Definition of Disaster:
According to WHO, “A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.
Principles of Disaster Management in Bangladesh:
Disaster Preparedness and Response:
1. Prevention and alleviation of consequence:
- Forecasting the disaster using modern technology.
- Ascertaining the risk by periodically enlisting the support of various social groups.
- Evacuation of people to a nearest safe shelter.
- Promoting community preparedness by such activities like exercise in first aid, exercise in providing temporary shelter, sanitary exercises including installation and management of safe water supply, use of sanitary latrine, controlled refuse disposal, fly control, vector control, rodent control etc.
- Improving professional qualities of local health personnel.
2. Immediate emergency care:
- Whatever be the type of disaster, the local authority is required to set up an emergency committee. The first task of the committee is to inform or instruct the people by using loudspeakers and to mobilize volunteers so as to dispel fear and panic.
- The first priority following a disaster should be care of the injured. The injured and afflicted victim must be removed to the nearest medical establishment for emergency care. Those requiring specialized surgical care or medical treatment are to be removed by ambulance, motor boats etc. to the nearest medical center with good facilities.
3. Management of aftermath:
- Environmental sanitation,
- Public health monitoring and prevention of epidemics,
- Vaccination against six major children disease,
- Food and nutrition.
4. Rehabilitation & reconstruction:
- Reconstruction and rehabilitation are time consuming. Nevertheless planning for reconstruction start immediately after the disaster and it is important to include measures for the reconstruction of the damage area in the national disaster plan.
- Planners should play due attention not only to the erection of new households and public buildings but also to industry, agriculture and all other socioeconomic aspects of reconstruction.
- Statistical information on the following points is required before the planning and reconstruction-
- Number of affected person, there geographical distribution, age group, occupation etc.
- Damage to water supply and health center.
- Number of standard of house destroyed.
- Available manpower, materials, equipment and financial sources.
- The authorities responsible for rehabilitation should establish priorities reconstruct roads and public buildings, execute programmers’ for replacing destroyed housing, exercise economic and technical control of labor and material.
Maria Khatun Mona is a Founder and Editor of Nursing Exercise Blog. She is a Nursing and Midwifery Expert. Currently she is working as a Registered Nurse at Evercare Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has great passion in writing different articles on Nursing and Midwifery. Mail her at “maria.mona023@gmail.com”