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Application of National and Sub-National Indicators to Rank Needs of People with Life-threatening Conditions and Chronic Diseases Before, During, and After a Disaster

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2019

Benjamin Ryan ,
Joseph Green ,
Richard Franklin  and
Frederick Burkle
Benjamin Ryan
Affiliation:
Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu, United States
Joseph Green
Affiliation:
Pacific Disaster Center, Kihei, United States
Richard Franklin
Affiliation:
James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
Frederick Burkle
Affiliation:
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Cambridge, United States
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Abstract

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Introduction:

Disasters can damage the essential public health infrastructure and social protection systems required for vulnerable populations. This contributes to indirect mortality and morbidity as high as 70–90%, primarily due to an exacerbation of life-threatening conditions and chronic diseases. Despite this, the traditional focus of public health systems has been on communicable diseases. To address this challenge, disaster and health planners require access to repeatable and measurable methods to rank and prioritize the needs of people with life-threatening and chronic diseases before, during, and after a disaster.

Aim:

Propose a repeatable and measurable method for ranking and prioritizing the needs of people with life-threatening and chronic diseases before, during, and after a disaster.

Methods:

The research began with identifying the risk disasters pose to people with life-threatening and chronic diseases. The data gathered was then used to develop indicators and explore the use of DisasterAWARE™ (All-hazard Warnings, Analysis, and Risk Evaluation) to rank and prioritize the needs before, during, and after a disaster.

Results:

This research found people at greatest risk are those with underlying cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, unstable diabetes, renal diseases, and those undergoing cancer treatment. A sustainable method to help address this problem is to expand the use of DisasterAWARE™ (All-hazard Warnings, Analysis, and Risk Evaluation) to rank and prioritize needs at national and sub-national levels.

Discussion:

DisasterAWARE™ has been successfully applied to the assessment and prioritization of disaster risk and humanitarian assistance needs in Southeast Asia (ASEAN, Viet Nam), Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua), South America (Peru), and the Caribbean (Jamaica, Dominican Republic). Using the indicators developed through this research, this proven methodology can be seamlessly and easily translated to rank and prioritize the needs of people with life-threatening and chronic diseases before, during, and after a disaster.

Type
Non Communicable Diseases
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 34 , Issue s1: Abstracts of Oral Presentations-WADEM Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2019 , May 2019 , pp. s47
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2019