Disaster Management: A State-of-the-Art Review

Abstract

Disaster management involves the pillars of emergency management: planning and preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery. Emergencies are serious events that threaten health, life, and property and can be managed within the capabilities of the affected organization. Disasters, on the other hand, are hypercomplex emergencies, requiring resources not immediately available. Disaster management follows the principles of emergency management, and emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and teamwork. Lack of resources will challenge people and organizations both in effects of disasters and the ability to manage them. Poverty, climate change, governance, and education are foundations to improve capacity. Hospitals play an important role in disaster response and can prepare accordingly. Plans, to be effective, must be implemented through appropriately-targeted exercises. Building on an all-hazards approach, to more hazard-specific considerations can improve disaster preparedness as well as day-to-day efficiency. Disaster management is complex and crucial. These principles are explored through the fictional tale of 1Tucci, a coastal city in the worst flood anyone can remember. Well, almost anyone…

Health inequities and social determinants of health in refugee and immigrant communities.

“…Hypercomplex Emergencies Bly et al (2020) use the term "hypercomplex emergency" to describe the collective impact of multiple emergencies (pandemic, climate degradation, political upheaval, and polarization) as more significant than the sum of its parts. Bly's notion of multiple emergencies aligns closely with Gravlee's (2020) theorizing about syndemics that draws on earlier work during the HIV crisis in the 1980s.…”