Major Incident Management - Coursework Example

Name Title Course Tutor Date Disaster Introduction A disaster is a tragic occurrence from happenings like floods, accidents or even explosions. It results of an unforeseen event like earthquakes that causes damages. It is important to note that some of these events can be prevented while others cannot. A disaster can be natural or man-made depending on its cause (Coppola 2011). Disasters cause physical damage that leads to loss of life and property. They also destroy the economy of a country, social lives of their people and their cultures. Natural disasters are caused by phenomena such as landslides or floods which cannot be prevented. This means that they can strike any time especially in areas that are more vulnerable. Climate changes like deforestation have contributed more in the increased cases of natural disasters (Coppola 2011). Man-made disasters on the other side are caused by human hazards. Such hazards include explosions, accidents. These cases can be prevented by being cautious and careful for instance in industries to avoid industry accidents. There are various measures that can be put in place to avoid disasters. Failure to implement these measures in countries has led to many losses especially those caused by natural disasters. This has been in the case in many developing countries where such governments fail to implement measures. Statistics show that the probability of disasters occurring in developing countries is 30% greater than other countries. Hazards A hazard causes threats to the environment. It is a threat to life, the economy, property and health among many others. They are dormant with some potential of risk in them. It only causes harm when it is active meaning that it has to happen first for it to exist (Hyndman & Hyndman 2010). An incident describes a hazard that has become active, hence, creating a risk. There are various modes of hazards which include dormant, armed and active. A dormant hazard shows one that has the potential of occurring. A hillside that is unstable best describes the mode above. An active hazard on the other hand is an incident that has already taken place. It is then known as an emergency or disaster (Hyndman & Hyndman 2010). Some causes of hazards include natural causes. This includes all things resulting from nature like volcanoes. Man-made hazards result from activities of human like global warming. They result from any activity by man that creates such a risk whether short-term or otherwise. Retribution is another cause of hazards that involves the results of violating a contract or such. It is more of a punishment for instance consequences of breach of an agreement or trespassing. Risk Risk describes the chance or possibility of an event occurring given the current conditions. It involves the possibility of losses resulting from the occurrence of an event. It is the effect of uncertainty on something. The loss can be physical involving loss of lives or economic loss. In this case the risk here entails incidences from hazards. Risk has various classifications including economic risk that results from events relating to events like floods. When floods occur in an area, it threatens the economic position due to the losses that occur (Harrison 2010). Therefore, it is important to carry out a risk analysis that analyzes all possible risks and how to prevent them. This helps in preventing such risks and how to deal with them once they occur. It is possible to avoid some risks while others it is impossible. Analyzing risks entails looking at the probability of events happening. Insurance companies and policies have come up to lower risks and prevent losses resulting from such events. For instance the risk associated with living near a hillside that is unstable. Insurance takes care of losses that people incur as a result of these risks (Harrison 2010). This is the case when people insure their property or lives against such occurrences. Impact This term describes the effects or influence that an event has on its surrounding like on the environment. An Impact can take different forms like one on the environment, lives of people or the economy of a country. The impacts of such hazards are very diverse. They can be long-term or short-term effects depending on the hazard. There are both positive and negative effects of incidences on the lives of people and on the environment. Incidences like accidents affect negatively people because some lose their lives or those of family and friends. There is a positive impact to such accidents as they act as lessons to learn from. This is so that people can prevent some events from happening again (Preston 2011). For instance the management can prevent explosions in industries from happening. There are negative impacts of other events like landslides on the environment. They destroy the land such that settlements cannot be made in the area (Preston 2011). Positive impacts involve acting as lessons so that the relevant people can act analyze the effect and prevent a future happening. Damage It refers to injury or harm resulting from an event. For instance damages that result from a storm which causes a loss to people and the environment. Incidental damages include such damages occurring fro perils and the costs needed to take care of the losses. It involves such costs for replacing damages as a result of the hazards. There are various classifications of damages depending on the situation. Some of the categories include statutory, nominal or compensatory damages among others. Actual damages are paid to replace loss or injuries as a result of events. It is possible to claim for damages from occurrence of hazards from insurance companies (Parrish 2011). For instance damages from a road accident to take care for any loss that the victims suffer in the event. In the event of a landslide, residents of the area can get damages from relevant authorities like the government or insurance companies. They are meant to return the victim to his or her precious financial position and not being an investment plan (Parrish 2011). Such damages are also meant to take care of the beneficiaries of victims who lose their lives in the event of such accidents. Therefore, damages are of much help in cases of occurrence of accidents. The duties of the first ambulance crew arriving on the scene of a major incident The first ambulance team has many roles to play in the scene of a major incident in the aim of saving the lives of victims (Lennquist 2012). Their duties at the site are very essential to the victims. They have the duty of analyzing the situation at the incident site so that they are in a position to know the necessary measures to put in place. They also have the duty to save the casualties using the available resources. Emergency services in Australia work extra hard to ensure efficiency in such accidents. Study shows that the first ambulance that arrives on the accident scene plays a big role by helping victims in various ways. They have to attend to the victims and alert other emergency service providers to come at the scene. They have a mnemonic that guides them through roles that they have to play on the arrival at the accident scene. The ambulance crew also has the duty to inform relevant health care centers about the arrival of casualties (Lennquist 2012). They also have the obligation of giving them enough time to get ready for the victims. Therefore, they should perform their duties efficiently and as fast as possible to avoid death of victims. The attendants of the crew take the duties of the victims while the driver takes care of the silver control. When the crew arrives at the scene they are given various roles to play where they should act as an Ambulance Commander. In a country like Australia, they carry out an analysis on the site on the basis of CHALET which has its guidelines. They should analyze the hazards and paths for other crews to arrive at the scene. They should also identify the location of the incident and also get other available emergency crews to assist the victims. CHALET entails all the actions that the crew undertakes at the accident scene. In this mnemonic involves giving data on the number of casualties. This includes the number of the dead, casualties and those who are uninjured. It also analyzes hazards that led to the accident both active and potential ones (Lennquist 2012). They identify the best routes for other services so that they access the scene of the incident. They do that by getting information on the location of the accident. The crew has the duty of giving information on the emergency and the number of cars needed in the scene. The first crew to arrive at the site has the duty of making an assessment of the site and the victims so that they are able to know the kind of measures to take. They also give a report concerning the accident to the control room that acts as their center. Another of their duties is to inform the police about the accidents. This is so that they also take immediate actions. They then have the duty to declare it a major disaster and take the relevant actions to it. References Coppola, D. P. (2011): Introduction to international disaster management: Elsevier. Dekker, J. (2009): Impact: Orca Book Publishers Hyndman, D & Hyndman, D. (2010): Natural hazards and disasters: Cengage learning. Harrison, C. (2010): Risk: Bloomsbury publishing. Ropeik, D & Gray, G. M. (2002): Risk: a practical guide for deciding what’s really safe and what’s dangerous in the world around you: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Preston, D. (2011): Impact: Pan Macmillan. Smith, K & Petley, D. N. (2009): Environment hazards: assessing risk and reducing disaster: Taylor & Francis. Hart, Josephine. (2011): Damage: Little Brown Book Group. Withington, J. (2012): Disaster! A history of earthquakes, floods, plagues and other catastrophes: Skyhorse publishing. Parrish, A. (2011): Damage: Llewellyn worldwide. Advanced life support group. (2011): Major incident medical management and support: the approach at the scene: John Wiley & Sons. Lennquist, S. (2012): Medical response to major incidents and disasters: a practical guide for all medical staff: Springer. Read More