Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- About the editor
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The art and science of large-scale disasters
- 3 Multiscale modeling for large-scale disaster applications
- 4 Addressing the root causes of large-scale disasters
- 5 Issues in disaster relief logistics
- 6 Large-scale disasters: perspectives on medical response
- 7 Augmentation of health care capacity in large-scale disasters
- 8 Energy, climate change, and how to avoid a manmade disaster
- 9 Seawater agriculture for energy, warming, food, land, and water
- 10 Natural and anthropogenic aerosol-related hazards affecting megacities
- 11 Tsunamis: manifestation and aftermath
- 12 Intermediate-scale dynamics of the upper troposphere and stratosphere
- 13 Coupled weather–chemistry modeling
- 14 Seasonal-to-decadal prediction using climate models: successes and challenges
- 15 Climate change and related disasters
- 16 Impact of climate change on precipitation
- 17 Weather-related disasters in arid lands
- 18 The first hundred years of numerical weather prediction
- 19 Fundamental issues in numerical weather prediction
- 20 Space measurements for disaster response: the International Charter
- 21 Weather satellite measurements: their use for prediction
- Epilogue
- Index
6 - Large-scale disasters: perspectives on medical response
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- About the editor
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The art and science of large-scale disasters
- 3 Multiscale modeling for large-scale disaster applications
- 4 Addressing the root causes of large-scale disasters
- 5 Issues in disaster relief logistics
- 6 Large-scale disasters: perspectives on medical response
- 7 Augmentation of health care capacity in large-scale disasters
- 8 Energy, climate change, and how to avoid a manmade disaster
- 9 Seawater agriculture for energy, warming, food, land, and water
- 10 Natural and anthropogenic aerosol-related hazards affecting megacities
- 11 Tsunamis: manifestation and aftermath
- 12 Intermediate-scale dynamics of the upper troposphere and stratosphere
- 13 Coupled weather–chemistry modeling
- 14 Seasonal-to-decadal prediction using climate models: successes and challenges
- 15 Climate change and related disasters
- 16 Impact of climate change on precipitation
- 17 Weather-related disasters in arid lands
- 18 The first hundred years of numerical weather prediction
- 19 Fundamental issues in numerical weather prediction
- 20 Space measurements for disaster response: the International Charter
- 21 Weather satellite measurements: their use for prediction
- Epilogue
- Index
Summary
The primary aim of disaster response is to restore order, support damaged or nonfunctioning societal functions, and, shortly afterward, reconstruct and rehabilitate the affected society to, at minimum, its predisaster situation. There are three vital phases of the disaster response: preparedness, response, and recovery. Preparedness includes the assessment of risks in relation to material and personnel resources, efficient planning, medical response tactics, and continual training of the staff, including a sufficient amount of field exercise involving various rescue teams. Medical response includes standardization of approach, terminology, communication, and command. Medical response also includes triage of patients and treatment as appropriate for their safe transport for more complete treatment in hospitals. The recovery phase is the prolonged period of adjustment or return to equilibrium that the community and individuals must go through. Evaluation of a disaster begins by reviewing the response plan and its measurable objectives. In the process of conducting an evaluation, assessments are directed for five domains of activity: structure, process, outcomes, response adequacy, and costs. There is a role for each specialist in the management and response to disasters, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, pediatricians, and psychiatrics. This chapter reviews the general characteristics and phases of large-scale disasters, medical response, and the role of some specialists in that response.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Large-Scale DisastersPrediction, Control, and Mitigation, pp. 147 - 160Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008