Abstract
Disasters occur much more frequently in the last 20 years with the majority of them in middle-low-income countries. The main causes are overpopulation, urbanization, poverty, and unhealthy living conditions and climate change. The definition of disaster for a specific community always incorporates its inability to manage the situation on its own means. A multi-casualty incident (MCI) becomes a disaster for a specific area and time when we are unable to provide effective therapy to the victims. Training in disaster management is required and directly concerned with health professionals. Worldwide, emergency medicine as a medical specialty dedicates a large portion of its educational curriculum specifically to disaster medicine. The handling of a disaster demands that healthcare personnel are incorporated into non-medical multidiscipline response teams, and this fact highlights the necessity of performing combined simulation exercises. Disaster can have a major impact on public health systems. The destruction of healthcare facilities, for example, impedes us from providing immediate and also subsequent medical care. Taking measures to reduce the disaster risk is a cost-effective investment in order to avoid future losses and the existence of a disaster emergency plan is required both at national and local levels. Disaster in a certain place has consequences on other places of our planet (immigration, epidemics). The need to take preventive measures and to offer assistance, especially in developing countries, has become recognized worldwide.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alexander D. Globalization of disaster: trends, problems and dilemmas. J Int Affairs. 2006;59(2)
Helmer M, Hilhorst D. Natural disaster and climate change. Disasters. 2006;30(1):1–4.
Mayner L, Arbon P. Defining disaster: the need for harmonization of terminology. Australas J Disaster Trauma Stud. 2015;19
Humanitarian Health Action. World Health Organization (WHO). Definitions: emergencies. http://www.who.int/hac/about/definitions/en/.
Terminology. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). Terminology on disaster risk reduction. 2009. https://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/terminology.
Sztajnkrycer MD, Madsen BE, Baez AA. Unstable ethical plateaus and disaster triage. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2006;24(3):749–68.
Advanced Life Support Group (ALSG). Chapter 1: Introduction. In: Major Incident Medical Management and Support (MIMMS). 3rd ed. UK: Wiley-Blackwell; 2012.
Algaali KYA, Djalali A, Corte FD, Ismail MA, Ingrassia PL. Postgraduate education in disaster health and medicine. Front Public Health. 2015;3:185.
Subbarao I, Lyznicki JM, Hsu EB, Gebbie KM, Markenson D, Barzansky B, et al. A consensus-based educational framework and competency set for the discipline of disaster medicine and public health preparedness. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2008;2(1):57–68.
Hsu EB, Thomas TL, Bass EB, Whyne D, Kelen GD, Green GB. Healthcare worker competencies for disaster training. BMC Med Educ. 2006;6:19.
Lennquist S. Education and training in disaster medicines. Scand J Surg. 2005;94:300–10.
Counselman FL, Borenstein MA, Chisholm CD, Epter ML, Khandelwal S, Kraus CK, et al. The 2013 model of the clinical practice of emergency medicine. Acad Emerg Med. 2014;21(5):574–98.
Pfenninger EG, Domres BD, Stahl W, Bauer A, Houser CM, Himmelseher S. Medical student disaster medicine education: the development of an educational resource. Int J Emerg Med. 2010;3(1):9–20.
Khorram-Manesh A, Lupesco O, Friedl T, Arnim G, Kaptan K, Djalali AR, et al. Education in disaster management: what do we offer and what do we need? Proposing a new global program. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2016;10(6):854–73.
Introduction to Public Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Handout of key public health terms. https://www.cdc.gov/publichealth101/public-health.html.
The Public Health System & The 10 Essential Public Health Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public Health 101. https://www.cdc.gov/stltpublichealth/publichealthservices/essentialhealthservices.html.
Jonkman SN, Kelman I. An analysis of the causes and circumstances of flood disaster deaths. Disasters. 2005;29(1):75–97.
Noji EK. The public health consequences of disasters. National Center for Infectious Diseases (CDC). April 1999.
Noji EK. Public health issues in disasters. Crit Care Med. 2005;33(1):S29–33.
Leaning J, Guha-Sapir D. Natural disasters, armed conflict, and public health. N Engl J Med. 2013;369:1836–42.
Davidson JR, AC MF. The extent and impact of mental health problems after disaster. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;67(Suppl 2):9–14.
Benjet C, Bromet E, et al. The epidemiology of traumatic event exposure worldwide: results from the World Mental Health Survey Consortium. Psychol Med. 2016;46(2):327–43.
Rose DA, Murthy S, Brooks J, Bryant J. The evolution of public health emergency management as a field of practice. Am J Public Health. 2017;107(S2):S126–33.
Shaluf IM, Disaster types, disaster prevention and management: an international journal. vol 16, no 5. UK: Emerald Publishing, pp 704–17.
Kano M, Wood MM, et al. Chapter 1: Disaster research and epidemiology. In: Disaster medicine: comprehensive principles and practices. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2014. p. 5–6.
Malilay J, Heumann M, et al. The role of applied epidemiology methods in the disaster management cycle. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(11)
Poverty & Death: Disaster Mortality. Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). 1996–2015. https://www.preventionweb.net/files/50589_creddisastermortalityallfinalpdf.pdf.
Lazzaroni S, van Bergeijk PAG. Natural disasters’ impact, factors of resilience and development: a meta-analysis of the macroeconomics literature. Ecol Econ. 2014;107:333–46.
CRED CRUNCH. Natural disasters in 2017: lower mortality, higher cost. USAID, Issue No. 50. https://cred.be/downloadFile.php?file=sites/default/files/CredCrunch50.pdf.
Introduction to Disaster Preparedness, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. http://www.ifrc.org/Global/Publications/disasters/all.pdf.
Cardona OD. The need for rethinking the concepts of vulnerability and risk from a holistic perspective: a necessary review and criticism for effective risk management. Columbia: National University of Columbia; 2004. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254267457_The_Need_for_Rethinking_the_Concepts_of_Vulnerability_and_Risk_from_a_Holistic_Perspective_A_Necessary_Review_and_Criticism_for_Effective_Risk_Management1.
Fuchs S, Birkmann J, Glade T. Vulnerability assessment in natural hazard and risk analysis: current approaches and future challenges. Nat Hazards. 2012;64(3):1969–75.
Peduzzi P, Dao H, et al. Assessing global exposure and vulnerability towards natural hazards: the Disaster Risk Index. Nat Hazards. 2009;9:1149–59.
Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, United Nations. https://www.unisdr.org/files/1037_hyogoframeworkforactionenglish.pdf.
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, United Nations. https://www.preventionweb.net/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pikoulis, E., Pikouli, A., Pavlidou, E. (2021). Principles of Disaster Medicine. In: Pikoulis, E., Doucet, J. (eds) Emergency Medicine, Trauma and Disaster Management. Hot Topics in Acute Care Surgery and Trauma. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34116-9_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34116-9_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-34115-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-34116-9
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)