Disaster Medicine And International Relief

The 2nd edition of the Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Relief is an essential and practical reference for all those who work in humanitarian relief. This new, expanded edition presents more than 3000 definitions and acronyms covering the entire multidisciplinary scope of disaster medicine and humanitarian relief, as well as new fields such as climate change and bioterrorism. As natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, and infectious disease epidemics increase in frequency and seriousness, this book is an important reference to assist international relief workers communicate with each other and with the media. The author has served as both the director of Emergency Humanitarian Operations of the World Health Organization, as well as the WHO’s chief of scientific terminology. As the Director-General Emeritus of the World Health Organization says in the Foreword, “This new expanded edition comes as a timely essential aid against the growing threats of inhuman violence and destructive disasters.”

In recent decades natural, technological and other disasters have been increasing in frequency and magnitude, and the involvement of international organizations and professionals from different disciplines has been growing in parallel. By definition major emergencies call for outside aid and often international assistance. The many agencies and individual helpers from different countries, different languages and different specialties converge on the stricken site with the sole object of helping the victims, who are themselves of a different background and language. Communication among these people and a certain understanding of the varying terminology of the many professions and activities therefore become paramount if the difficulties of the disaster situation are not to be compounded with difficulties of communication. A common ground for understanding between doctors, engineers, meteorologists, nurses, nutritionists, planners, government officials, transport personnel and the many other workers involved in disaster preparedness, relief and rehabilitation is therefore indispensable. It is to this end that this multilingual, multidisciplinary Dictionary serves as an invaluable tool for the disaster manager, whatever his background and wherever he may be called upon to work. A precursor in Disaster Medicine, Dr. William Gunn has conducted numerous emergency missions for the United Nations and other agencies, and this Dictionary has been tested in the field and in training courses over many years.

In recent decades natural, technological and other disasters have been increasing in frequency and magnitude, and the involvement of international organizations and professionals from different disciplines has been growing in parallel. By definition major emergencies call for outside aid and often international assistance. The many agencies and individual helpers from different countries, different languages and different specialties converge on the stricken site with the sole object of helping the victims, who are themselves of a different background and language. Communication among these people and a certain understanding of the varying terminology of the many professions and activities therefore become paramount if the difficulties of the disaster situation are not to be compounded with difficulties of communication. A common ground for understanding between doctors, engineers, meteorologists, nurses, nutritionists, planners, government officials, transport personnel and the many other workers involved in disaster preparedness, relief and rehabilitation is therefore indispensable. It is to this end that this multilingual, multidisciplinary Dictionary serves as an invaluable tool for the disaster manager, whatever his background and wherever he may be called upon to work. A precursor in Disaster Medicine, Dr. William Gunn has conducted numerous emergency missions for the United Nations and other agencies, and this Dictionary has been tested in the field and in training courses over many years.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. International Disaster Health Care: Preparedness, Response, Resource Management, and Education provides a complete image of the needs, concerns, and insights that relate to disaster preparedness from an international health-care perspective. The United Nations has recognized the devastating consequences of "unpredictable, unpreventable and impersonal" disasters—at least US $2 trillion in economic damage and more than 1.3 million lives lost from natural disasters in the last two decades alone. In many disasters (both natural and man-made) hundreds—and in major earthquakes, thousands—of lives are lost in the first days following the event because of the lack of medical/surgical facilities to treat those with potentially survivable injuries. Disasters disrupt and destroy not only medical facilities in the disaster zone but also infrastructure (roads, airports, electricity) and potentially local healthcare personnel as well. To minimize morbidity and mortality from disasters, medical treatment must begin immediately, within minutes ideally, but certainly within 24 hours (not the days to weeks currently seen in medical response to disasters). Edited by emergency health professionals, this valuable compendium is broken into five sections, which describe the following topics: disaster-related health care disaster preparedness and resilience effective medical responses to disasters managing resources during disasters how medical staff can be better educated to handle disasters This volume brings together a wealth of information that will be valuable to disaster management professionals and others responsible for providing emergency services.

Whether switching on the TV, picking up a newspaper or simply logging on to the internet, one is constantly faced with images of natural disasters, conflict and human suffering. Humanity has experienced these problems throughout time and we have evolved methods and mechanisms for alleviating suffering, from trauma care following a traffic accident to international pacts and the Millennium Development Goals. In exploring such diverse cases of aid intervention, Disaster Medicine: A Case Based Approach provides interesting, easily accessible content and context for understanding disaster medicine and global health. In each case the reader will be put in the position of the decision maker and as in real life some of the cases will portray success and some will show failure. It is hoped the reader will consider the issues and problems for themselves and perhaps consider things they would choose to do differently. Written by a team of experts with extensive experience in the field and a progressive perspective Disaster Medicine: A Case Based Approach is a valuable text for students and professionals of disaster medicine.

In recent decades natural, technological and other disasters have been increasing in frequency and magnitude, and the involvement of international organizations and professionals from different disciplines has witnessed a parallel growth.

Technological development has not only provided mankind with more prosperity, but with increased destructive power as well. These developments, combined with an explosive growth of the world population, have led to mass casualty situations, varying from traffic accidents to war. In the 20th Century over 200 million people were killed as a result of man-made disasters --- a figure unequalled in the history of mankind. It is not surprising, therefore, that a new medical discipline has emerged: disaster medicine. The realization that disasters have effects which cross the traditional boundaries of medical specialisms and nationality, led to the foundation of the International Society of Disaster Medicine (ISDM), which issued an international curriculum on education and training in disaster medicine. As a logical consequence the ISDM decided to develop its curriculum into a handbook, now available to the global community of disaster medicine specialists. This Handbook of Disaster Medicine contains contributions from international experts in the field and will be of value and interest to a wide variety of professionals in the discipline of disaster medicine and management.