and healthcare.docx
- 1. Catastrophes, disasters, and healthcare Catastrophes, disasters, and healthcareThe first one is the ongoing health care; second one is the immediate health care while the third one is dealing with mental issues following a disaster (Fink & Stinson, 2007). There are also the mental health issues that the affected people face after a disaster. There has been a worldwide concern on how to treat those people affected by disasters since their healthcare may be more demanding as compared to other normal patients who suffer from the common diseases. This calls for a higher standard of treating these people.DiscussionThe immediate health careOnce a disaster has happened, states gather their best medical practitioners to deal with the victims of the disaster. They include the paramedics, emergency response unit, and the doctors. They are well trained to deal with these situations. The immediate health care is one of the most important stages of health care (Fink & Stinson, 2007). This is because the victims have just undergone a trauma. Most to them are in a fragile mental condition. During a disaster like fire there is the trauma that is caused by shock. The pain of watching everything they once had destroyed, the loss of loved ones, and the loss of their properties (American Red Cross, n.d).The immediate healthcare comes in stages. The first stage is the evacuation of the victims. These victims have to be moved from the area of the natural disaster to an area where they will be safe (International Federation of Red Cross, n.d). This area should be hospitable and should have a welcoming environment. A person who has just undergone a disaster like fire, floods, hurricanes, and hunger will need to go to an environment where they feel safe from all these factors. If it was fire, there is the possibility that this victim will not be able to come close to fire. As we all know, fire is a very important aspect of our lives and we cannot do without.After evacuation, most of the victims who suffered injuries have to be taken to hospitals. They usually suffer injuries that they are either aware of or not (American Red Cross, n.d). They have to be examined to make sure that they did not suffer from any internal injuries. Others may suffer from open wounds and other critical injuries such as fractured bones, burns, malnutrition or from taking excess water in case of floods. Many states have the disaster management program which is well equipped to deal with disasters as soon as they happen. However, in some developing and undeveloped countries this is not the case. These countries rely on other countries to help out when disaster strikes.The other stage of immediate healthcare takes place in form of relief supplies. A lot of victims of disasters like war, refugees, and floods lose everything. They do not have shelter, clothing, or food. These are some of the most basic needs in a human life. Relief supplies may seem farfetched when it comes to healthcare but is part of healthcare. The
- 2. reason behind this is relief supplies comes in form of food, medical supplies, and other donations. This will contribute in the recovery of the victims.The ongoing healthcareAfter the victim have been settled in camps, schools or churches they require a follow up medical attention. Many victims of disasters are so concerned with their losses that not all of them are able to access medical care when need arises (Federal Emergency Management, n.d). Some are so overwhelmed with finding their loved ones that they choose to forego the medical care part. The medical care part is also performed without much care since there are a large number of victims and all of them must be treated. This leads to some of them missing on the most important aspects of treatment and this may lead to future complications. Due to the above reasons the ongoing healthcare is important. It involves a follow up treatment on the victim to ensure that they recuperate without complications. Some of the injuries suffered require that the doctors maintain a regular check up on their patients.Another part of the ongoing healthcare is the supply of medication to all victims. These victims will need to be supplied with medication for their ongoing treatment (World Health Organization, n.db). Most of them are in conditions that they cannot afford medical supplies and therefore they have to rely on relief medical supplies. Some victims like those of hunger need to be followed up carefully since most of them suffer from malnutrition which is takes a very long process to recovery.The ongoing treatment also includes regular check up on all the victims to ensure no contagious diseases have come up. Victims of disasters live in poor conditions. Most of these places are congested with no ventilation, little water and sanitary facilities. This makes it very easy to spread diseases. The states have to make sure that any sign of a disease that spreads through contact, airborne or water borne diseases are treated to protect the rest of the victims (World Health Organization, n.db). The importance in this is because if any contagious disease occurred that spread would be very easy leading to another disaster. It is therefore very important to make sure that these checks are practiced to prevent the spread of such diseases.The mental issuesAfter a disaster a lot of mental issues occur to the victims (World Health Organization, n.da). These mental issues range from depression to stress, trauma, and shock. Most of these victims lose everything in their lives. The victims have to be taken through a very slow program to recovery. They have to be put to a mental situation where they are ready to rebuild their lives. The mental issues are very important to be dealt with at an early stage since ignoring the will lead to more complicated problems.Trauma is one of the most dangerous mental issues if not dealt with (World Health Organization, n.da). It leads to post traumatic stress disorder. This is where the there is a damage to the victim and it may involve physical changes to the brain and the brain chemistry which in turn alters a person response to future stress. This will be accompanied by flash backs of the event leading to the person who is involved in the disaster to be disturbed all the time. Shock can also be a mental issue. It causes the victim to be reluctant to treatment and if not monitored carefully it can lead to slow recovery. The victim is always in pain or in anguish and it may take the victim a few years to recover from this shock.Depression is long term and it’ s also a dangerous mental issue. The victim may fall into depression due to the occurrence of events during the disaster. Most of the victims need to talk to counselors to ensure that they do not fall into depression (Fink & Stinson 2007). This will be a slow process where the victim goes
- 3. through talks with a counselor to help them get over what happened. Some people respond to depression differently. They may go from anger to moments of happiness then outbursts. It is necessary to keep this condition in control.Summary of the key pointsThe immediate healthcare involves evacuation and treatment of all the conditions that are caused firsthand by the disaster. This will also involve settling the victims to more comfortable environments.Ongoing healthcare is both curative and preventive. In curative the medics continue with the treatment of the victims as well as the prevention of further diseases and injuries.Mental issues following a disaster are the final stage of recovery. Here the victims deal with stress, depression, trauma, and shock. The victims are counseled on how to deal with the disaster after math and they are helped to try and relive their lives normally.ReferencesAmerican Red Cross, (n.d). Recover after a disaster. Retrieved on 24th February 2012 from: http://www.redcross.org/Federal Emergency Management, (n.d). Preparedness. Retrieved on 24th February 2012 from http://www.fema.gov/Fink, S. & Stinson, M. (2007). War, catastrophes, displaced persons, refugees, and terrorism. In Markle, W. H., Fisher, M., & Smego, R. A. (Eds), Understanding global health (pp. 176-199). The McGraw-Hill, Columbus, OH. Retrieved on 24th February 2012 from:https://dlweb.dropbox.com/get/Public/Understanding%20Global%20Health%20Cha pte %209.pdf? w=467b7762International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent, (n.d). Disaster Management. Retrieved on 24th February 2012 from: http://www.ifrc.org/World Health Organization, (n.da). Crises and Emergencies. Retrieved on 24th February 2012 from: http://www.who.int/hac/crises/en/World Health Organization, (n.db). Technical Guidelines for Health Action Crises. Retrieved on 24th February 2012 from: http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/en/