A disaster is an occurrence that results in death, injury, and destruction of properties and affects the ability of a society to respond to the event with the use of available resources. There are three types of disasters; natural disasters, human-made disasters, and combination disasters. Natural disasters refer to activities that result from the natural occurrences of the earth. They are the negative environmental factors that result in damages and damaging people’s properties. Examples of natural disasters include the earthquake, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, hailstorms, and infectious disease epidemics among others. Man-made disasters are events that are caused by human activities and human actions. An excellent example of man-made disasters are the acts of terrorism in which there is the use of force against people or properties whose aim is to intimidate the government, civilian population any segment of the population. Terrorism acts aim at meeting political or social objectives. Another example of human-made disasters is the use of weapons that cause mass destruction. Examples of such weapons are bombs and explosions. The third type of catastrophe is the combination of disasters which is a mixture of natural and man-made disasters. It occurs when natural disasters cause widespread technological negative impacts.

The first example of a recent natural disaster is hurricane Florence that left at least forty three people dead. The floods occurred in California and were covered with relentless rain and winds and left many residents homeless. The hurricane hit North Carolina with thirty-six inches of rain and hit South Carolina with twenty-four inches. The storms were above the available statewide records. Another example of natural disasters is California wildfire which occurred in November 2018. The disaster occurred when an unprecedented wildfire swept through the Golden state from Camp Fire to Woolsey Fire. The major cause of the camp fire is not well known but resulted in the death of three people and destroyed more than 13,000 homes and 150,000 acres of land. The camp fire also partially destroyed the town of Paradise. Woolsey fire killed at least 85 people. There are also recent man-made disasters which occurred recently, and a good example is a nuclear explosion that occurred in Japan and caused the destruction of many properties and left many people homeless. The second example of man-made disaster is the destruction of the Aral Sea which was the fourth largest sea. The sea has lost its water, and this has resulted in the death of many aquatic animals and spreading of diseases.

There are four stages of disaster management. The first stage is the prevention stage which involves the identification of potential disaster risk which is facilitated by the creation of risk maps. Citizens then gets educated on the steps to take to remain prepared for the disasters. The third step is to create a plan for meeting the potential disasters and this done through the use of a resource map. The second stage is the planning/preparedness stage which involves family and individual preparedness. The stage requires training people on first aid, having a family communication plan and preparation of disaster management kit. In the second stage, there is a need to have a dynamic plan which is tested and with all the relevant qualities of a plan. The third stage is the response stage which starts immediately after the occurrence of a disaster. The step involves search and rescue, evacuation, staging area and shelter in place. The final step is the recovery stage and begins when the danger has passed. In this stage, the locals, government and federal agencies must be present to help the victims. The help can be through the building of public services and assisting the victims to rebuild their lives.

Nurses have a significant role to play in disaster management. They should get involved in the prevention of disasters together with related activities. Nurses should also educate citizens on how to prepare and respond to emergencies. The education should include training people on how to respond to disasters in case it occurs. They should keep updating people on the latest life-saving measures in terms of the available advances. Additionally, nurses should ask some questions to the victims to get the right information and to weigh their level of knowledge regarding disaster management and preparedness.

 
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