Disaster management is how we deal with the human, material, economic or environmental impacts of said disaster, it is the process of how we “prepare for, respond to and learn from the effects of major failures”. Though often caused by nature, disasters can have human origins.

1. Environmental Health - Disaster Management | ChandriJee (DrPH 11)
Definition:
→WHO defines Disaster as "any occurrence that causes damage,
ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of health and
health services, on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary
response from outside the affected community or area”
→Public health practitioners would characterize a disaster as a
"sudden, extraordinary calamity or catastrophe, which affects or
threatens health".
→ an event that constitute a serious disruption of the functioning of a
community or national affairs involving widespread human, material,
economy or environmental losses and impacts which exceeds the ability
of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources
and requires extensive mobilization of resources (NADMA).
Scope:
Disaster Management is an inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary field
devoted to various aspects of disaster management across societies and
cultures. Disaster management main aim is to provide disaster
management for public and private sector so they can plan, manage,
and evaluate interventions in the field of disaster management
Types of disasters:
Steps in Disaster Management:
Vulnerability and capacity assessment → Vulnerability is the degree to
which a population, individual or organization is unable to anticipate,
cope with, resist and recover from the impacts of disasters (Blaikie et al.
1994)
Disaster preparedness - To take actions ahead of time to be ready for an
emergency (National emergency planning process, strategic plans and
operational plans)
Disaster response - To protect people and property in the wake of an
emergency, disaster or crisis
Disaster mitigation - To prevent future emergencies and take steps to
minimize their effects
Disaster Rehabilitation, reconstruction and Recovery - To rebuild after a
disaster in an effort to return operations back to normal
These aspects of Disaster Management correspond to the 2 phases in
the Disaster Cycle,
1, Risk Reduction Phase, before a Disaster → the concept and practice
of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyse and
manage the causal factors of disasters, including through reduced
exposure to hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property,
sustainable management of land and the environment and improved
preparedness of individuals, community and agencies to face Disasters
(NADMA).
2. Recovery Phase, after a Disaster → Rehabilitation and reconstruction
Step 1: Vulnerability and capacity assessment
a. Identify hazards and their possible effects (risk analysis)
Vulnerability assessment informs strategies for reducing the
vulnerability of development programmes to disruption; it enables
emergency prevention, mitigation and preparedness measures
b. Hazard Mapping
The average frequency of occurrence and location of most extreme
events can be determined with some degree of accuracy → can be used
to predict the scale od possible disaster and determine method of
evacuation
c. Vulnerability analysis of water-supply systems
— to provide water for firefighting;
— to prevent unnecessary loss of stored treated water;
— to develop and maintain adequate amounts of potable water;
— to check if dams are in working conditions
d. Assessment of environmental health vulnerability
—Disparities and priority need in such areas as water supply, drainage,
sanitation, refuse and waste disposal, housing, and food hygiene should
be documented.
—The prevalence of vector-borne and contagious diseases by region and
by socioeconomic group should also be integrated into comprehensive
risk planning.
—location and safety of industrial facilities in relation to settlements
should be reviewed from the point of view of air, soil and water
contamination, as well as the risk of radiation, fire, explosion and
accidental poisonous emissions.
Such baseline surveys can reveal who is more likely to suffer from an
emergency directly related to environmental health as well as where this
is most likely to occur (eg. Bhopal Incident)
e. Describing communities, their environment and the effects of hazards
Purpose is to be able to understand their vulnerability to the hazards
identified and mapped and the likely effects of the disasters. The
capacity of communities and local services and organizations to resist
and survive disasters is a key determinant of their vulnerability!!!!
f. Ongoing monitoring of vulnerability
vigilance work should be the responsibility of national, regional and local
emergency-management agencies, Project planners, urban designers
and other professionals should systematically
Step 2: Disaster/Emergency Preparedness
a. National legislation and national policy for disaster management

2. Environmental Health - Disaster Management | ChandriJee (DrPH 11)
b. Plans and procedures for disaster management and the coordination
of emergency response at international, national and subnational levels.
c. The strengthening of institutional and human resources for disaster
management.
d. The establishment and management of stocks of relief supplies and
equipment and the identification of transportation options.
e. Public education, public awareness and community participation in
disaster management.
f. The collection, analysis and dissemination of information related to
emergencies and disasters that are likely to occur in the region.
file:///C:/Users/Hp/Downloads/Disaster%20Risk%20Reduction%20in%
20Malaysia%20Status%20Report%202020.pdf
1. Identify the hazards and estimate their effects
2. Assess the likely needs
The main types of need to consider are early warning, clothing,
health care, evacuation, food, sanitation, shelter and water.
3. Discuss the needs
4. Determine the operational procedures and review existing priorities
5. Assign the responsibilities
6. Make an inventory of local capacity and available resources
7. Review steps 2–5
8. Identify critical areas
9. Confirm priorities
10. Finalize the plan
Step 3: Disaster/Emergency Response
The aim of emergency response is to provide immediate assistance to
maintain life, improve health and support the morale of the affected
population. Such assistance may range from providing specific but
limited aid, such as assisting refugees with transport, temporary shelter,
and food, to establishing semi-permanent settlement in camps and
other locations. It also may involve initial repairs to damaged
infrastructure, e.g. flooded sanitation systems, and the control of
chemical hazards. Much of the technical literature devoted to
emergencies and disasters deals with the actions to be taken in the relief
phase.
a. Assessment
Emergency assessments should allow the following (Adams, 1999):
— an initial decision to be made on whether assistance is needed;
— a decision to be made on whether local capacity is adequate or
external resources are required;
— priorities for intervention to be established and an intervention
strategy identified;
— necessary resources to be identified;
— base-line data to be collected, to facilitate monitoring;
— information to be collected for fund-raising and advocacy work
Types of field assessment:
— on-site visual assessment, with both structured and non-structured
observation techniques (e.g. a health observation walk);
— expert measurement and testing (e.g. water quality testing, or
diagnosis of mechanical failure of a pump);
— surveys, to provide statistically valid information from a sample of the
population;
— interviews with key informants, community leaders, groups of
disaster-affected people, focus groups or household members;
— participatory techniques, such as ranking or diagramming, to gain a
rapid understanding of the way the disaster has affected different parts
of the population and what peoples’ own assessment of the situation
and options for response might be.
b. Evacuation
Is an important component of prevention, preparedness and response.
It involves the temporary transfer of a population from areas at risk of
disaster to a safer location
— language used should be simple and non-technical;
— if different warning systems are used, they should not give conflicting
messages, or people will tend to ignore them;
— messages should state clearly the exact nature of the impending
threat and its implications for the target population;
— the potential victims of a disaster should be clearly identified
Environmental health problems associated with evacuations:
Any large-scale population movements into an area are of primary
concern for environmental health.
→In particular, people are often moved into areas where there are no
piped water supplies. Relocation can result in high population densities,
associated with wholly inadequate water supplies and sanitation. There
is almost always an increased risk of faecal–oral transmission of diseases
related to poor hygiene.
→ Contact with pathogens not found in the home area (e.g. the malarial
parasite), including those transmitted by vectors unfamiliar to the
evacuated population. Generally, the evacuated population will be more
susceptible to these diseases than the local population, as occurs in
areas endemic for malaria.
→The relocation of a population into high-density emergency
settlement will usually greatly increase the risk of outbreaks of common
childhood diseases. Measles is a particular risk when the population has
low immunization coverage.
→Health conditions and nutritional status before displacement are also
important.
→Evacuation can also place people in the vicinity of unfamiliar
environmental hazards (e.g. dispersal into damaged industrial areas
where a range of toxic substances are stored)
c. Environmental health measures
d. environmental health activities during emergencies
e. Personnel management in emergencies
f. Equipment and supplies
g. Transportation and logistics
h. Telecommunications
i. Rules, standards and guidelines in disaster response
Step 4: Disaster mitigation
https://www.adrc.asia/acdr/2017/documents/7%20Malaysia%20Natio
nal%20Disaster%20Management%20Agency%20(NADMA)%20and%20i
ts%20philosophy,%20Mr.%20Zainal%20Azman%20Bin%20Abu%20Sem
an,%20Deputy%20Director%20General,%20NADMA.pdf
Step 5: Disaster Rehabilitation, reconstruction and Recovery
The transition from relief to recovery
Sustainable development
Increasing individual and institutional capacity
Assessment for recovery
→Reconstruction of housing
→ Reconstruction of water-supply and sanitation systems
→Secondary damage assessment
→Secondary vulnerability assessment
→Recovery planning