Introduction

The natural disaster selected for this discussion happens to be earthquake. Like many other disasters, earthquakes happen to be not only destruction to property, but also detrimental to the health and wellbeing of those who live in affected areas. Routinely, they also result in multiple fatalities. In the subsequent sections of this text, various natural disaster and emergency management concepts will be addressed from the perspective of earthquakes.

Discussion

1. Fundamental Principles

From the onset, it would be prudent to note that in efforts to manage disasters in an effective manner, the relevance of taking into consideration and incorporating the various healthcare incident management principles cannot be overstated. Some of the fundamental principles that would come in handy in the context of an earthquake disaster are inclusive of, but they are not limited to; mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. In as far as mitigation is concerned, there would be need for stakeholders at the federal, state, as well as local levels to, amongst other things, collaborate in efforts to educate persons on how to minimize injuries and fatalities during an earthquake. Stakeholders on this front are inclusive of government agencies, emergency services, charitable organizations, healthcare institutions, etc. Next, preparedness in this case would be in relation to the handling of an earthquake disaster when it does occur and would likely focus on preparedness undertakings and plans, i.e. training of staff members on the key procedural methodologies.

When it comes to response, the focus would be on the actual courses of action taken to secure the wellbeing and lives of all those persons affected by the earthquake. Thus, on this front, we could think of this as the stage at which preparedness plans are operationalized. Lastly, we have recovery which largely relates to the resumption to normalcy i.e. in relation to offering additional long-term assistance to those who have been affected in one way or another by the earthquake, i.e. by connecting them to key resources for mental health or financial assistance.

2. Triaging of Victims

In the case of an earthquake, efforts to triage victims could be hampered by a number of factors. One such factor is the sheer number of victims involved. Owing to the nature of an earthquake in terms destructive capability and possibility of impacting an extensive area, the number of victims presenting with various injuries is likely to be high, negatively affecting patient care prioritization efforts. This is especially the case given that as Lyons, Brown and Wears (2007) point out, staff must spend adequate time collecting information from the current patient to make the best possible triage decision (79).

The other factor that could affect triaging happens to be the unavailability of resources, i.e. in terms of adequate staff or facilities and resources to handle triage operations during a disaster of this magnitude (Bazyar, Farrokhi, and Khankeh, 2019). This is more so the case given that other organizational resources are likely to be strained and overstretched during an earthquake disaster. Third, triaging of victims could also be hampered by inadequate information shared by casualties, or found on casualties, because the said casualties are likely to be brought in unconscious and/or confused.

3. Kinds of Injuries

There are diverse injuries that those affected by the earthquake are likely to present with. It is important to note that in this particular case, one way of identifying such injuries would be via an assessment of other earthquake scenarios that have been experienced in...

…need to put measures in place to facilitate information sharing. This is especially crucial given the need to ensure coordinated approach and see to it that functions are not being duplicated. Agencies at the local level would be especially instrumental in the provision of access to crucial data, i.e. in relation to availability and integrity of infrastructure deemed crucial on the rescue front.

7. Possible Pitfalls

There are a number of pre- and post-incident pitfalls that ought to be highlighted in this case. Knowledge of these pitfalls is important as measures can be put in place to ensure that disaster management and response efforts are not limited or curtailed. One key pitfall happens to be failure to allocate response resources in a timely and adequate manner. In the healthcare realm, such resources could be inclusive of manpower (i.e. properly trained staff to address the needs of casualties presenting with blunt force trauma, fractures, etc.) and equipment (i.e. patient mobility apparatus, etc.).

Yet another pitfall that ought to be identified in this case is failure to have in place well-designed response procedures and parameters, i.e. in relation to frameworks that allow for resource sharing between hospitals.

Next, one other pitfall which could be easily overlooked in this case is performance assessment. Performance of response measures would be instrumental in this case because of the need to adapt responses to possible earthquakes in the future.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, it would be prudent to note that natural disasters could be quite devastating as a consequence of their intensity and scope. In the past, earthquakes have been known to wreak havoc across diverse regions of the country resulting in thousands of fatalities and serious injuries among those affected. It is for this reason…