Natural disasters often increase morbidity and mortality rates. Taking appropriate measures to maintain environmental health helps to reduce or eliminate the risks of preventable disease and death. Such measures contribute not only to the health of individuals in and near disaster-stricken areas, bu...t they also contribute to decreasing the high costs of providing emergency health services in the aftermath of disaster.
This document is divided into several parts. The first section primarily addresses the effects of natural disasters on environmental health conditions and services. In the second section, environmental health measures are described that should be undertaken in each of three time frames: the predisaster, disaster, and postdisaster periods.
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Disaster Preparedness Training Programme
This field action guide focuses on the first psychosocial assessment to be conducted just after a calamity strikes or just after a major event in an ongoing armed conflict. While it is necessary to update that initial assessment as the emergency situation evolves through the different phases of reco...very (briefly outlined in the “phase chart”), this mini book is meant to guide the formation of a team to assess the psychosocial as well as physical needs of children, their families and the communities and then the recommendations the team makes for ensuing support.
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Esta publicación hace eco de la obra titulada Administración sanitaria de emergencia
con posterioridad a los desastres naturales (Publicación Científica No. 407) editada en
1981, pero es un libro totalmente nuevo, de organización reciente y con mucho material original. Esboza la función que... desempeña el sector salud en la reducción del efecto de los desastres y describe la manera de realizar esa tarea. Estas pautas tienen por fin presentar un marco seguro para que los administradores adopten decisiones acertadas para la gestión de actividades del sector salud destinadas a menguar las consecuencias de los desastres. No se han formulado con la intención de abordar todas las situaciones imprevistas. De hecho, quizá sea preciso adaptar algunos de los procedimientos recomendados para atender ciertas necesidades locales.
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