Disaster Preparedness Daily News

Posts Tagged ‘disaster management’

When a terrorist bomb explodes, a tornado rips through a town, a hurricane devastates a region, or wildfires ravage homes and businesses, plastic surgeons are not typically atop the list of emergency responders. But they should be, UT Southwestern Medical Center plastic surgeons and disaster experts recommend in the September issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Including plastic surgeons in disaster-relief efforts could improve long-term outcomes for victims of catastrophes, particularly in medical cases that might involve physical scarring and nerve damage, but which can be made worse by lack of quick attention.

“Plastic surgeons are often being overlooked in disaster-planning efforts, particularly in developing medical-team responders,” said Dr. Rod Rohrich, chairman of plastic surgery at UT Southwestern and the study’s senior author. “Plastic surgeons, particularly those based at academic medical centers and/or major trauma centers, are far more engaged in complex reconstruction procedures on a day-to-day basis than cosmetic surgeons. We are intimately involved in preventing and treating face and tissue scarring, treating burns, and handling sensitive nerve-related injuries, some of which can be best served by having plastic surgeons on the scene or at least near the front lines where disaster victims are being evacuated.”

Examining the on-site evidence of several disasters, the authors identified four pivotal areas in trauma care where plastic surgeons have added expertise:
•    soft tissue trauma;
•    upper and lower extremity trauma;
•    facial trauma; and
•    burn management. Read the rest of this entry »

The International Telecommunication Union along with the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO) organized a three-day Forum last year on using ICT for effective disaster management. The meeting at Ochos Rios, Jamaica adopted a road map for better coordination in the use of state-of-the-art information and communication technologies (ICT) aimed at improved disaster preparedness and mitigation. This includes:

•  formulation of appropriate policies
•  deployment of appropriate technologies
•  ratification and implementation of the Tampere Convention for free movement of technical equipment in case of disaster
•  capacity building for users of ICT services and applications
•  establishment of national platforms that help countries to be ready to use ICT when disasters strike
•  development of common regional strategies on integrating ICT in all phases of disaster mitigation: early warning, preparedness, response and relief

Speaking at the opening session of the Forum, Mr Philip Paulwell, Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy & Commerce of Jamaica, reiterated that the Caribbean countries are among the most vulnerable areas in the world to tropical cyclonic events. “Following the 2004 Ivan hurricane disaster and Emily in 2005 it became evident that the lack of communications was one of the significant weaknesses of the regional disaster management framework,” Mr Paulwell said. “Both intra-agency communications as well as public information have been identified as requiring improvement.” He added that we should “move forward through the creation of an effective process for the development of early-warning information using ICT and media broadcast technologies, develop a publicly accessible website containing real-time disaster monitoring information, and implement a regional database of survey results and findings for selected disaster events to support the project’s engagement with policy-makers.”

Read the rest of this entry »