Nurses on Front lines of Disaster Response

Assignment: Disaster Planning for Public Health

Select a potential natural or man-made disaster that could happen in your community. Then, write a 3- to 4-page paper about the disaster from the community nurse’s perspective.

Section 1: The Disaster, Man-Made or Natural

What disasters may strike your community and why? For example, do you live in “Tornado Alley,” or has climate change resulted in unusual cold weather snaps or blizzards in your community? Are you located in a flood plain? Include possible diseases that may result from a natural disaster, such as tetanus or cholera.Nurses on Front lines of Disaster Response

Section 2: The Nursing Response

Formulate responses to the disaster, considering systems and community levels of intervention.

Review websites where a disaster plan may be available for the public, or if one is not currently available, call public health department to see if a disaster plan exists for your community and what the plan contains.

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In addition to reviewing websites for information about your local disaster plan, you will need to locate best practice/evidence-based practice guidelines in professional literature to determine whether your community’s disaster plan is as sound as it might be or if there is room for improvement.

Section 3: Is My Community Prepared for a Disaster?

What conclusions can you draw about your community’s preparedness plan from having completed this evaluation?

For this Assignment, review the following:

AWE Checklist (Level 4000)

BSN Program Top Ten Citations and References

Walden paper template (no abstract or running head required)

The Week 5 Assignment Rubric.

Please go to my Walden page week 4 assignment.

Disaster Planning for Public Health

The Disaster, Man-Made or Natural

            When communities are affected by human-made or natural disasters, providing care to the community becomes a big challenge. Disasters, both natural and man-made cause long-term effects that vary considerably depending on the cause of the disaster and the situation in which the disaster occurred. In addition, the intervention to the disaster determines the effect a disaster has to the environment and the people at large (Nageb, 2018). Preparedness by health professionals including the public health officers and the nurses limit the destruction of negative and harmful effects caused by the disasters. In addition, preparedness and early response to a disaster reduce the risk of diseases, promotes health and encourages deployment of self-help measures. Therefore, specific public health interventions, emergency disaster personnel and medical practitioners are required.Nurses on Front lines of Disaster Response

The possible disaster that may strike in my community can be intensified by topography of our region especially during rainy season and after the heavy rains. The city of Ellicott in Maryland experienced a storm in 2016 where the entire city was flooded severely. Another disaster of flashfloods happened in June 2018 and badly affected the surrounding community (Link & Galloway, 2019).Floods are natural disaster but their severity in the area were aggravated by poor planning in the city and poor drainage. The geographical characteristics in the city including several streams flowing together and the city is on a slope causes frequent floods. However, the flash floods hat occurred in 2016 and 2018 were disastrous causing several health problems.

Floods and heavy rains are natural disasters but they may result into man-made disasters like cholera, mycosis, respiratory infections and gastrointestinal infections (Yhap, 2019).  Therefore, the nurses should advise people to avoid coming into contact with flooded water as well as heavy rains. During the 2016 floods at the Ellicott City, the sewer line broke releasing gallons of sewage to the rivers. The community was exposed gastrointestinal illnesses like cholera, salmonellosis, and diarrhea.

The Nursing Response to Flooding

            Flooding does not have a specific season but it mostly occurs when there are prolonged rains. In addition, flooding happens in areas where there are seasonal rainstorms, along coastal lines and in areas where the topography is flood-prevalent. The topography at the Ellicott City is a predisposing factor to floods (Link & Galloway, 2019). Poor drainage in the city is also a predisposing factor since there is no adequate terrain to allow rainwater to flow. Floods negatively affect individuals and communities by damaging property and causing communicable diseases. Additionally, floods have negative effects including loss of life, mass migration, psychosocial effects and political implications.

According to (Yhap, 2019), disaster response requires clear communication, knowledge of the assets involved during disaster management, comprehensive training, and involvement public health leadership. The fundamental role of nurses in this disaster is to provide care to families as well as individuals involved in the disaster. In addition, the nurses are expected to help the patients deal with emotional issues they developed due to the trauma caused during the floods. The primary role of the nurses in this disaster will be to reach out to the families who may not make it to the hospital by evacuating them if trapped. In addition, the nurses will be expected to take care of the wounded and to treat any other underlying issues.

The nurses’ response to the floods disaster that happened in our region was professional and very helpful to the community. A team was formed from the hospital to lead on evacuation activities. In addition, the nurses formed a community with the local leaders to ensure all members of the community were evacuated and secured in a safe place (Link & Galloway, 2019). As such, all the involved individuals were taken through counselling to manage the emotional trauma they all underwent. In addition, all the physically injured individuals were treated at the facility with utmost care. A mobilization team was also formed to advise people on the possible diseases that would develop from the flood effects. Essentially, the community was trained on the need to ensure they are living in clean and safe environment.Nurses on Front lines of Disaster Response

Community Preparation for a Disaster

Community preparedness involves the ability of a community to manage the hazards following a disaster event. Community preparedness is necessary since it improves the ability of the community to reduce the impacts of a hazard (Yhap, 2019).  In addition, a prepared community is able to manage their resources even when there is no external assistance. Moreover, a community prepared to overcome a disaster reduces the losses, fear and anxiety accompanied by disasters.

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            My community was prepared fully for the disaster since the public health team had previously trained them on disaster preparedness. Ellicott City is known to have floods due to the poor terrain and topography. The public health team had therefore equipped the members of the community with the relevant knowledge they required in times of a disaster (Link & Galloway, 2019).  In addition, a disaster management team that involved community leaders, emergency and safety team, nurses and public health officials had previously been formed. A rescue center to for the injured people in case of a disaster had been established and was fully equipped with all first aid equipment. Eventually, the disaster management team had trained an evacuation team to assist in evacuating the trapped individuals.

References

Link, L., & Galloway, G. (2019). Ellicott City & Vulnerability to UNMITIGATED DISASTER. The Military Engineer, 111(722), 56-59.

Nageb, A. M. (2018). Health Care Workers Awareness About Disaster Management         Preparedness in EL-Minia General Hospital. Assiut Scientific Nursing Journal, 6(15),   133-139.

Yhap, K. G. (2019). Urban Water Supply Planning under Climate and Demand Growth    Uncertainties: A Framework for Improving System Resilience (Doctoral dissertation). Nurses on Front lines of Disaster Response