Impact of Natural Disasters on Health Care

Submitted by – Dalton Divakaran
MS Health Care Management
University of Texas at Dallas

Index

Introduction

Types of Disasters

Effects of Disaster on Economy

Effect of Disaster on Health Care Organization * Sudden Influx * Damage to Facilities * Inadequately Prepared * Specialty Treatment Availability

Effects on the Population * Immediate Health Impact * Long-Term Impacts

Steps in Disaster Management * Mitigation * Preparedness * Response * Recovery

Real Incident Study * Background: * Immediate Response Considerations: * Evacuation: * Special Immediate Concerns: * Recovery Process: * Facility …show more content…

Immediate Health Impact 2. Long-Term Impacts
These are explained below:

Immediate Health Impact
Short-term losses fall under three categories that have both direct and indirect effects: I. Disability, Illness, and Death; II. Direct losses in infrastructure; and III. Loss or disruption in health care delivery.
Long-Term Impacts
It is primarily a matter of building institutional ability and human resources, and includes: I. Identifying vulnerability to natural hazards or other calamities; II. Building simple solutions for such occurrence in the future; III. Initiating a change\development among the main factors to develop a basic plan that outlines the responsibilities of each factor in the health sector, identifying possible overlaps or gaps and building a consensus to create an effective healthcare system; IV. Maintaining close collaboration with these main factors; and V. Educating the first health responders and managers to face the special challenges of responding to disasters.

Steps in Disaster Management * Mitigation – To minimize the effects of disaster.
Examples: Zoning; Vulnerability analyses; Public education.

* Preparedness - Planning how to respond.
Examples: Preparedness plans; Emergency exercises/training; Warning systems.

* Response - Efforts in minimizing the hazards created by a disaster.
Examples: Search and rescue; Emergency