Natural disasters, as well as some human-caused disasters, lead to human suffering and create needs that the victims cannot alleviate without assistance. When any disaster strikes, a variety of international organizations offer relief to the affected country. Each organization has different objectives, expertise, and resources to offer, and several hundred may become involved in a single major disaster. In the event of a disaster, the government of the affected country must conduct a needs assessment to determine what emergency supplies and personnel are required. Disaster relief operations are complex and can benefit greatly from careful planning. Improved disaster preparedness can help save lives, reduce the suffering of survivors, and enable communities to restart normal life more quickly. As the efficiency of disaster relief operations is very dependent on the quality of the preparation, Disasters often pose significant health threats. One of the most serious concerns after a disaster, especially a natural disaster, is sanitation. Disruptions in water supplies and sewage systems can pose serious health risks to victims because they decrease the amount and quality of available drinking water and create difficulties in waste disposal. Drinking water can be contaminated by breaks in sewage lines or the presence of animal cadavers in water sources. These factors can facilitate the spread of disease after a disaster. Providing potable drinking water to victims and adopting alternative methods of sanitation must be a priority after a disaster. Food shortages are often an immediate health consequence of disasters. Existing food stocks may be destroyed or disruptions to distribution systems may prevent the delivery of food. This may lead to malnutrition or death of hunger especially in populations which are particularly susceptible to malnutrition, such as children under five years of age and pregnant women.

1. Disaster relief operations
IYUMVA Aimable
BNS Student,
CLARKE
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Kampala

2. Learning objectives
By the end of this lecture, students should be
able:
1. To understand the concept of disaster relief
operations
2. To explain phases of disaster relief and
activities that should be done in each phase.

3. Introduction
• Natural disasters, as well as some human-caused
disasters, lead to human suffering and create needs
that the victims cannot alleviate without assistance.
• When any disaster strikes, a variety of international
organizations offer relief to the affected country.
• Each organization has different objectives, expertise,
and resources to offer, and several hundred may
become involved in a single major disaster.
• In the event of a disaster, the government of the
affected country must conduct a needs assessment to
determine what emergency supplies and personnel are
required.

4. Introduction cont…..
• Disaster relief operations are complex and can
benefit greatly from careful planning.
• Improved disaster preparedness can help save
lives, reduce the suffering of survivors, and
enable communities to restart normal life
more quickly. As the efficiency of disaster
relief operations is very dependent on the
quality of the preparation,

5. • Disasters often pose significant health threats. One of the
most serious concerns after a disaster, especially a natural
disaster, is sanitation.
• Disruptions in water supplies and sewage systems can
pose serious health risks to victims because they decrease
the amount and quality of available drinking water and
create difficulties in waste disposal.
• Drinking water can be contaminated by breaks in sewage
lines or the presence of animal cadavers in water sources.
• These factors can facilitate the spread of disease after a
disaster.
• Providing potable drinking water to victims and adopting
alternative methods of sanitation must be a priority after
a disaster.

6. • Food shortages are often an immediate health
consequence of disasters. Existing food stocks
may be destroyed or disruptions to
distribution systems may prevent the delivery
of food.
• This may lead to malnutrition or death of
hunger especially in populations which are
particularly susceptible to malnutrition, such
as children under five years of age and
pregnant women.

7. Health risks of disaster
• Disasters can also cause disruptions to the health
care infrastructure.
• Hospitals and health centers may suffer structural
damage, or health personnel may be among the
casualties, limiting the ability to provide health
services to disaster victims.
• Emergency Health Kits that contain essential medical
supplies and drugs are often provided to victims as
part of the immediate response to disasters.

8. • Natural disasters do not usually result in infectious
disease outbreaks. However, certain circumstances can
increase the chance for disease transmission.
• Immediately after a disaster, most increases in disease
incidence are caused by fecal contamination of water
and food supplies.
• This contamination usually results in intestinal disease.
Outbreaks of communicable diseases are directly
associated with population density and displacement.
• If disaster victims live in overcrowded conditions or are
forced to leave their homes, the risk of a disease
outbreak increases.
• An increased demand on water and food supplies,
elevated risk of contamination, and disruption of
sanitation services all contribute to the risk of a disease
outbreak.

9. • These kits are designed to meet the primary
health care needs of people without access to
medical facilities.
• Each kit covers the needs of about 10,000 persons
for three months
• The twelve essential drugs in the basic kit include
anti-inflammatories, an antacid, a disinfectant, oral
dehydration salts, an antimalarial, a basic antibiotic
(effective against the most common bacteria), and
an ointment for eye infections.

10. •These medicines can treat the most common
illnesses of disaster victims, such as anemia, pain,
diarrhea, fever, respiratory tract infections, eye and
ear infections, measles, and skin conditions.
• The basic kit also includes simple medical supplies
such as cotton, soap, bandages, thermometers,
some medical instruments, health cards and record
books, and items to help create a clean water
supply.

11. • In the longer term after a disaster, the risk for
vector-borne diseases increases.
• Vector-borne diseases are spread to humans by
insects and other arthropods, such as ticks or
mosquitoes.
• Vector-borne diseases are of particular concern
following heavy rains and floods.
• Insecticides may be washed away from buildings
and the number of mosquito breeding sites may
increase.

12. Cont….
• During disaster relief, its needed to provide
valuable supplies and personnel to victims and
help to minimize the social, economic, and
health consequences of a disaster.
• Health concerns, such as potential disease
outbreak, malnutrition, and poor sanitation,
should be addressed immediately after a
disaster to avoid serious health consequences.

13. Phases of disaster relief
• Particularly with disaster relief, it's important
to remember that the opportunity to make a
difference does not end when media coverage
dies down.
• Rather, there are four phases of relief work:
From the first, which begins as soon as
disaster strikes, through the fourth, continuing
the efforts of future prevention and risk
reduction.

14. Phases cont…..
• Phase 1 begins immediately, focusing on
restoring order to the area.
• Phase 2 quickly follows as residents work toward
stabilization and a return to daily activities.
• Phases 3 and 4 are marked by community-led
rebuilding and ongoing preparedness education
in order to mitigate future catastrophe by
building better and creating an informed
population.

15. Phase 1: Immediate Phase 2: Intermediate Phase 3: Long term
Phase 4: Disaster
preparedness
Time frame
Day of disaster to a
week after
weeks after disaster 6
months to 1 year after
Weeks/months after
disaster 1 to 15 years
after
Ongoing/continuous
Goal
Short term triage to
establish order
Stabilization
Rebuilding for a better
future
Emergency risk
reduction and
prevention
Services provided
Rescue, medical
attention, food, water,
temporary shelter
Food, water, long-
term shelter,
sanitation, healthcare,
return to school and
work
Engagement of local
population in planning
and reconstruction of
communities
Training, policy and
procedure creation,
relationship building
among service
providers and
communities
Media
Extensive coverage;
high emotional pull
Coverage declines as
first emergency
Coverage continues to
decline
Little coverage; no
emotional pull

16. Phase I
• Also called emergency relief phase
• During the first phase of emergency relief, victims
need the minimum requirements for survival; such as
food, water, blanket, and medicines
• The relief effort for this phase can be prepared in
advance by government agencies.
• Phase 1 support may be better implemented by
national or international organizations able to
assemble resources from unaffected areas and those
that have the knowledge and capacity to act
immediately and with impact.

17. Phase I cont….
• In this phase, the most crucial issue is the
operational time. Goods should reach victims as
soon as possible since the faster arrival means the
higher possibility to save more lives.
• The period of the first phase generally takes
approximately some days to a week. After this
period, it enters into the second phase when some
victims are able go back to their homes while some
victims whose houses were seriously damaged still
remain at shelters.

18. Phase II
• An intermediate phase of disaster relief which aim at
stabilization of affected community and Relief efforts
for victims living at shelters.
• In some cases, stress can lead to suicide and domestic
abuse, Referrals to mental health professional should
continue as long as the need exists.
• Reintroduce programmes such as the Expanded
Programme on Immunization (EPI);
• Reinstate the care and treatment of chronic illnesses
and infectious diseases such as TB and HIV/AIDS.
• This transition must be coordinated by the nurse and
other health workers concerned.

19. Phase III
• It is a Long term phase to rebuild for a better future
• The third phase is when most victims are able to go
back home but some need to stay longer and are
moved to temporary houses.
• local population are engaged in planning and
reconstruction of communities

20. Phase IV
• victims resume normal lives
• For the fourth phase, although victims have resumed
normal life, they still need some support in order to
restore their quality of life faster; there are still some
donors wishing to provide support.
• The requirement of goods will be the most varied by
the individual needs of victims. This support might be
performed directly by each pair of individual donors
and victims.
• Training, policy and procedure creation, relationship
building among service providers and communities

22. References
• https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/giving-
strategies/disaster-relief/disaster-relief.shtml
• Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_manag
ement