Management of Environmental Emergencies

Introduction:

Environmental emergencies can occur anywhere around the world. The impact on human health and life is based on the speed and scale (mild, moderate, or severe) of the disaster, and it is widely managed by local environmental healthcare professionals (medical care specialists, sanitarians, and environmentalists) by protecting and ensuring the well-being of the people in affected areas.

What Are Environmental Emergencies?

Environmental emergencies are sudden onset of disasters that require immediate response when a significant population is exposed to extreme events resulting in moderate to severe injuries or illness, combined with infrastructure and economic destruction to society.

What Are the Types of Environmental Emergencies?

There are four types of environmental emergencies or disasters, which are listed below:

1. Natural Disaster: The disaster occurs due to abnormal natural phenomena with a rapid or slow onset. Natural disasters distinguished into five types are:

• Geophysical: Due to disruption of the earth (earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruption).

• Hydrological: Due to the disruption of water (floods, tsunamis, and avalanches).

• Climatological: Due to fluctuation of climate (droughts and wildfires).

• Meteorological: Due to weather (cyclones and storms).

• Biological: Due to toxic chemicals or diseases (epidemic diseases and animal plagues).

2. Man-Made Disasters: The events caused by humans may induce natural disasters or destruction all alone. It includes:

• Environmental degradation.

• Pollution.

• Accidents (industrial accidents by the production and use of toxic chemicals).

3. Complex Disaster: Complex emergency is extensive violence that occurs as a consequence of natural and man-made disasters resulting in:

• Food and water insecurity (lack of food supply and water).

• Epidemic conditions (rapid spread of disease among the population within an area in a short period).

• Displaced populations (people forced to leave their hometown or places with generalized violence or disasters).

• Armed war (war between countries or states for a political reason).

4. Pandemic Emergencies: A pandemic is an epidemic that affects both health and day-to-day life with economic degradation globally. The diseases included in the pandemic are:

• Airborne Diseases: Transmitted from one person to another through the air via small droplets (like COVID-19).

• Body Fluid-Borne Diseases: Transmitted via contaminated blood or bodily fluids (like Ebola virus, Human immunodeficiency virus-HIV).

• Zoonotic Diseases: Transmitted from affected animals to humans (like rabies).

• Vector-Borne Diseases: Spread by the bite of mosquitoes and ticks (like malaria and cholera).

• Food-Borne Diseases: By consumption of food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances (like typhoid fever).

What Will Be the Impact of an Environmental Emergency?

The disaster significantly affects the physical, biological, and social status of an environment. The major impacts are:

• The traumatized physical and mental health of an individual.

• Contamination of water.

• Destruction of sanitation and waste management.

• Lack of food supply and shelter.

• Chemical and radiation exposure.

• It also results in an increased death rate among the population.

What to Do During Environmental Emergencies?

For better safety and awareness, follow three guidelines:

• Check: Before rushing into something, assess the situation of the warning sign through local television, radio, or trustable social media and evaluate the kind of need required.

• Call: If there are any emergencies, call local authorities and ask for help.

• Care: A wide range of care is provided by medical professionals, sanitarians, and environmentalists based on essential needs. Basic medical care after or during a disaster can benefit the well-being of victims for a longer period.

What Are the Steps in the Management of Environmental Disasters?

There are five steps in the management of emergencies.

• Prevention.

• Mitigation.

• Preparedness.

• Response.

• Recovery.

1. Preventive Phase: Prevention is an action taken in advance to avoid potential impact from disasters. Although not all disasters can be prevented, prior environmental planning, risk management, and evacuation plans can reduce the risk of morbidity (rate of the diseased population) and mortality (death rate).

2. Mitigation: The process implemented to reduce the severity of the condition due to undesirable events.

3. Preparedness: Preparing for what comes next. The risk of disaster can be predicted through research-based knowledge in a community which helps reduce the risk factors of disaster. Some preparedness includes reinforcement training and education campaigns on hazards.

4. Response or Relief Phase: The action carried out immediately after or during a hazardous situation to fulfill the essential short-term requirements. The relief activity includes providing:

• Temporary shelter.

• Food and water.

• Emergency medical care.

• Preventive health care.

• Rescue and relocate the people in disaster.

5. Recovery Phase: Disaster recovery is the restoration of basic services after the crisis by rebuilding infrastructures (hospitals, schools, roads, and public buildings), health care and rehabilitation, and the development of policies to avoid a similar crisis in the future.

What Is the Role of Healthcare Professionals in an Emergency Crisis?

Most probably, disasters result in huge demands on healthcare systems to provide:

• First aid.

• Advanced medical care.

• Rehabilitation treatment for patients with fractures, nerve injury, and burns.

• Emergency medicine (treatment for life-threatening situations).

While during the pandemic, healthcare professional plays a significant role in the following:

• Contact tracing (supporting and advising epidemiologists: who assess the frequency and effect of the disease in the human population.).

• Preventing and treating the major infectious disease diagnosed by the affected population.

• Patient and public education regarding the infection to decrease the severity of the disease.

What Is the Role of Environmentalists in the Management of Disaster?

The primary role of environmentalists is to prevent or reduce the spread of disease by assisting disaster relief organizations and providing information on general sanitation, food safety, temporary housing or shelter, mass feeding centers, drinking water distribution, and waste disposal. Their second role is to promote awareness among the public, followed by surveying the affected people and their needs.

Conclusion:

During a natural or man-made crisis, the government’s environmental health system significantly provides essential services for protecting people in affected areas, emphasizing the prevention and control of infectious diseases and exposures to toxic materials.