Hanyang Med Rev.  2015 Aug;35(3):131-135. 10.7599/hmr.2015.35.3.131.

Disaster Basic Physics and Disaster Paradigm

• Kim S

• KMID: 2168357
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7599/hmr.2015.35.3.131

Abstract

Disasters are unpredictable and unavoidable. The definition of disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material, or environmental losses that exceed the ability of affected society to cope using only its own resources. Disaster medicine is a discipline resulting from combination of emergency medicine and disaster management. The field of disaster medicine involves the study of subject matter from multiple medical disciplines, and disaster medicine presents unique ethical situations not seen in other areas of medicine. Disaster can be classified into two categories, natural disaster and manmade disaster, each type of disaster has its own characteristics. Disaster management has a cycle of 4 activities, preparedness, response, recovery, and prevention/mitigation. Disaster medicine specialists have a role in each part of this cycle. To achieve effective disaster response, the National Disaster Life Support Foundation suggests the DISASTER Paradigm(TM), which consists of detection, incident command, safety and security, assess hazards, support, triage and treatment, evacuation, and recovery.

Keyword

Disaster Planning; Mass Casualty Incidents; Emergencies

MeSH Terms

Disaster Medicine
Disaster Planning
Disasters*
Emergencies
Emergency Medicine
Humans
Mass Casualty Incidents
Specialization
Triage

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Total number of reported natural disasters between 1969 and 2014.

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  Fig. 2 Total deaths caused by reported natural disasters between 1960 and 2014.

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  Fig. 3 Disaster Cycle.

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