1.

Introduction
The world in the last decade, has experienced a number emergencies and natural
disasters in the advent of climatic and environmental changes, the 21 st century
faces an enormous challenge of natural disasters causing deaths and diseases
through extreme weather such as heat and cold waves, storms, cyclones and
tornados, floods, droughts, earthquakes and Tsunamis. Every year one in five
countries worldwide had and emergency, posing severe public health threats and
resulting in tremendous impacts in terms of deaths, injuries, infrastructure and
facility damage and destruction, suffering, and loss of livelihoods. Disasters are
abrupt shocks to the socio-economic and environmental system, involving loss of
life and property.
Myanmar is one of the world’s most disaster prone countries with its geography
and geology exposing it to multiple hazards including earthquakes, floods, strong
win, cyclones, storm surge, periodic droughts, fires and tsunamis, as well as
industrial and technological hazard. 2021, has been a traumatic year for the people
of Myanmar, characterized by unprecedented levels of human suffering. Post the
military takeover, so many of the impressive development gains the country has
made over the past 15 years now sadly under serious treat due to a combination of
economic instability, COVID- 19, escalating conflict and a rapid and ever-
increasing erosion of human rights.
Today, Myanmar is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a health
worker, with more reported attacks against health care in Myanmar in the past year
than in any other country on Earth. The people of Myanmar faced, the Civil
Disobedience Movement (CDM), the disastrous third wave of COVID- 19 and the
declaration of a people’s defensive war. The human rights and health crisis
continues to grow in Myanmar, with escalating conflict, increasing number of
internally displaced people and refugees, and the effective collapse of the public
health care system. The key to reducing loss of life, personal injuries, and damage
from natural disasters is widespread public awareness and education. People must
be made aware of what natural hazards they are likely to face in their own

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communities. They should know in advance what specific preparations to make
before an event, what to do during and
what actions to take in its aftermath. Public officials and the media: television,
radio, and newspapers: must be fully prepared to respond effectively, responsibly,
and speedily to large-scale natural emergencies. They need to be aware, in advance,
of procedures to follow in a crisis that threatens to paralyze the entire community
they serve, and they need to know how to communicate accurate information to the
public during a natural disaster. Special efforts must also be made to reach and plan
for the care of particularly vulnerable segments of the population.
Therefore, nurses as the largest group of committed health personnel, often
working in difficult situations with limited resources, play vital roles when
disasters strike, serving as first responders, triage officers and care providers,
coordinators of care and services, providers of information or education and
counselors. However, health systems and health care delivery in disaster situations
are only successful when nurses have the fundamental disaster competencies or
abilities to rapidly and effectively respond. As the largest group of health care
providers, nurses need to develop competence in disaster prevention/mitigation,
preparedness, response, recovery and reconstruction/rehabilitation. Nurses must
have physical stamina, be able to work long hours in crude conditions and have
well-developed clinical and interpersonal communication skills. They benefit from
having leadership skills and an understanding of community healthcare. Nurses
primarily provide acute patient care during disasters, helping to treat the sick and
injured and ensure access to basic healthcare services. The role of faculties of
Nursing during disasters has expanded from just awareness of its staff members to
the development of the ability to react to a disaster regarding preparedness,
mitigation, response, recovery, and evaluation. Faculties staff members and
students need to have the knowledge and skills to employ an effective approach to
responding to critical situations. The optimization of population-based health
outcomes will be achieved only if nurse responders are safe and prepared to meet
the demands of a sudden surge of victims from a disaster event or major public
health emergency. The need for qualified individuals ready to respond to disasters

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 and to participate in preparedness and disaster recovery activities is well
documented. Therefore, this seminar is held in order to support more in disaster
preparedness and management and it is added to learn in B.N.Sc curriculum.
The overall goal of disaster nursing to achieve the best possible level of health for
the people.

education takes on a pivotal role in reducing disasters and achieving

human security in the attempt to achieve sustainable development.
education takes on a pivotal role in reducing disasters and achieving
human security in the attempt to achieve sustainable developme Education takes on a pivotal role in
reducing disasters and achieving

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2. Objective

2.1. General objective

After the completion of this seminar, the participants will be able to discuss Safety
Awareness of Disaster Nursing for Human Health Risk.

2.2. Specific objectives

After conducting the seminar, the participants will be able to;

1. discuss safety defination of disasters
2. discuss types and phases of disaster management
3. discuss roles and responsibilities of nurses and midwifes in disaster nursing
4. discuss current health care services in disaster management
5. discuss challenging issues in disaster management
6. discuss strengthening issues in disaster management

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3.1.3 Types of Disasters

The classification by World Disaster Report 1993 (4), compiled many different
aspects of classification in 3 main groups:
Natural disasters; A natural disaster is a natural process or phenomenon that
may cause phenomenon like earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods
hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, tsunamis, cyclones and pandemics are all
natural hazards.
Human-made disasters; Human- instigated disasters are the consequence of
technological or human hazards. Examples include stampedes, fires, transport
accidents, industrial accidents, oil spills, terrorist attacks, nuclear
explosions/nuclear radiation. War and deliberate attacks may also be put in this
category. Other types of induced disasters include the more cosmic scenarios of
catastrophic global warming, nuclear war and bioterrorism.
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Hybrid disaster; is a manmade one, when forces of nature are unleashed as a

result of technical failure or sabotage.
Risk is a measure of the expected losses (deaths, injuries, property, economic
losses etc.) due to a hazard of a particular magnitude striking in a given area.
3.2. Phases of Disaster management

The competencies of PHNs and midwives are based on three main phases:
Mitigation/Prevention;
Health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention are fundamental
activities for nurses and midwives. Nurses and midwives must also be involved in
policy development and disaster planning to further direct roles and
interventions. Nurses and midwives assist with hospital emergency plans and

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advocate for building codes for safe hospitals and health facilities. Nurses and
midwives assist in linking health facilities to community mitigation plans.
Preparedness;
Nurse and midwife educators are involved in human resource capacity building
at all levels. Nurse and midwife educators work at training institutions,
developing and implementing curricula and continuing education programs for
public health, paramedical and medical health providers. Through ongoing
assessments and coordination activities, nurses and midwives assist in preparing,
training, and equipping the community for potential emergencies and disasters.
Community health nurses and midwives arrange essential services, supplies and
logistics requirements for local emergency response to health needs. Nurses and
midwives are involved in community volunteer trainings on search, rescue and
first-aid. Nurses and midwives assure that basic equipment for public health and
mass casualty care is in place for trained community volunteers. Nurses and
midwives build community resources and readiness by organizing disaster drills,
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mapping populations and communicating important health education messages
via the media, social networks, and radio. Nurses and midwives use appropriate
tools and IT technologies for gathering and analyzing necessary data. Nurses and
midwives assist in the development and management of National rosters of
experts to provide technical back-up for health sector emergency response. The
nursing and midwifery pre-incident emergency preparedness work is crucial to
reduce the risk and impact of disasters on communities.
Response; response is the phase of implementing the tentative disaster plan
(Qureshi & Gebbie, 2007). In this phase, the first concerned action is adequate
warning to the community regarding disaster event that will be occurred (Vogt &
Kulbok, 2008). The major focuses during this phase are life-saving, first-aids, and
emergency treatment (Davies, 2005; Vogt & Kulbok). According to Jennings-
Sanders (2004), Polivka et al. (2008), and Vogt and Kulbok, PHNs should establish

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disaster triage strategy in order to sort and prioritize the victims for allocating
adequate treatment. Then, providing care for disaster victims will be continually
allocated to save the victims’ life and stabilize their condition (Jennings-Sanders;
WHO, 2005). Furthermore, PHNs need to be able to calculate and evaluate the
number of disaster impact (e.g. infectious disease, mental and psychosocial
problem of individuals, families, and communities) by using surveillance method
(Polivka, et al.). Finally, in order to maintain collaboration and coordination
among health care service and/or providers, and informing the community about
risk of disaster, PHNs need to be familiar with communication equipments
(Gebbie & Qureshi; Jennings-Sanders, 2004).
Recovery; recovery phase is the situation after disaster is over with its impacts to
the community and population (Wynd, 2006). During this phase, PHNs are
responsible to evaluate the impacts of the disaster including morbidity and
mortality rates, health care costs, and disaster related costs; improve health
status, disaster-nursing knowledge, effectiveness of the disaster-nursing plan,
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and collaboration between inter-organization (Jennings-Sanders, 2004). This
strategy is useful for identifying the disaster plan modification which is useful in
minimizing the weaknesses of previous plans. This strategy is valuable to apply in
future occurrences in collaboration with other health care providers and
community (Gebbie & Qureshi, 2002; Jennings-Sanders; Kuntz et al., 2008;
Polivka et al, 2008). Another role that should be accomplished by PHNs in this
phase is providing support to disaster victims. Finally, the health promotion for
community is also considered as the important activity in recovery phase. Health
promotion is used to minimize the problem among survivors who live in the camp
as a temporary place for many disaster survivors. This activity can also be used to
teach the community how to prevent and protect themselves, family, and the
population from several infectious and communicable diseases (Jennings-
Sanders; Polivka et al.).

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3.3 Roles and Responsibilities of nurses in disaster management

Nurses and midwifes can play a critical role in disaster management. They
constitute the largest group of the health professionals in most countries and
already deal with clinical care, management and communication. Nurses and
midwifes work closely with the disadvantages and vulnerable groups most
frequently affected by emergencies and disasters. They may be will recognized
and trusted in their community. Nursing and midwifery best practices follow
known parameters outlined in the disaster management continuum and the ICN
framework of Disaster Nursing competencies. Throughout the “disaster
management continuum” roles of nurses are integrated into each phase of a
disaster. Parameters of nursing and midwifery emergency and disaster
competencies are organized under four areas; (a)mitigation /prevention,
(b)Preparedness,(c) response,(d)recovery/rehabilitation. Within the four areas,
10 domains are identified; (1) risk reduction, disease prevention and
promotion; (2) policy development and planning ;(3) ethical practice, legal
practice and accountability; (4) communication and information sharing; (5)
education and preparedness; (6) care of the community; (7) care of individuals
and families; (8) psychological care; (9) care of vulnerable populations; and (10)
long-term recovery of individuals, families and communities.

“Disaster preparedness, including risk assessment and multidisciplinary

management strategies at all system levels, is critical to the delivery of effective
responses to the short, medium, and long-term health needs of a disaster-
stricken population.” (International Council of Nurses, 2006) Major roles of nurse
during disaster management are;

 Determine magnitude of the event.

 Define and understand the health needs of the affected groups
 Prepare the priorities and objectives

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 Identify actual and potential public health problems at the earliest.
 Estimate resources needed to respond to the needs identified
 Collaborate with other professional disciplines and governmental and
non-governmental agencies, Maintain a proper chain of command
 Maintain better communication
 Emotional support to the individuals/family
 Assist in providing safe drinking water
 Assist in activities in daily living in case patient got injured.
 Administration of vaccination • Administration of medications
 Distributing of relief materials if required condition.
 Rapport development, gathering the information about diseases, incidents,
etc.
 Reporting the details
 Maintain records and reports
 Work like mediator in between peoples and government authority in
certain situation
 Collaborate with government and non-government organizations
 Self-care/protection with required precautions
 Keen observer for any diseases which starts to spread
 Assist in safe drinking water arrangement for peoples
 Special care to infants/pregnant women’s
 Health education to the needy
 Identify psychologically affected and counsel them properly.

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4. Current Health care services in disaster
Nurses have often been involved in the care of survivors whether in hospitals or in
temporary shelters where they perform health assessments, give basic emergency
care.
4.1.1 Current Health care services in clinical setting
Hospitals play a critical role in health care infrastructure. Hospitals have a primary
responsibility of saving lives, they also provide 24x7 emergency care service and
hence public perceive it as a vital resource for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up
for both physical and psychological care. Hospitals are central to provide
emergency care and hence when a disaster strike the society falls back upon the
hospitals to provide immediate succor in the form of emergency medical care. In
health setting; below are five key components to an effective effectives emergency
management plan.
1. Clear communication ; In today’s world, information will leak out one way or
another, so it’s essential the public gets the correct information from the
healthcare experts instead of the wrong information from someone else. During
a disaster, everyone inside the organization needs to be informed. To effectively
manage an emergency, all personal must be on the same page-medical, legal,
government affairs, and facilities management, among others, have to understand
what’s going on.
2.Comprehensive training; Another important factor to consider when
implement a training plan is community involvement. Health care facilities may
assume they will have the full cooperation of local ambulance services, police
and fire departments. Establishing their role during training is essential to
emergency management preparations.
3. Knowledge of assets; Naturally many people panic in the face of disaster. This
places a heavy burden on government agencies and other local resources to
provide relief for people dealing with a large- scale emergency. Hospitals cannot
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depend on outside help. It is imperative that healthcare facilities take stock of
their assets in order to understand capabilities and limitations ahead of any natural
disaster.
4. Technology fails- safes and protocol; Every hospitals has a medical records
department. Those department need a certain amount of physical space, access to
files and software systems to get through every day. A business continuity plan
helps to identified the hardware, software, space and other resources that each
area of your facility requires to remain operational.
5. Healthcare Leadership involvement; Every hospital is focused on patient
healing and safety. Healthcare facility leadership must understand the importance
of a strong emergency management program and devote the proper resources
towards disaster preparations. Expert emergency management is essential to the
safety of staff, patients, and the hospital’s financial security.
In Preparedness Phase; Hospitals need to foresee the types of incidents that are
likely to occur. An alarm monitoring center should be manned 24/7 by personnel
who are trained to receive calls from individuals observing potential crises.
The next step, The Hospital Incident Command System ( HICS) is a well- known
organizational tool structure around several key principles: early implementation,
modular make up and standardized terminology. The first tier identifies the
problem, initiates an appropriate emergency procedure and, if human life is in
danger, initiates one of the pre-set disaster plans. The second tier is called if the
incident is, at first glance, serious or if the first tier considers the incident to be
beyond their capabilities. The next step is implementation and the training of
these key players and personnel.
In Responsive Phase: Preparing and conducting drills for measures to be taken
during disasters and in the post-disaster period Activities to be conducted during
disasters include emergency relief, preliminary care and protection, emergency
medical treatment, and evacuation to safe locations. Activities to be conducted
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in the post-disaster period include provision of health care, water, food, clothing,
and shelter. As planning is required for these activities, projects should be in place

11
for the provision of education and training to the grassroots level.
AccordingtoWHO(Reference:http://whoindia.org/en/Section33/Section34/
Section38_51.htm) : The Mass Casualty Emergencies can be categorized in one of
the following ways.
Category A: Patients in critical condition:
Include cases of poly trauma with head injuries, thoracic injuries, abdominal
injuries, fractures of major bones with profuse bleeding etc. These patients require
immediate resuscitation and supportive measures. About 10% of these are beyond
salvage.
Category B: Patients in serious but not life threatening condition include; include
Poly trauma cases of a less serious nature, for example, fractures and crush
Injuries of limbs without major blood loss, facial injuries, spinal injuries ,etc.
Category C: Walking wounded: These patients may have minor injuries requiring
wound toileting and dressing and / or limb fractures requiring closed reduction and
immobilization.
In Rehabilitation Phase:
Rehabilitation is necessary to know the type and scale of loss or damage in order
to carry out rehabilitation activities, a form should be prepared for use in
systematic information-gathering and reporting at the grassroots levels; and
practice in filling in the form and understanding what information is required
should be provided. Livelihood, education, health, social and economic life can
return to normal conditions speedily only if action plans are implemented
systematically without delay. The action plans should include organizations that
will be involved in each task, individuals in the organizations who will carry out
the implementation work and their individual duties, the communication system
to be used, the assignment of administrative and logistic responsibilities, the
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name, position and contact details such as telephone numbers, addresses and
office locations of responsible persons with supervisory duties. They should also
contain provisions for occasional team practice.

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4.1.2 Current Health care services in community

During disaster, medical considerations will vary greatly based on the type of
disaster and secondary effects. Survivors may sustain a multitude of injuries to
include lacerations, burns, near drowning, or crush syndrome. The actions taken
in the initial minutes of an emergency are critical. A prompt warning to
employees to evacuate, shelter or lockdown can save lives. The first step
when developing an emergency response plan is to conduct a risk assessment to
identify potential emergency scenarios. When an emergency occurs, the first
priority is always life safety. The second priority is the stabilization of the
incident. There are many actions that can be taken to stabilize an incident and
minimize potential damage. First aid and CPR by trained employees can save
lives. Use of fire extinguishers by trained employees can extinguish a small fire.
Containment of a small chemical spill and supervision of building utilities and
systems can minimize damage to a building and help prevent environmental
damage.
The people of Myanmar have entered 2022 facing an unprecedented political,
socioeconomic, human rights and humanitarian crisis with residual needs
persisting from previous years, and new needs flowing from security and conflict
dynamics .The COVID-19 pandemic, with a severe third wave in 2021, has
further eroded people’s capacity to cope. Heading into 2022, the situation remains
precarious with the security environment fragile or deteriorating in many parts of
Myanmar. The Health Cluster will target 1.4 million people through the provision
of life-saving emergency care, prevention and mitigation of disease
outbreaks through disease surveillance, rapid response immunization for
vulnerable groups against vaccine preventable disease, including COVID-19.
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Cluster partners will improve the living standards and resilience of vulnerable
populations by ensuring access to quality health assistance such as reproductive,
maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent services, mental health and psychosocial
support, diagnosis and treatment for malaria, tuberculosis, and basic care for non-

13
communicable diseases. The Health Cluster will work with all branches of the
health system, including the public and private sectors, as well as EHOs to deliver
services to people in need. While advocating for the safe provision of health care
through the revitalization of the public health sector, the cluster will work to
establish and strengthen alternative channels for access to emergency and
essential health services. Members of the cluster will use alternative modalities to
provide health services such as telemedicine when physical access is not feasible.
While COVID-19 vaccination continues through the de facto authorities and
private sector, key agencies are securing additional vaccines through the COVAX
facility and the humanitarian buffer while working with partners to ensure
increased access to safe COVID-19 care. The cluster will continue its efforts on
coordination among development and humanitarian health partners to promote
essential health service provision. The prioritization of services and the mode of
delivery will vary by location. Modalities of delivery include strengthening
services through fixed clinics, where available, and mobile and temporary clinics
in the absence of fixed facilities. Providing emergency health care for victims of
conflict, landmine and explosive remnants of war injuries. Referrals for specific
emergency services such as trauma care, emergency obstetric and newborn care,
care in life-threatening emergencies, and GBV clinical care and specialized GBV
services. Provision of mental health and psychosocial support services. Filling
routine and supplemental vaccination gaps for children and women. Preventing,
detecting, and rapidly responding (care and treatment) to communicable disease
outbreaks for at-risk and affected people. Supporting the

delivery of rehabilitation services and provision of assistive devices, technology

and products for people with physical injuries and different forms of impairments
(including chronic diseases). Providing training to front-line workers, contingency
medical supplies, and health logistics services to ensure support for routine and
emergency services, COVID-19 prevention and treatment as well as continuity of
treatment for HIV/AIDS, TB and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes
and Hypertension.

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5. Challenges issues for disaster nursing in disaster management

Disasters not only significantly affect healthcare institutions and providers but
also impact the lives of people and economies worldwide. Disaster nursing started
with Florence Nightingale (the founder of nursing science) during the Crimean
War. She used environmental resources to treat victims and was the first
healthcare practitioner to activate a triage system by sorting patients depending on

15
their needs. Disaster nursing gained importance during WWI due to nurses’
pivotal role.

To reduce the impact of disasters, healthcare providers, especially nurses, need to

be prepared to respond immediately. However, nurses face several challenges in
all phases of disaster management. The major barriers facing nurses include,(1)
disaster nursing is a new specialty; (2) inadequate level of preparedness; (3) poor
formal education; (4) lack of research; (5) ethical and legal issues; and (6) issues
related to nurses’ roles in disasters.

Level of preparedness for nurses to work effectively is one of the biggest

challenges in responding to a disaster. r. One of the related factors is a pre-
hospital system that is not fully developed or coordinated with other healthcare
institutions, such as insufficient risk communication, weak pre-hospital measures,
and inappropriate distribution of patients to hospital. The last point in disaster
preparedness is the readiness of the healthcare providers themselves. Clinical
skills are also an essential component of individual readiness to overcome crises.
These skills include autonomy, implementing care with-out a physician order,
triage, rapid action, using five senses in a patient examination without high-tech
equipment. Many nurses are unprepared to respond because of lack of knowledge
or skills. In the community, deficiency of knowledge, especially not being
familiar with the books, leads to a lack of application in relevant to mains,
requirement for advanced technical information in addition to the fact of being
superstitious of the customs have been in face of community

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health nurse.

During disasters, ethical and legal challenges for nurses are especially significant.
Furthermore, there is a risk of having a shortage of resources. This can lead to an
ethical dilemma in which a nurse must face. For example, does the nurse use a

16
large amount of resources on a patient in a life-threatening condition or does he or
she attempt to spread out the resources more evenly, allowing a greater amount of
individuals to at least receive some care? Having a limited ability to care for
individuals while trying to uphold both legal and ethical interests is clearly a
challenge for disaster nurses. During a disaster, people of all ages experience
various types of trauma. The nurse may have a difficult time deciding on who is
the first priority, due to the seriousness of each of their cases. Compassion fatigue
is manifested, especially for those nurses who work in high-stress environments.
It can appear in nurses who have, over long periods of time, cared for those who
have been affected by a traumatic event. As a result, a nurse who is affected by
compassion fatigue may be less empathetic toward those requiring their help. The
differences from the challenges of everyday practice are mainly related to the
allocation of resources, the lack of privacy and confidentiality, dealing with the
scope and scale of a disaster situation, appropriate triage, treatment priorities,
working autonomously, informed consent, documentation, and conflicts with
colleagues. To tackle this problem, managers and decision-makers across
countries, cultures, and healthcare systems must work hard to create a scope of
practice, policies, and procedures with clear responsibilities and accountability for
all healthcare providers of the disaster management team.

Rehabilitation professionals face unique challenges when working in these

settings associated with complex trauma, injury surge and resource scarcity in

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terms of equipment, infrastructure, and workforce. These occur on an

unprecedented scale and outstrip available resources. In many cases, people are
displaced or live in temporary shelters with limited provision for those with
disabling injuries, especially when they have impaired mobility.

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6. Strengthening issues in disaster awareness management

Early Warning Systems in Myanmar, the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology in

Myanmar can now fulfill its role of issuing warnings and informing the public of weather
conditions and incoming natural hazards. Information on weather forecasts is reported at any
time via social media. This allows the country to prepare and protect in advance against the
impacts of weather disasters. With the personal web application, farmers are making informed

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decisions to protect their crops and livestock. This increases productivity, supports their
livelihoods and job protection, and gives them greater autonomy in their work.

In disaster management, nurses work with other healthcare providers to identify and plan for
risks, participate in preparedness education and training, respond efficiently and effectively in a
timely manner, and participate in the recovery process with other disaster management teams.
Collaborate with governmental and non-governmental agencies, maintain a proper chain of
command. The emergency preparedness of health systems closely coordinated with a country's
overall emergency management and disaster response systems, such as the military, civil
protection, and community groups, with clearly defined roles and mandates for crisis
response. Quality infrastructure is essential for effective healthcare services even more so during
disasters and pandemics. Resilient water, electricity, transport, and communication and digital
systems are crucial to ensure adequate treatment capacity, equitable access to healthcare, and the
functioning of supply chains.

Regardless of the disaster, the advantages when confronted with it are presented as well; the
endowment of oversea financial, pharmaceutical, supplements and the donation of clothing as
well as technology. Not only the organization in local cooperation but also the alliance with the
association of fire station as well as the religious organizations. For expansion, donating is the
traditional way of merit deeds that is also Myanmar citizen’s avidity which could be part of
assistance in the process.

After disaster, rapid assessment of vulnerable groups (the elderly, women, people with
disabilities, indigenous people, and youth, among others), including the mapping of existing and
emerging vulnerable populations. Their needs could be identified through consultations and
partnerships with NGOs. The health care system access to primary and secondary health care
services, assessing health promotion and disaster prevention efforts, targeting resources, and
identifying opportunities to enhance and upgrade health. Tracking destinations as people move
from shelters to permanent housing, in order to maintain continuity of health service records. .
They rely on the same power, water, workforce, security, communications, and infrastructure as
other businesses. . Legislation or regulations may enable local governments to use revenues from
other areas to reconstruct, repair, and rehabilitate damaged infrastructure; a decree could allow
public health services to coordinate public and private health networks.

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7. Conclusion

Health care management in disaster is one of the main parts of disaster

management. Health in disaster is affected by performance of various sectors, and
has an interactive impact on various aspects of disaster management. Nurses
constitute the largest sector of the healthcare workforce and will be on the
frontlines of any disaster emergency response (Veenema,2006). They play
significant roles in preparing for disasters, including identifying risks, analyzing
identified risks, creating plans, conducting drills, participating in education and
training activities, and identifying areas for development and improvement.
Community health nurses provide disaster education to provide knowledge among
individuals and groups to take actions to reduce their vulnerability to disaster.
Preparing for disasters saves countless lives, speeds up people’s recovery and
saves money. Community based preparedness and early warning systems help in
saving lives, protecting property and reducing economic losses.

Major benefits of the community awareness disaster management enhanced

capabilities to pursue disaster preparedness, mitigation as well as bigger
development responsibilities at the local. In sum, not only nurses involved

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disaster management can save lives, but they also sustain and assist as a role in
the nation.

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