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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

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

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1989

Psychological symptoms in older adults following natural disaster: nature, timing, duration, and course.

Using a prospective design with five follow-up intervals, the study addressed questions regarding the timing of onset, duration, course, and nature of psychological reaction to natural disaster. As participants in a statewide panel study, more than 200 older adults were interviewed both before and after two distinct floods occurred in southeastern Kentucky in 1981 and 1984. Exposure to these incidents, which differed in overall intensity, was assessed at both the individual and community levels. Personal loss was associated with short-term increases in negative affect, limited to one year postflood. Longer-term effects were more dependent on the level of community destruction. Exposure to high levels of community destruction was related to decreased positive affect up to two years postdisaster, whereas exposure to high levels of both community destruction and personal loss was predictive of increased negative affect for two years.

Aged↗

PubMed1987

The role of the epidemiologist in natural disasters.

Natural disasters continue to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Natural disaster epidemiology has led not only to the scientific measurement and description of disaster-associated health effects, but also to strategies for preventing adverse health consequences and improving post-impact health care delivery. Results of epidemiologic studies of natural disasters provide clues to diagnosis, help medical care providers match resources to needs, and permit better contingency planning. Well-documented medical records are an essential resource for disaster epidemiologists. Cooperation between health care personnel and epidemiologists can help lessen the public health impacts of natural disasters.

Disasters↗

PubMed1999

Mitigation emerges as major strategy for reducing losses caused by natural disasters. Board of Natural Disasters.

The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, a United Nations program for the 1990s, focused attention on the increasing losses caused by natural hazards and promoted actions to reduce their impacts. During this period in the United States, disaster managers and other officials increased emphasis on mitigation relative to response and recovery, especially in programs of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Many other nations and international organizations undertook similar efforts. Beyond the Decade, efforts should focus on improving risk assessments; implementing mitigation strategies; improving technologies supporting warnings and the dissemination of, and response to, warnings; improving the basis for natural disaster insurance; and assisting developing nations.

Cities↗

PubMed2001

Warning: are you prepared to lose your ED after a natural disaster?

Natural catastrophes that can lead to loss of the ED itself are often overlooked in disaster plans and drills. Plans should address evacuation of patients, including transportation and equipment to take, and drills should include these scenarios. You should have alternatives to cope with loss of power and communications, such as oxygen-powered backup generators. To prepare for a deluge of individuals coming to the ED after a disaster, decide how to utilize volunteers, and limit access by using disaster identification vests. New Environment of Care standards from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations require you to perform a hazard and vulnerability analysis.

California↗

PubMed2002

Immune function and affective states following a natural disaster.

Although natural disasters sometimes strengthen community ties, it was hypothesized that the negative affect following a hurricane would lower evaluations of strangers. This hypothesis was tested by having 105 students evaluate an individual that they had just met following Hurricane Andrew. The hypothesis did not receive support, but students living in storm-damaged neighborhoods expressed more negative affect than those living in less damaged neighborhoods. Regression analyses also disclosed that severity of a disaster predicted concentrations of immunoglobulin A in saliva. The results suggest that salivary immunoglobulin A can be used to assess the health consequence of disaster exposure.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Acute renal failure in natural disasters.

Sudden-impact natural disasters such as earthquakes present a serious challenge to medical personnel in both developed and less developed countries. Crush syndrome with acute renal failure has been identified as a major medical complication that occurs among people whose limbs are trapped by heavy objects during natural disasters such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Rescue and field medical teams should be trained to recognize and promptly treat the problems associated with prolonged limb compression and should carry the appropriate fluids and medications to treat the complications of traumatic rhabdomyolysis. Early, aggressive volume replacement followed by forced solute-alkaline diuresis therapy may protect the kidney against acute renal failure. Better epidemiologic knowledge of the specific disaster conditions that predispose traumatic rhabdomyolysis to develop is clearly essential for those who must determine when emergency dialysis services are required in response to injuries sustained during natural disasters. Disaster health care personnel involved with providing emergency acute renal care should have a basic familiarity with disaster epidemiology in order to determine whether a given event requires their intervention. This paper includes recommendations for improving medical planning, preparedness, and response to natural disasters that cause acute renal failure.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

PubMed1995

The American print news media 'construction' of five natural disasters.

In 1985, five international 'natural' disasters received prominent print news media coverage in the United States. Content analyses of selected print news media accounts of these five disasters were conducted. The purported evidence of alleged cause-effect relationships describing and explaining these disasters as 'objective' realities was evaluated in the light of the subjective selection of explanatory factors, themes, frameworks, and value assumptions which underlie the media's analysis and 'construction' of these events as 'natural' disasters. Analysis of the American print news media coverage of these disasters indicated an emphasis upon the dramatic, descriptive, climatological or geological qualities of these events rather than upon causal explanations emphasizing the role of human acts or omissions in the development of these disasters. The print news media 'constructed' these events as 'natural' disasters despite clear evidence of their hybrid, natural-human origins.

Bangladesh↗

PubMed1990

[Communication networks in great natural disasters].

A great natural disaster destroys every energy supplies and the communication network necessary for the organisation of health care (telephone, telex) is entirely or partially not functioning. It becomes impossible to be informed about the hospitals and others sanitary availabilities in the disaster area. Our personal experience, during the El Asnam's and Mexico's earthquakes demonstrates the necessity to maintain a functioning network for sanitary use. The unique possibility is the availability of portable, battery operated radio-transmitters. It is necessary to have these equipment in all hospitals and health centers in the area of a previsible disaster. A good scheduled training is necessary for the medical and paramedical personal of these areas.

Communication↗

PubMed1990

Impact of a natural disaster on a psychiatric inpatient population: clinical observations.

Natural disasters do not always lead to post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) for their victims, although stress-related symptoms are commonly reported as results of such disasters. The impact of a natural disaster on the treatment of a hospitalized psychiatric population has never been systematically evaluated. In the fall of 1986, severe river flooding caused evacuation of a 160-bed psychiatric facility. One hundred and twenty-one hospitalized patients were taken to nearby hospital facilities, and many were separated from their primary therapists, fellow patients or both. A mail survey two months post-evacuation assessed stress-related symptoms, the patients' opinions of the impact of the flood on their treatment and functioning, and the patients' views of the evacuation procedures. Patients also responded to questions about their cognitive and affective reactions during each phase of the disaster. Clear evidence of PTSD was not found with this population; however, the findings underscore the importance of keeping patients with familiar staff and peers when possible. Differences between this study and previous disaster studies are noted, and suggestions for coping with natural disasters in inpatient or residential psychiatric facilities are offered.

Crisis Intervention↗

PubMed1994

Patient care during natural disasters.

Delivering health care requires careful coordination on normal workdays, but during a natural disaster, the organization's planning and management can be sorely tested. The most crucial aspect to consider during a natural disaster is patient care; plans have to prepare for such an event in advance. In this article, the author discusses how some HMOs around the country have coped with providing care for patients during natural disasters and offers some key strategies for successful patient care delivery.

Delivery of Health Care↗

PubMed1983

Delayed-impact infectious disease after a natural disaster.

Most recent studies of natural disasters have shown little increase in post-disaster infectious disease. The result has been a de-emphasis of the disease control portion of many disaster relief programs. This study demonstrates a significant increase in four out of the five diseases studied following two hurricanes in the Dominican Republic, with the major impact of the increases coming several months after the disaster. Posited reasons for the increase in infectious diseases are: (a) overcrowding of makeshift refugee centers with insufficient sanitary facilities, and (b) flood-caused water transmission of pathogens.

Communicable Diseases↗

PubMed1987

Life events and psychiatric disorder: the role of a natural disaster.

Examining the impact of natural disasters on psychological health provides an opportunity to study the role played by extreme adversity in the onset of psychiatric disorder. Four hundred and sixty-nine fire-fighters who had been intensely exposed to an Australian bushfire disaster completed a detailed inventory of their experiences four months later. They also completed a brief life events schedule and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Only 9% of the GHQ score variance could be accounted for by the disaster and other life events; the effects of the disaster appeared to be separate and additive. This is similar to the relationship between life events and psychiatric illness found in other settings. It is suggested that vulnerability is a more important factor in breakdown than the degree of stress experienced.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

[Natural disasters].

The attempt is made to illustrate the role played by natural disasters in the history of the earth and mankind by examples of past catastrophes. Subsequently, the earthquake of Tangshan/China in 1976 and the hypothetical scenario of a repeat of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in a modern setting serve as a basis for discussion of the significance of natural disasters in modern times.

Disasters↗

PubMed1992

Multiple diagnoses in posttraumatic stress disorder in the victims of a natural disaster.

A population of the fire fighters who had been exposed to a natural disaster were screened using the General Health Questionnaire 4, 11, and 29 months after a natural disaster. On the basis of these data, a high-risk group of subjects who had scored as cases and probable cases and a symptom-free comparison group were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule 42 months after the disaster. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), affective disorders, and anxiety disorders was examined. Only 23% of the 70 subjects who had developed a PTSD did not attract a further diagnosis, with major depression being the most common concurrent disorder. Comorbidity appeared to be an important predictor of chronic PTSD, especially with panic disorder and phobic disorders. The subjects who had only a PTSD appeared to have had the highest exposure to the disaster. Adversity experienced both before and after the disaster influenced the onset of both anxiety and affective disorders.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Natural disasters and service delivery to individuals with severe mental illness--ice storm 1998.

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on the responses of individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) to natural disasters, to describe the impact of the 1998 Ice Storm on a group of SMI patients, and to describe the steps taken at a Canadian university teaching hospital to ensure the ongoing provision of mental health services throughout the crisis. METHOD: Published articles describing the impact of natural disasters on SMI populations, as well as service provision to these patients, are reviewed. Service use at the Montreal General Hospital (MGH) Department of Psychiatry is described. A questionnaire about the impact of the ice storm was administered to a group of patients in an assertive community treatment program. RESULTS: Service use during this natural disaster was consistent with that described in the literature, in that these patients were no more likely to be admitted or to visit the emergency room during the crisis. Continuous mental health service delivery may have contributed to this positive outcome. This service delivery was provided by ensuring staff access to information, by securing the physical safety of both staff and patients, and by taking a flexible, outreach-oriented approach to service delivery. CONCLUSIONS: SMI patients who have ongoing access to psychiatric services in disaster situations tend to cope well. A flexible, proactive, assertive approach to service delivery during the crisis situation will help to ensure that needs for care will be met.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1994

The response of an assertive community treatment program following a natural disaster.

A newly forming model treatment program for seriously mentally ill adults was dramatically affected by a natural disaster in September 1989. Hurricane Hugo rendered the offices of the Assertive Community Treatment Program uninhabitable, its vehicles marginally driveable, and its resources virtually nonexistent. In the three months following the storm, however, not a single psychiatric rehospitalization took place. Although the authors cannot claim that the program model was solely responsible for this outcome, this paper illustrates the service system elements that contributed to the program's effectiveness in the wake of one of the nation's most severe natural disasters.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Changes in reports and incidence of child abuse following natural disasters.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research was to investigate if there is a higher incidence of child abuse following major natural disasters. METHODOLOGY: Child abuse reports and substantiations were analyzed, by county, for 1 year before and after Hurricane Hugo, the Loma Prieta Earthquake. and Hurricane Andrew. Counties were included if damage was widespread, the county was part of a presidential disaster declaration, and if there was a stable data collection system in place. RESULTS: Based on analyses of numbers, rates, and proportions, child abuse reports were disproportionately higher in the quarter and half year following two of the three disaster events (Hurricane Hugo and Loma Prieta Earthquake). CONCLUSIONS: Most, but not all, of the evidence presented indicates that child abuse escalates after major disasters. Conceptual and methodological issues need to be resolved to more conclusively answer the question about whether or not child abuse increases in the wake of natural disasters. Replications of this research are needed based on more recent disaster events.

Child↗

PubMed1992

The role of the veterinarian in hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Hurricanes create a multiplicity of complicated problems and hazards ranging from outbreaks of infectious disease to animal control problems precipitated by destruction of property. A multidisciplinary response is required to solve such problems. The pool of knowledge derived from various professionals interacting with multiple levels of government agencies (federal, state, and local) will provide the expertise needed. Because the veterinarian is trained to deal with disease involving populations of animals (e.g., herds or flocks) as well as individuals, and because of his/her intensive clinical training, the veterinarian is uniquely qualified to deal with the disaster situation. The veterinarian possesses extensive knowledge in disease and disease processes and has the capability of disease and injury management in affected populations, which qualifies him/her for an essential role, with unlimited potential as a member of any disaster relief team. There is considerable potential for veterinarians to play a role in responding to natural disasters. The areas of disease control, animal care, animal control, protection of the food supply, disinfection/sterilization, and planning are all areas where veterinarians can take an active part. Inclusion of the veterinarian in the process of planning for and responding to natural disasters will yield significant public health benefits.

Animal Welfare↗