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Defining Disaster-Related Health Risk: A Primer for Prevention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2018

Mark Keim
Mark Keim*
Affiliation:
Disaster Doc, LLC, Atlanta, GeorgiaUSA National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Bethesda, MarylandUSA Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Disaster Medicine Fellowship, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsUSA Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GeorgiaUSA
*
Correspondence: Mark Keim, MD, MBA DisasterDoc LLC Atlanta, Georgia USA E-mail: mark@disasterdoc.org
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Abstract

Effective disaster risk management requires not only management of the immediate problem (disaster-related injuries and disease), but also of the patient’s risk factors and of the underlying health determinants. This requires an accurate and well-validated process for assessment of the determinants of disease.

Ideally, disaster risk management is based on a prioritization process. Once hazards have been identified, they are assessed in terms of the probability and impact in terms of losses. The hazards associated with the greatest probability and impact loss are prioritized. In addition to prioritization, risk assessment also offers a process for ongoing research involving the interaction of health determinants, risk, and protective factors that may contribute to future adverse health outcomes.

Recently, assessments of health risk have become an integral part of local, state, and national emergency preparedness programs. One of the strengths of these assessments is the convening of multi-sectoral input for public health decision making and plans. However, this diversity of input also creates challenges in development of a common nomenclature for assessing and communicating the characteristics of this risk. Definitions remain ambiguous for many of the key indicators of disaster risk, especially those applied to health risk.

This report is intended as a primer for defining disaster-related health risk. This framework is discussed within a nomenclature that is consistent with international standards for risk management and public health prevention.

KeimM. Defining Disaster-Related Health Risk: A Primer for Prevention. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(3):308-316.

Keywords

disasterhealth riskpreventionriskrisk assessment
Type
Special Reports
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , June 2018 , pp. 308 - 316
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2018 

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Footnotes

Conflicts of interest/funding: This work was sponsored by DisasterDoc, LLC (Atlanta, Georgia USA), a private consulting firm specializing in disaster research and education. The author attests that there are no conflicts of interest involved with the authorship and publication of this work. The material in this manuscript reflects solely the views of the author. It does not necessarily reflect the policies or recommendations of the National Center for Disaster Medicine (Bethesda, Maryland USA) or the Department of Defense (Washington, DC USA).

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