medical community are short- lived, without a need for outside assistance, there is no disaster.

17. Classification of disasters Disasters can be classified based on the following: Type of onset Size Primary or secondary Timing Cause

18. Type of onset Sudden-onset events include those with onsets lasting seconds to hours (e.g. earth tremors, earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, fire, etc.) Gradual-onset events have an onset over days to weeks (e.g. floods, climate changes, epidemics, armed conflict), and may or may not present with warning of several days to weeks. Slow-onset events have a prolonged and gradual onset (famine, drought, epidemics, nuclear contamination, etc.).

19. Delayed onset events occur some time after the discovery of the likelihood that the hazard will become realized. Such events usually allow for warnings to the population that potentially will be impacted by the event (cyclones, tsunamis, burst of weakened dams, famine)

20. Size The size can be described based on these variables: 1) scope 2) intensity 3) duration (the length of the disaster itself or length of time people are affected The size is described using these variables to show how big, bad and long the disaster is

21. The scope can be thought of as a measure of the breadth of damage caused by a disaster. It describes how extensively the larger community is impacted, including the rescue and support infrastructure, which in turn predicts how much help is available and how quickly recovery can proceed The intensity refers to level of damage in terms of injuries and deaths—the event’s human cost. Scope and intensity are often linked but not always. A disaster may be big but not so bad

22. The duration of disasters may be brief, short, intermediate, or prolonged. Events of brief duration last only seconds to minutes, and therefore, necessarily must correlate with a sudden mode of onset (earthquake, tsunamis, avalanches, landslides, volcanic eruption [may go on to be prolonged], etc.). Events of short duration continue in some form, for hours to days. Examples include tropical cyclones and floods.

23. Events of intermediate duration may include epidemics, toxic or nuclear contamination, fires, etc. Intermediate duration events last days to weeks. Events that last for prolonged periods (months to years) include drought, famine, epidemics, complex emergencies, nuclear contamination, etc.

24. Primary/secondary Events may be precipitating (primary) or secondary. Precipitating events are those responsible for initiating the damage Secondary events occur as a result of the impact of the precipitating event. Human actions may result in an increase in the magnitude of the damage and/or may be the nidus for the development of secondary events. For example – gardening on a sloppy hill Not adhering to protective guidelines – primary event – the first wave, then second wave

25. Timing Timing – day time or night? Rainy day or dry season and what is the possible effect Any events that are more likely to occur at night, during the dry seasons?

26. Cause Natural disasters: These occur as the result of action of the natural forces and tend to be accepted as unfortunate, but inevitable Earthquake Floods Cyclones Volcanic eruptions Drought read more in the course materials shared

27. Natural disasters classification Geologic eg earthquakes, volcanoes Hydrological eg floods, avalanches, landslides Meteorological eg storms Climatological eg droughts, wild fires, extreme temperatures Biological eg epidemic, insect infestation Read ‘reading 3’

28. Man made disasters - The technological or manmade disasters result from some human activities Explosions Fires release of toxic chemicals or radioactive materials bridge or building collapse Crashes dam or levee failure nuclear reactor accidents breaks in water, gas

29. Potential Causes and consequences of disasters In the manual 2 – chapter 3

30. Procedure for containing a disaster Lecture 2 Disaster management

31. DISASTER MANAGEMENT Disaster Management is the aggregate of all measures taken to reduce the likelihood of damage that will occur related to a hazard(s), and to minimize the damage once an event is occurring or has occurred and to direct recovery from the damage . The effectiveness of disaster management determines the final result of the impact of the event on the environment and society impacted.

32. Because disasters are a part of life, humans have come up with ways to prepare, respond and manage.

33. The Disaster management cycle illustrates the  ongoing process by which governments, businesses, and civil society plan  for and reduce the impact of disasters, react during and immediately following a disaster, and take steps to recover after a disaster has occurred

34. Disaster management cycle continuum Planning and preparedness Response Recovery Evaluation Mitigation

35. Goals of disaster management (1) Reduce, or avoid, losses from hazards; (2) Assure prompt assistance to victims; (3) Achieve rapid and effective recovery.

36. Planning and preparedness Disaster preparedness is defined as a state of readiness to respond to a disaster Involves the actions aimed at planning how to respond incase an event occurs All measures and policies taken before an event occurs that allow for prevention, mitigation, and readiness constitutes disaster preparedness. Involves three steps Prepare a plan Train to the plan Implement the plan Planning how to respond

37. Examples of actions in this phase Design warning systems Food storage Disaster grills Others ??

38. Response Response is the immediate reaction to disaster. It may occur as the disaster is anticipated, as well as soon after it begins Mass evacuation Transportation of victims to hospital Provision of food and water Search rescue Fire fighting Efforts to minimize the hazards and damage created by a disaster

39. Recovery It is “the coordinated process of supporting emergency-affected communities in reconstruction of the physical infrastructure and restoration of emotional, social, and physical wellbeing” Returning the community to normal

40. Elements in recovery include: Community recovery (including psychological recovery); Infrastructure recovery (services and lifelines); Economy recovery (including financial and political considerations, and business continuity); Environment recovery.

41. Mitigation Mitigation is defined as a sustained action to reduce or eliminate risk to people and property from hazards (disasters) and their effects. Activities designed to prevent or reduce losses from disaster. Building dams Building codes Land use planning Decrease the vulnerability (increase the resiliency) of the society to future events Modify the hazard responsible for the event Improve disaster preparedness to respond to future events Health insurance Minimizing the effects of disaster

42. Evaluation Examine the entire plan to decide what work and what did not. Identify best practices and areas for improvement Identify new ideas to explore These are incorporated into the next disaster management cycle so that it is an iterative process of improvement

43. Your task – read up Resources are in manual 1 and 2 Course manual 1: unit 1 through unit 4 Course manual 2: chapter 1, 3 and 4 Reading 1: read the section on fires Reading 2: read the whole document Reading 3: natural and man made disasters Next class (3 rd ) will be on disaster response – ICS On 17 th you will have a sit in test

44. Assignment 1 In no more than two pages, discuss the disaster management cycle Submit your typed up documents to my email by Friday 3 rd December 2021