Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Natural Disaster”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

A nurse's experience on a disaster-preparedness team.

Taking steps to coordinate international, regional and national efforts to minimize damages caused by natural disasters, the United Nations has declared the 1990s the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. To make nurses aware of how they can join these efforts, INR has dedicated this special issue on the subject, an issue that would not be complete without a description of the invaluable work contributed by Marie Farrell and other members of the EURO disaster-preparedness team who are often the first persons on the scene after a disaster in the European Region.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed2003

Strategies of disaster response in the health care system for tropical cyclones: experience following Typhoon Nari in Taipei City.

Natural disasters present significant potential for injuries and death. Unlike the experience of Hurricane Andrew that destroyed a vast surface area in the rural countryside, Typhoon Nari in Taipei proved that significant damages from natural disasters also can happen to modern health care systems in urban areas. To ameliorate such damages, specific structural, nonstructural, and administrative issues must be taken into account. Such issues include the location of the health facility, design of the infrastructure, storage of equipment and machines, maintenance, medical, and nonmedical operations. Specific considerations, such as early evacuation and securing the safety of the patients before a disaster, should be emphasized. Recovery plans that determine how soon medical service can be restored to the community should also be established. Emphasis on emergency-response preparedness, mitigation procedures, and recovery efforts should all be included in a comprehensive emergency plan against the destruction caused by natural hazards.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed2002

Disaster mental health services following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing: modifying approaches to address terrorism.

How did the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing differ from prior disasters and what implications did it have for disaster mental health services and service delivery? The federal disaster mental health approach in this country developed largely out of experiences with natural disasters. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing differed in several important ways, including the large number of human casualties, higher rates of psychopathology, and an extended period of concern due to the criminal investigation and trials, which suggested the need to consider modifications in the program. Outreach was extensive, but psychiatric morbidity of direct victims was greater than that of victims of natural disasters, emphasizing the need for attention to the triage and referral process. Other concerns that warrant consideration include practices related to record keeping and program evaluation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Emergency preparedness guidelines for water treatment systems.

While many dialysis facilities prepare for loss of power and water in disaster situations, it is equally important to prepare for loss of quality drinking water. Natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and tornadoes can affect the quality of the potable water delivered for dialysis by adding contaminants. This article presents a checklist of how to prepare the water treatment system against natural disasters and what to do after an event occurs.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed2005

Dispelling disaster myths about dead bodies and disease: the role of scientific evidence and the media.

For decades, after nearly every natural disaster, fear of disease has encouraged communities, local authorities, and governments to rapidly dispose of the bodies of the victims without first identifying them. In May 2004 this journal published the first-ever review article to comprehensively assess the scientific evidence on the infectious disease risks of dead bodies following natural disasters, along with an editorial commenting on the persistence of myths concerning the dangers allegedly posed by dead bodies. This paper assesses the impact that the review article and the editorial have had on the way that health risks from dead bodies have been reported by the media over the following year, especially focusing on the South Asian tsunami disaster of December 2004. While some media outlets have reported erroneous information, hundreds of other news stories have accurately reported that dead bodies pose no public health risk, and have explained the priority for properly identifying the deceased. Nevertheless, publication of scientific evidence alone is insufficient to bring about public health action. International agencies need to continue their work on producing standards, guidelines, and practical guidance on managing dead bodies. There needs to be a community-centered approach to informing communities about the management of the dead following disasters and the rights of individuals to be treated respectfully after death. Nongovernmental organizations should be encouraged to provide expertise and technical support in identifying and burying large numbers of dead. There also needs to be ongoing assessment of the technical processes involved in the recovery, identification, and disposal of dead bodies, as well as the effectiveness of disaster preparedness plans and communication with the affected population.

Attitude to Death↗
PubMed1996

Socio-economic influences on gender inequalities in child health in rural Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate gender inequalities in child growth and nutritional status in relation to socio-economic status in Bangladesh. DESIGN: A 16-month longitudinal study of child growth measuring anthropometric and socio-economic status. SETTING: A rural area of Jamalpur district, northern Bangladesh. SUBJECTS: 1366 children from 2 to 6 years of age. METHODS: Child height and weight were measured monthly. Morbidity, food intake and health-seeking behaviours were assessed fortnightly. Multivariable analyses were performed on the growth and nutritional status of male and female children in relation to socio-economic factors including father's occupation, parental education, birth order and family size. RESULTS: There was no evidence of gender bias in farming and trading/employee households but landless female children had significantly poorer height-for-age (P < 0.001) and weight-for-age (P < 0.001) than their male counterparts. During a period of natural disaster, a statistically significant interaction was observed between father's occupation and sex (P < 0.05) such that the combination of being female and being landless was more detrimental to nutritional status than either variable alone. Over the following 16-months, catch-up-growth was apparent in landless female children who grew significantly more in height-for-age (P < 0.001) and weight-for-age (P < 0.001) than their male counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Gender inequalities in health in Bangladesh varied significantly according to occupational status, such that the effect of sex was dependent upon occupation. These effects were statistically significant during the period of natural disaster but became insignificant as local conditions improved. This demonstrates both temporal and socio-economic variation in gender inequalities in health.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2001

Disaster preparedness: is your unit ready?

This article brings attention to the need for disaster preparedness by individual dialysis facilities. It is recommended that each facility develop a specific plan for each type of disaster that might occur in the particular geographic location. It is also recommended that the community's disaster plan(s) be reviewed and incorporated in the planning process. This article addresses all aspects related to a natural disaster, including planning, drills, basic services, personnel, and the aftermath. Adequate preparation may lessen the destruction and negative consequences of a natural disaster.

Communication↗
PubMed1994

Disaster preparedness: is your unit really ready?

This article brings attention to the need for disaster preparedness by individual dialysis facilities. It is recommended that each facility develop a specific plan for each type of disaster that might occur in the particular geographic location. It is also recommended that the community's disaster plan(s) be reviewed and incorporated in the planning process. This article addresses all aspects related to a natural disaster, including planning, drills, basic services, personnel, and the aftermath. Adequate preparation may lessen the destruction and negative consequences of a natural disaster.

Clinical Protocols↗
PubMed2007

End-stage renal disease use in hurricane-prone areas: should nephrologists increase the utilization of peritoneal dialysis?

Hurricane Katrina resulted in massive destruction of the gulf coast of the United States in 2005. In the immediate aftermath, displaced dialysis patients required urgent hemodialysis or additional peritoneal dialysis (PD) supplies. Massive damage to the health care infrastructure in these communities disrupted dialysis services for several months. As a result of this event and subsequent storms during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, many decisions regarding future services to dialysis patients in hurricane prone communities (HPCs) need to occur. Nephrologists, dialysis nurses, dialysis providers, and patients need to discuss the ramifications of and types of continued dialysis services in HPC. Nephrologists should encourage PD, and efforts to educate on other renal replacement therapies including PD and transplant should occur. With the potential for interruption of electrical, sewerage, and water services, more patients should consider PD. Recovery from future events begins with appropriate disaster planning. Many questions are considered and need answering in planning for dialysis services in HPC and other communities subject to natural disasters. This summary provides the basis to begin discussions when planning for dialysis services in communities prone to natural disasters.

Community Networks↗
PubMed2005

Water safety and disaster management procedures reported by Louisiana health care food service directors.

Eighty health care food service directors in Louisiana were surveyed regarding their knowledge of policies and procedures their facilities have for water management in natural disasters and emergencies. Questionnaires were mailed to hospital and long-term-care food service directors in Louisiana. Responses indicated that hurricanes were the most common natural disaster affecting the facilities, frequently resulting in loss of electrical-power and natural-gas services. Food service directors had some knowledge of the content of emergency/disaster plans in their facilities, but were unfamiliar with procedures for obtaining water from alternative sources. The majority of health care facilities did not test water quality as part of normal operating procedures. To facilitate production of safe, quality food from alternative potable-water sources when needed, health care food service directors should review the emergency/disaster plans of their facilities for potable-water procedures.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed2000

[Risk factors for post traumatic stress symptoms five years after the 1992 flood in the Vaucluse (France)].

BACKGROUND: Natural disasters may induce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a severe and longlasting psychopathology, in exposed populations. In France, several natural disasters occurred in the past, but epidemiological data on their psychological consequences are scarce. In September 1992, a flood affected 63 municipalities in the Vaucluse, South of France, and resulted in 38 deaths. An epidemiological study was carried out in 1997 to evaluate the potential association between the degree of exposure to the flood and PTSD symptoms as well as PTSD risk factors. METHODS: A telephone survey was carried out in Bédarrides (5000 inhabitants), one of the most affected municipalities. Subjects residing in Bédarrides and older than 18 years at the time of the disaster were included in the study. Symptoms of PTSD were assessed using a structured questionnaire based on DSM-IV criteria and a PTSD score was calculated. Individual exposure was retrospectively assessed by questionnaire. To take into account the exposure level, an indicator of cumulated exposure was established. Multiple regression analyses were performed to explain the PTSD score. RESULTS: Five hundred individuals were interviewed with a 79% response rate. A significantly higher PTSD score was observed for females, subjects older than 35 years, subjects with a monthly income lower than 9000 FF, subjects with a history of psychological disorders or life-threatening traumatic event. A significant exposure-effect relationship was observed between the level of exposure to the flood and the PTSD score which was multiplied by 3.4 in most severely exposed individuals. An increased PTSD score was also observed in subjects residing in the flooded area and in those who benefited from psychological care at the time of the flood. CONCLUSION: These results, compatible with published results, suggest a long term psychological impact of the 1992 flood on the Bédarrides population.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Risk factors for psychological adjustment following residential fire: the role of avoidant coping.

Although a growing number of investigations have targeted technological and natural disasters involving children and adolescents (e.g., kidnappings, shootings, accidents, wars, fires, hurricanes), little is known about the influence of specific risk factors on functioning post-disaster. A number of basic questions are yet to be fully addressed, including: How do children and adolescents cope with technological and natural disasters? What are the most salient risk factors for children and adolescents, prior to, during, and following disasters? How do these risk factors interact in predicting psychological adjustment? And what is the relative role of risk factors on psychological adjustment over time? In fact, these and related questions hold the potential to move this important area of inquiry forward in a variety of meaningful ways.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Children exposed to disaster: I. Epidemiology of post-traumatic symptoms and symptom profiles.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the range and severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms exhibited by children after exposure to a natural disaster. METHOD: Three months after Hurricane Hugo struck Berkeley County, South Carolina, 5,687 school-aged children were surveyed about their experiences and reactions related to the storm. Self-reports of PTSD symptoms were obtained by use of a PTSD Reaction Index. RESULTS: Significant variation in the prevalence of PTSD symptoms was found across race, gender, and age groups. Self-reported symptoms were used to derive a post-traumatic stress syndrome classification according to DSM-III-R guidelines for the diagnosis of PTSD. More than 5% of the sample reported sufficient symptoms to be classified as exhibiting this post-traumatic stress syndrome. Females and younger children were more likely to receive this classification. At the symptom level, females reported more symptoms associated with emotional processing and emotional reaction to the trauma. Males were more likely to report symptoms related to cognitive and behavioral factors. Younger children were more likely to report symptoms overall. CONCLUSIONS: Children exposed to a high magnitude natural disaster report sufficient symptoms to establish a DSM-III-R derived classification of a PTSD syndrome. Differences between gender, age, and race groups appear to be related to differential risk of exposure, reporting biases, as well as a differential risk for developing post-traumatic symptoms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

The evolving nature of disaster mental health services.

It may be said that the field of emergency/disaster mental health is a mental health subspecialization that continues, even today, to quantitatively expand and qualitatively evolve. For this evolutionary process to continue successfully, greater sophistication must be realized both tactically, as well as strategically. This paper reviews the evolving nature of crisis intervention and emergency/disaster mental health. Three areas will be reviewed herein: the evolving goals of early intervention, tactical evolution, and the evolving nature of training in emergency/disaster mental health.

Crisis Intervention↗
PubMed2005

The application of the Haddon matrix to public health readiness and response planning.

State and local health departments continue to face unprecedented challenges in preparing for, recognizing, and responding to threats to the public's health. The attacks of 11 September 2001 and the ensuing anthrax mailings of 2001 highlighted the public health readiness and response hurdles posed by intentionally caused injury and illness. At the same time, recent natural disasters have highlighted the need for comparable public health readiness and response capabilities. Public health readiness and response activities can be conceptualized similarly for intentional attacks, natural disasters, and human-caused accidents. Consistent with this view, the federal government has adopted the all-hazards response model as its fundamental paradigm. Adoption of this paradigm provides powerful improvements in efficiency and efficacy, because it reduces the need to create a complex family of situation-specific preparedness and response activities. However, in practice, public health preparedness requires additional models and tools to provide a framework to better understand and prioritize emergency readiness and response needs, as well as to facilitate solutions; this is particularly true at the local health department level. Here, we propose to extend the use of the Haddon matrix--a conceptual model used for more than two decades in injury prevention and response strategies--for this purpose.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed1991

The impact of Hurricane Hugo and the San Francisco earthquake on a sample of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

The health effects of two natural disasters on 32 people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were assessed during the second-year wave of interviews in an ongoing 3-year study. Although the severity of Hurricane Hugo exceeded that of the San Francisco earthquake, no significant differences in health impacts were found. Both groups reported significantly increased ratings of RA activity, pain, and depression compared with ratings during the first year. However, comparison with the rest of the sample (n = 767) showed that increases in disease activity and pain were a general phenomenon but that the increase in depression was unique to the disaster subsample. Physician health status assessments also indicated that those who experienced the disaster were more likely to be classified in later stages of the disease subsequent to the disaster and were more likely to experience flares. These results suggest that people with RA may constitute a special high-risk population for adverse health effects after natural disasters.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Regional disaster planning for hospital pharmacies.

The development of a disaster plan for hospital pharmacy services in Hartford, CT, is described. In June 1978, directors of pharmacy from 12 hospitals in the Hartford, CT, area began a project designed to ensure an uninterrupted supply of drugs and an adequate supply of pharmacy personnel during and after any natural disaster. The project initially involved standardization of components of the individual hospital pharmacies' disaster plans. A questionnaire was then completed by each director of pharmacy regarding hours of operation, telephone numbers, and pharmaceutical products usually stocked (including blood derivatives, radiologic-contrast media, and intravenous solutions). Information on inventory levels was collected later. Pharmaceutical manufactures and wholesalers in the region were contracted, and a list of routine and emergency telephone numbers was compiled. The disaster plan was completed in July 1979. The plan has been tested in a mock catastrophe drill and one natural disaster that caused relatively few injuries.

Connecticut↗