Global Healthcare Disasters

The recent COVID-19 global pandemic exemplifies the need for efficient, reliable, and real-time tools and technology for forecasting and predicting healthcare disasters as well as for helping to restrict the subsequent spread and fatality of deadly diseases. This new book discusses many of the innovative and state-of-the-art tools and technology that can help meet the challenges of predicting such disasters. The chapters offer a plethora of useful information for designing healthcare disaster management systems that can be dynamically configurable with implementation of today’s modern technology, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, IoT, data analytics, and machine learning. These can increase effectiveness in remote sensing technologies, data analytics, data storage, communication networks, geographic information system (GIS), and global positioning System (GPS), to name a few. This book discusses mathematical models using graph-based approaches for analyzing dynamic, heterogeneous, and unstructured data for applications in epidemiology. The authors also address the use of mobile applications for communication efforts and remote monitoring for gauging health and the effectiveness of preventive healthcare measures. The chapters discuss influencing factors that directly or indirectly target public health infrastructure that can lead to or exacerbate global health crises, such as extreme climate changes, refugee health crises, terrorism and cyberterrorism, and technology-related incidents. The book further looks at efficient methods to analyze disasters and how to deliver healthcare in areas of conflict and crisis. This important volume, Global Healthcare Disasters: Predicting the Unpredictable with Emerging Technologies, provides a bounty of useful information for health professionals, academicians, researchers, governmental agencies, and policymakers across the world to predict, mitigate, and manage global health disaster with emerging technologies.

This book presents the first critical examination of the overlapping ethical, sociocultural, and policy-related issues surrounding disasters, global bioethics, and public health ethics. These issues are elucidated under the conceptual rubric: Public health disasters (PHDs). The book defines PHDs as public health issues with devastating social consequences, the attendant public health impacts of natural or man-made disasters, and latent or low prevalence public health issues with the potential to rapidly acquire pandemic capacities. This notion is illustrated using Ebola and pandemic influenza outbreaks, atypical drug-resistant tuberculosis, and the health emergencies of earthquakes as focal points. Drawing on an approach that reckons with microbial, existential, and anthropological realities; the book develops a relational-based global ethical framework that can help address the local, anthropological, ecological, and transnational dynamics of the ethical issues engendered by public health disasters. The book also charts some of the critical roles that relevant local and transnational stakeholders may play in translating the proposed global ethical framework from the sphere of concept to the arena of action. This title is of immense benefit to bioethics scholars, public and global health policy experts, as well as graduate students working in the area of global health, public health ethics, and disaster bioethics.

While serving as a physician overseas in resource-poor countries, Dr. James Chambers recognized the need for a practical, portable reference for non-specialist healthcare providers to orient them to common issues when serving in new situations, whether due to geography, austere environments, or complex humanitarian disasters. Field Guide to Global Health and Disaster Medicine draws on the experience, training, and perspectives of committed healthcare providers from diverse nations and backgrounds to provide the most essential information for maximum utility in the field—whether in a refugee camp, operating room, disaster response scene, or other demanding environment. Helps providers prepare for service overseas, organize data to develop differential diagnoses, assimilate information on infectious and environmental diseases, and effectively serve the patients they will encounter. Provides concise, easy-to-read coverage of how to approach a differential diagnosis for infectious diseases overseas; nutritional, sexual, and environmental conditions; surgical and anesthesia care; long-term and short-term systems-based challenges, and more. Covers key topics such as Approach to Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, Medical Response to Disasters, Mental Health in War and Crisis Regions, and Considerations for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. Acknowledges the wide variance of different cultures, motives, resources, and limitations in the global health arena, and helps readers understand the factors which impact the efficacy and sustainability of care strategies.

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.

This book makes an original contribution in addressing contemporary critical discussions and reflections on international health policies, strategies, programmes, systems, diseases, disasters, and public health issues. It includes reflections on how levels of governance, development and technical assistance affect countries’ disaster readiness and health systems. In addressing inequalities between the rich and the poor, and unpacking how this affects public health services, policies, strategies and their collective implementation, the book aspires to improve standards of public health and quality of life for sustainable development globally. It provides a comprehensive overview of international health policies and aid structures, and pays particularly close attention to policies on HIV/AIDS in the workplace, discussing how HIV/AIDS has overshadowed non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension and stroke, which are on the rise. This book will be of great benefit to students and researchers, as well as policymakers in governmental and non-governmental organisations, who have an interest in achieving greater sustainability and improved health for populations in low-, middle- and high-income countries. It will be an indispensable book for students in Public Health programmes, and related courses.

This book presents a decade of advances in the psychological, biological and social responses to disasters, helping medics and leaders prepare and react.

The second edition of this leading textbook provides the definitive guide to disaster health management. From the key concepts, principles and terminology, to systems for mitigation, planning, response and recovery, it gives readers a comprehensive overview of every aspect of this emerging field. Split into eight parts, the book begins by drawing the parameters of disaster health management before outlining key elements such as communication, community engagement and legal issues. It then moves on to discuss preparing for potential disasters, managing and mitigating their impact, and then recovering in the aftermath. Offering key insights into evaluation, leadership and the psychosocial aspects of disaster health management, the new edition also features a range of international case studies, including those outlining the management of COVID-19. It is essential reading for both students and practitioners engaging in this important work.

While serving as a physician overseas in resource-poor countries, Dr. James Chambers recognized the need for a practical, portable reference for non-specialist healthcare providers to orient them to common issues when serving in new situations, whether due to geography, austere environments, or complex humanitarian disasters. Field Guide to Global Health and Disaster Medicine draws on the experience, training, and perspectives of committed healthcare providers from diverse nations and backgrounds to provide the most essential information for maximum utility in the field-whether in a refugee camp, operating room, disaster response scene, or other demanding environment. Helps providers prepare for service overseas, organize data to develop differential diagnoses, assimilate information on infectious and environmental diseases, and effectively serve the patients they will encounter. Provides concise, easy-to-read coverage of how to approach a differential diagnosis for infectious diseases overseas; nutritional, sexual, and environmental conditions; surgical and anesthesia care; long-term and short-term systems-based challenges, and more. Covers key topics such as Approach to Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, Medical Response to Disasters, Mental Health in War and Crisis Regions, and Considerations for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. Acknowledges the wide variance of different cultures, motives, resources, and limitations in the global health arena, and helps readers understand the factors which impact the efficacy and sustainability of care strategies. Enhanced eBook version included with purchase, which allows you to access all of the text, figures, and references from the book on a variety of devices.