Summary
In study session VI you have learnt
Disaster medicine is the area of physician medical specialization serving the dual areas of providing health care to disaster survivors and providing medically related disaster preparation, disaster planning, disaster response and disaster recovery leadership throughout the disaster life cycle.
DMAT- Disaster Medical Assistant Team: is a group of professional and para-professional medical personnel (supported by a cadre of logistical and administrative staff) designed to provide medical care during a disaster or other event. National Disaster Medical Service (NDMS) recruits personnel for specific vacancies, plans for training opportunities, and coordinates the deployment of the teams.
Primary components of Triage:
A. Sorting and prioritizing patients
B. Managing scarce resources to optimize their use13
Disaster triage: Used in mass casualty incidents that overwhelms local and regional healthcare systems. Disaster triage protocols both prioritize salvageable patients for treatment and ration resources to ensure the greatest good for the greatest number.
Triage protocols classify patient's into1 of 3 categories signified by standardized color
Codes: 1) those who will survive whether they receive care or not (green and yellow),
Codes: 2) those who will benefit significantly from interventions (red), and
Codes: 3) those who are likely to die despite maximal medical effort (blue or black)
Common disease out breaks following disaster: Outbreaks of infectious diseases following hurricanes, cyclones, floods, tsunamis and earthquakes are not uncommon in the developing world. They are rare in developed countries. Most post-disaster disease is spawned by poor sanitation, lack of safe drinking water and contaminated food.
Strategies for prevention of communicable diseases Before Disaster are: The first phase of disaster policy making is to clarify, needs. For primary prevention, the most important risk factors of communicable diseases should be determined. The most significant risk factors in disasters are population movement and displacement.
Post disaster communicable diseases prevention activities focus on: Emergency medical care, provision of shelter and site planning, water and sanitation, safe food preparation, nutrition, case management, medical supplies and vector control. Moreover, health education and providing the health of humanitarian workers is a critical point.
PTSP- The most immediate and typical reaction to a calamity is shock, which at first manifests as numbness or denial. Quickly-or eventually-shock can give way to an overemotional state that often includes high levels of anxiety, guilt or depression.