HE03 - Emergency Preparedness and Safety Management

• Disaster -  Is an unexpected tragic event that seriously disrupts the function of a community and causes individual material, environmental and monetary losses, that goes beyond the community’s capacity to cope using its own resources.
• Natural Hazard - Catastrophic events caused by forces of nature or environmental factors that injure people and damage property.
• Man Made or Technological Disasters – can be caused or influenced by human often because of negligence and human error among other factors.
• Geophysical - related to the condition on earth’s physical structure and substances.Ex. Earthquakes, Volcano eruptions, Landslides, and Sinkholes
• Hydrological - related to the properties, distribution and effects of water on the earth’s surface.Ex. Tsunami, Flooding, Flash floods, and Storm surge
• Atmospheric/Meteorological - related to the condition in the earth’s atmosphere.Ex. Weather Disturbances (Tropical storms, cyclones, hurricanes), Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, El Nino and La Nina
• Other natural disasters that may occur naturally or without intervention.Ex. Airborne Disease (outbreak), Agricultural Pestilence and Wildfires
• Disaster Risk - Combination of the probability of an event and its negative consequences. Product of the possible damage caused by a hazard due to the vulnerability within a community.
• Badly Planned and Managed Urban Development. - Urban development can change the environment for instance, the expansion of cemented and solid areas, which prevent rain from being absorbed by the soil thereby increasing flood risk, particularly in low-lying areas.
• Environmental Degradation - Result due to erosion and weakening of the quality of the natural environment.
• Poverty - Causes disasters and disasters cause poverty.
• Climate Change - Causing, through fossil fuel burning, clearing forests, and other practices that increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Hazard - Condition or situation, which has the potential to do harm.
• Earthquake - Shaking of the earth’s surface caused by rapid movement of the earth’s crust or outer layer
• Floods - An overflowing of a large amount of water beyond its normal confines, especially over what is normally dry land.
• Drought - Causes serious environmental imbalances, which includes, water-supply reservoirs become empty, wells dry up and there is acute water shortage and extensive crop damage.
• Cyclones - Low-pressure system which develops in the tropics and is sufficiently intense to produce sustained gale force winds of at least 63km/h.
• Nuclear Disasters - Is a type of explosion deriving its force from nuclear reactions of fission and fusion.
• Biological Disasters - They are delivered using dusting airplanes or small perfumes atomizers. They have ability to generate immediate effects.
• Chemical Disasters - Caused by excessive use and misuse of chemicals in industries are called chemical disasters.
• Fire Accidents - Caused due to fire are quite common Fire results in heavy damage both in terms of life and property.
• Road Accidents - Travel accidents are quite common. An accident which involves a no. of people becomes a disaster.
• Terrorism - Results in loss of life and property.
• Epidemic - Occurs when a disease attacks a large no of people at one time. It spreads at rapid rate among human population.
• Physical Perspective - Includes the visible or tangible materials whether natural or man-made.
• Psychological Perspective - Refers to the people’s emotional, cognitive, or interpersonal reaction to difficulties.
• Socio-cultural Perspective - Centers on the response of the people, whether victims or not, to emergency situations, also degree of cooperation.
• Economic Perspective - Disruption of economic activities flow of goods and services media plays an important role in this context.
• Political Perspective - Deals with how government services are used to reduce loss inequities in societies create political prejudice in developing plans.
• Biological Perspective - The potential for infections or communicable diseases after a disaster, the entry of a virulent organism becomes easier in a crowd area virus transmission happens through dispersal, direct contact, and biological agents.
• First Aid – Immediate help provided to a sick or injured person until professional medical help arrives or becomes available.
• Basic Life Support – Emergency procedure that consists of recognizing respiratory or cardiac or both and the proper application of CPR to maintain life until a victim recovers or advanced life support is available.
• Article 12 no.4 of Act No.3815 of the Philippine Revised Penal Code Book One - “any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an injury by mere accident without fault or intention of causing it” is exempt from criminal liability.
• Common Transmittable Disease – Infectious diseases are those can spread from one person to another and develop when germs invade the body and cause illness.
• Disease Transmission:

  • Direct Contact
  • Indirect Contact
  • Airborne transmission
  • Bites
• I. Assessing Responsiveness

  A - Alert

  V - Responsive to Voice

  P - Responsive to Pain

  U – Unresponsive / Unconscious
• Airway - allows air to enter the lungs for the person to breathe.
• Breathing

  While maintaining an open airway, quickly check an unconscious person for breathing by doing the Look, Listen and Feel (LLF) technique for no more than 10 seconds.
• Circulation

  Pulse – Check for definitive pulse at carotid area for adult or child, while brachial for infant

  Bleeding – Quickly look for severe bleeding by looking over the persons body from head to toe.

  Shock – Always look for the signals of shock whenever you are giving care.

  Skin color, Temperature, and Moisture – Assessment of skin temperature, color, and condition can tell you about the patients circulatory system.
• SECOND ASSESSMENT

  S - Signs and Symptoms

  A - Allergies

  M - Medications

  P – Pertinent past medical history

  L – Last intake and output

  E – Events leading up to the injury or illness