Role of Public Health Personnel and Nurses in Disaster Management

The most important aspect in managing a disaster situation is preparedness. The simulation Disaster in Franklin County highlights the role of public health personnel, with emphasis on the public health nurse because the nurse is often a first responder to such a disaster. This helps to examine the roles, actions, coping methods, and techniques used by a nurse in a disaster scenario.

Problems resulting from disasters linger for quite some time after the acute phase in a disaster and victims may have issues arise that they were not aware of initially. Community health nurses are often a primary point of contact for many of these situations and must be prepared for various problems. Sometimes, they are called on to simply reassure the victim that they are not alone in the situation and that help will continue to come. When a nurse allows a victim to discuss their concerns, the nurse can quickly expedite referrals to the appropriate area if it is out of their scope of practice. Occasionally, just having the validation and reassurance from a professional instills hope that things will get better soon. In the situation where the

The public health nurse has many resources available to help assist residents after a natural disaster. The priorities after a disaster such as a flood are for providing services in high-risk areas such as adequate and safe water, basic sanitation facilities, liquid and solid waste disposal, shelter, food protection, and personal hygiene. The public health nurse has access to written literature that can be provided to residents who are safe to remain in their homes, which describe food and water safety as well as hygiene measures. If residents are willing to leave an unsafe living environment, the public health nurse is able to locate shelters for temporary safe housing.

In day to day operations, uncertainties do occur. Henceforth it would be important to have a contingent and well detailed disaster preparedness plan and procedures. Healthcare systems, on a day to day basis, are faced with emergencies in form of disasters. As a result, majority of medical centers have well-structured exit plans in the event of a disaster occurring("Hospital Disaster Preparedness: Your Guide to Getting Started - Emergency Preparedness", 2011). However, this essay will aim at interviewing one of the top disaster preparedness staffat the Houston Methodist Hospital. In the interview, I will seek to identify the top three disasters that the Houston Methodist Hospital is prepared for. Similarly, in the interview, I would seek to identify the top lessons learnt from disaster preparedness at the hospitals.As it concludes it would summarize the findings with regards to the interview stated below. Below is an excerpt from the interview to answer the two aforementioned questions.

Effective disaster management is highly important when it comes to assisting in rescue and relief to affected. This does not only include post disaster rescue efforts but these disaster management activities should be proactive. They start right from taking preventive measures before the disaster actually occurs and goes on till the effected people are resettled back in their lives. This disaster management pertaining to human life is not only associated with physical well being but also focuses on psychological, emotional, and spiritual rehabilitation.

Propose one example of a nursing intervention related to the disaster from each of the following levels: primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention. Provide innovative examples that have not been discussed by a previous student.

According to Jack Herrmann is Asst. Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine “Disaster management is the preparation for, response to, and recovery from disaster. While there are different understandings of Disaster Management, it is generally viewed as a cycle with the following five key phases:

This research paper looks at the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). The National Disaster Medical System is a federally coordinated system that helps build the nations medical response capability during major medical or public health incidents that states and local communities cannot handle by themselves (USDHHS, 2015). The research in this article draws upon the history of the establishment of NDMS, and how other hospital teams were first created. The focus of this paper is to explain the goals, mission statement, objectives, and funding of the NDMS. The final section of this paper will explain how the NDMS fits into Emergency Management at the state and local levels, and explain all the different teams in NDMS medical and health professionals can sign up for.

Hospitals are dependent on external support and supplies, which makes them vulnerable institutions in an event of disaster. Any disruption of external supplies or support services can halt essential hospital operations, which can put the community, patients and staff at increased risk during a disaster. Having an emergency preparedness plan that is current along with performing continuous testing and training of the hospital staff ensures that hospital staff can respond effectively and efficiently to any disaster whether it is terrorism, weather or a pandemic

Whenever a disaster strikes an unsuspecting community, from natural weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes to the manmade catastrophes caused by contamination, local community health nurses become a lifeline for stricken victims, providing medical care, basic sanitation, and nutritional sustenance. While treating the ailments of the sick and dressing the wounds of the injured are the chief priorities for any nursing professional, community health nurses typically administer care within a close-knit population group, and this familiarity often requires the offering of spiritual support as well. The immediate aftermath of any major disaster, whether natural or manmade, is a chaotic time when panic, fear, and uncertainty can easily run rampant, and community health nurses must prepare themselves to handle the nonmedical aspects of assisting patients through their recovery. Setting aside one's personal views on organized religion or faith, alleviating a patient's outward symptoms can only be effective to a certain point when they are grieving for the sudden loss of a loved one, or contemplating an uncertain future after their property and

In this disaster the public health personnel had to deal with multiple problems both during

An emergency is a severe, sudden and sometimes risky circumstances requiring urgent action (Salman Sawalha, 2014). Escalation of an emergency situation can lead to disaster; which is an unusual event that can cause lost of life and property (Salman Sawalha, 2014). International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRRCS) define disaster as “unexpected devastating events that disrupts the operations of a population or public which leads to huge losses and overwhelmed the affected community 's ability to respond to the situation with the resources they have at hand”. There are two main types of disaster that can lead to emergency situations; these include natural and man-made disasters.

As our book states, "Nurses have both a personal and a professional role in relation to disasters. Nurses' personal role is to develop a disaster plan for work, home, and family. Professionally nurses are uniquely positioned to provide valuable information for the development of plans for disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery for the facilities in which they are employed as well as the communities in which they live” (Nies, 2015). The community nurse as the book states has the means and the knowledge to be influential in helping plan disaster protocols with the many different governmental and community groups. The video, PBS Video: Nuclear Meltdown Disaster, really hits home. I live exactly 17.6 miles from the Perry Power

According to the text, disasters are more than common emergencies such as those of traffic accidents, personal injuries, or house fires general in communities (Disaster Recovery; 19). Other events can result in a disaster requiring this Disaster Recovery Plan to be activated:

It's basically defined as an event of nature, which overwhelms local resources and threatens the function of process and security of the community. Generally, disasters are the ultimate test of a community’s emergency response capacity .