34.1 Environmental Disasters

Storms, thunderstorms, hurricanes, snow, floods, and tsunamis are just a few examples of water disasters that hospitals must be prepared for.
Land disasters like earthquakes, landslides, and fires can cause damage to facilities and make them inaccessible due to blocked roads.
During a disaster, the nurse’s role spans from being a frontline responder to contributing their skills to a community’s long-term recovery.

34.2 Biological and Technological Disasters

Biological disasters like influenza, pandemics, and bioterrorism attacks present unique challenges for nurses. In the face of biological disasters, nurses must be equipped with knowledge of epidemiology, pathophysiology, and public health principles to effectively assess, triage, and treat patients.
During biological disasters, nurses serve as educators, helping communities understand the importance of vaccination, hygiene practices, and other preventive measures.
Technological disasters, including chemical, radiological, and nuclear accidents, can have immediate effects and long-lasting consequences.
In technological crises, nurses play critical roles in both immediate response efforts and long-term recovery. During the acute phase, nurses are often among the first health-care providers to arrive at the scene, triaging and providing emergency medical care. Nurses also play key roles in communicating with affected populations, providing reassurance and guidance on protective measures. In the aftermath of a technological disaster, nurses continue to provide essential health-care services, addressing both physical and psychological needs.

Epidemics (the occurrence of a disease in a population or geographical area at a higher frequency than expected) and pandemics (global outbreaks of infectious diseases) are challenging situations for health-care personnel.
Globally, outbreaks of Ebola have required nurses to both provide care and education about infection control.
During the COVID pandemic, nurses were challenged to provide care in a time of both unprecedented strain on the health-care system and rapid scientific achievement.
In both epidemics and pandemics, nurses are tasked with providing care, ensuring patient safety (as well as their own), promoting resilience, and prioritizing education and prevention efforts.

Disaster response includes several phases and the phases exist as part of a continuous cycle: mitigation includes actions taken to reduce potential harm before a disaster occurs; preparedness focuses on shoring up capacity and developing response plans; response is how immediate needs are addressed during a disaster, and recovery encompasses the long-term process of rebuilding communities and restoring normalcy or working together toward a “new normal.”
A culture of preparedness in community response to disaster refers to the recognition and integration of cultural considerations into emergency planning, response, and recovery efforts. It involves understanding the diverse cultural backgrounds, beliefs, values, and practices within a community and incorporating this knowledge into disaster preparedness strategies.
During a community’s response to a disaster, nurses must collaborate with others to address the unique needs of the populations affected and adapt their approaches as needed. Additionally, nurses play key roles in disease surveillance and control, monitoring for outbreaks of infectious diseases, implementing infection control measures, and administering vaccinations to prevent the spread of illness.

Facilities and organizations can use established protocols to train and evaluate emergency preparedness among staff.
Training sessions with real-world simulations, as well as hands-on skills and competency assessments, help staff build confidence and feel empowered to perform their work in times of crisis.
Staff training sessions can be conducted on-site or led by experts in the community. Protocols and procedures can be developed from an interdisciplinary standpoint.
The nurse is responsible for staying up-to-date on training, knowing where to find information about their facility’s protocols and procedures, and clearly understanding their role in the event of a disaster.