What are Disasters and Conflicts

Welcome to Rehabilitation in Disaster and Conflict Situations Content Development Project. Please do not edit unless you are involved in this project, but please come back in the near future to check out new information!! If you would like to get involved in this project and earn accreditation for your contributions, please get in touch!

Original Editors - Add your name/s here if you are the original editor/s of this page.  User Name

Top Contributors - Naomi O'Reilly, Aminat Abolade, Tarina van der Stockt, Kim Jackson, Vidya Acharya, Jess Bell, Olajumoke Ogunleye and Ewa Jaraczewska      

Introduction

Disaster, as defined by the United Nations, is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or society, which involve widespread human, material, economic or environmental impacts that exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources . 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. According to the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies a disaster occurs when a hazard impacts on vulnerable people. The combination of hazards, vulnerability and inability to reduce the potential negative consequences of risk results in disaster .

(VULNERABILITY+ HAZARD ) / CAPACITY = DISASTER

When we think of disasters, we often automatically think of the phenomenon that has caused them – for example the earthquake, cyclone, or flood. In reality, though, this event is simply the ‘hazard’ – and the disaster itself is caused by a combination of the hazard, our own exposure to the phenomenon (such as whether we live in the area affected) and our vulnerability to it (how we have prepared or mitigated for it). Natural disasters and armed conflict have marked human existence throughout history and have always caused peaks in mortality and morbidity.

This article examines the advances in the humanitarian response to public health over the past fifty years and the challenges currently faced in managing natural disasters and armed conflict .

Types of Disaster

Sudden Onset Disasters

According to the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies sudden onset disasters, often termed natural disasters are naturally occurring physical phenomena caused either by rapid or slow onset events that have immediate impacts on human health and secondary impacts causing further death and suffering. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction characterises Natural Disasters in relation to their magnitude or intensity, speed of onset, duration and area of extent e.g. earthquakes are of short duration and usually affect a relatively small region whereas droughts are slow to develop and fade away and often affect large regions . These disasters can be as a result of geophysical, hydrological, meteorological or biological. :

Earthquakes

Earthquakes are sudden tremors or vibrations that occur in the Earth’s crust that occur as a result of tectonic plates colliding or trying to slide past each. This causes a build-up of pressure between the two plates in the Earth’s crust along what is called a fault line. When the plates move at the fault line sudden pressure is released and causes a violent shaking of the earth’s surface in the form of an earthquake.

Earthquakes in particular cause a significant burden of injuries, mainly orthopaedic injuries of the limb with fracture incidence shown to correlate with the Richter Magnitude Scale, where high-energy earthquakes cause more fractures. MacKenzie et al found that fractures accounted for 65% of the total injuries following earthquakes with lower extremities fractures accounting for 59% of those injuries. Bortolin et al found that 10% of fractures involved the pelvic ring, while spinal column fractures accounted for 17% of the total injuries, with more than 4% of these involving spinal cord injury. Many patients also present with crush type injuries that can progress to crush syndrome and compartment syndromes with rhabdomyolisis a common complication. Other injuries seen include amputations, spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries, although numbers seen may depend on a number of additional local factors, including the speed and quality of extraction and the availability of appropriate intensive care and surgical interventions.

Potential Key Issues for Acute Rehabilitation Providers: Damage to health infrastructure across a wide area, overwhelming numbers of complex trauma patients, internal displacement creating challenging discharge environments and ongoing risk of aftershocks and secondary disasters, such as landslides.

Tsunamis

A tsunami, meaning 'harbour wave' in Japanese, is most often the result of an underwater earthquake, which creates a very large coastal wave. Generally the worlds largest tsunamis occur at convergent plate boundaries where two tectonic plates crash into each other with the collison forcing one tectonic plate down underneath the other. As this happens the leading edge of the top plate catches on the bottom plate and pressure starts to build, which is eventually released in the form of the most powerful type of earthquake, called a megathrust earthquake. When these megathrust earthquakes occur under water large amount of water is displaced and a tsunami wave occurs.

Tsunamis create a much different context compared to earthquakes and have a much higher mortality ratio of approximately 9 deaths for every 1 injury, with most deaths as a result of drowning. If the tsunami hits an area affected by an earthquake, it is possible that responders have to manage both events simultaneously, creating further challenges. Injury types tend to be made up of mild extremity trauma, including lacerations and also minor fractures but high infection rates are common as a result of delayed care, and challenging discharge environments with continuous exposure to wet and contaminated conditions. Pneumonia is also common following a tsunami, due to aspiration of seawater requiring respiratory assessment and management.

Volcanic Activity

A volcano is an opening in the Earth’s crust that allows magma, ash and gasses to erupt from below the surface. It is made up of a magma chamber, a vent, a crater and a cone shaped mountain made of layers of ash and lava.

Magma chamber → Magma from the Earth’s mantle collects in a large underground pool. The magma in a magma chamber is under great pressure trying to force its way upward to the surface.

Vent → The magma forces its way up through the vent which is like a chimney for the volcano. There is the main vent but there can also be secondary vents on the side or flank of the volcano. These secondary vents produce secondary cones on the flank of the volcano.

Crater → The crater or caldera  is the bowl shaped feature on top of the volcano that the magma from the vent erupts form.

Cone shaped mountain → The majority of volcanoes are cone shaped mountains. They are formed of alternating layers of lava and ash from multiple eruptions. As the volcano erupts a layer of lava forms, the ash cloud formed during the eruption later cools and falls, this is known as pyroclastic flow. This forms a layer of ash on top of  the lava. This process is repeated each time the volcano erupts.

The majority of volcanoes occur at plate boundaries. They can occur where plates separate, an example of this is Iceland. Here volcanoes are formed by the North American and Eurasian plates pulling apart. (see divergent plate boundaries) They can also occur where plates collide. Mount Etna is formed by the subduction of the African plate under the Eurasian plate. The melting of the subducted plate causes an increase in pressure which leads to the formation of a magma chamber and in turn a volcano. What causes volcanoes to erupt? Rock from subducted plates melts to form molten magma which pushes its way towards the surface forming a magma chamber. Gasses that have been dissolved in the magma expand causing a massive increase in pressure. This increase in pressure causes the magma to rise and force its way through cracks/fissures in the volcano above. As it reaches the surface the pressure is released and an eruption occurs. During an eruption volcanic ash, rock particles, dust, gasses and lava are all ejected. How violent the eruption is depends on the amount of silica present in the magma. Silica produces a thicker magma that is better at trapping gasses. The more gas present the greater the pressure. Therefore the more silica present in the magma the more violent the eruption will be. Types of lava and their effect on the volcano structure There are two types of lava, acidic and basic. Acidic lava has a high silica content and this makes it thicker. This thick lava doesn’t travel far and due to the high level of dissolved gas it has violent eruptions. Combined these cause the volcano to have a steep sided cone. These are known as Cone Volcanoes.

Basic lava contains less silica, this allows the gasses to escape and gives a runny lava. Eruptions of this type of lava a gentler and this along with it being runny allows the lava to flow further. Volcanoes of this type of lava will have gently sloping sides. They are known as Shield volcanoes.

Cyclones

Known as hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons depending on where in the world they appear, these storms typically occur in seasons and with lead times of several days, although their paths can alter, with storm surges in coastal areas particularly dangerous. Although preparedness has the potential to significantly lower mortality and morbidity.

High-income countries account for most of the mortality and morbidity data from cyclones, although most deaths and injuries do result from sequelae such as flooding and landslides rather than directly from the wind. Main reported injuries include contusions and lacerations (particularly to the head and extremities) occurring mainly during strong cyclones where shelter has been limited with serious injuries such as fractures as low as 1% of all injuries, although a significant proportion of indirect injuries, such as electrocution and burns, occur during clean-up activities.

Scales for measuring tropical cyclones vary depending on where in the world they occur, but the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale provides a useful illustration of the impact of windspeeds:

Man-Made Disasters

Man-Made Disasters as viewed by the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies are events that are caused by human activities or choices, which occur in or close to human settlements often as a result of Environmental or Technological Emergencies. This can include :

• Environmental Degradation
• Industrial Pollution
• Accidents (e.g. Industrial, Technological and Transport usually involving the production, use or transport of hazardous materials) 

Complex Emergencies

Some disasters can result from multiple hazards, or, more often, to a complex combination of both natural and man-made causes which involve a break-down of authority, looting and attacks on strategic installations, including conflict situations and war. These can include :

• Food Insecurity
• Epidemics
• Armed Conflicts
• Terrorist Attacks
• Displaced Populations
  

According to ICRC these Complex Emergencies are typically characterized by :

• Extensive Violence
• Displacements of Populations
• Loss of Life
• Widespread Damage to both Societies and Economies
• Need for Large-scale, Humanitarian Assistance across Multiple Agencies
• Political and Military Constraints which impact or prevent Humanitarian Assistance
• Increased Security Risks for Humanitarian Relief Workers

Pandemic Emergencies

Pandemic (from Greek πᾶν pan "all" and δῆμος demos "people") is an epidemic of infectious disease that has spread across a large region, which can occur to the human population or animal population and may affect health and disrupt services leading to economic and social costs. It may be an unusual or unexpected increase in the number of cases of an infectious disease which already exists in a certain region or population or can also refer to the appearance of a significant number of cases of an infectious disease in a region or population that is usually free from that disease. Pandemic Emergencies may occur as a consequence of natural or man-made disasters. These have included the following epidemics: 

• Ebola
• Zika
• Avian Flu
• Cholera
• Dengue Fever
• Malaria
• Yellow Fever
• Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

References 

see adding references tutorial.