Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:41:32.472Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Chapter Three: Overview and Concepts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2020

Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It is not possible for persons within and between the many disciplines involved in disasters to communicate with each other without clear definitions of the specific terms that are used. In many instances, the same terms have different meanings in different disciplines. Thus, a standardized set of definitions is provided in this chapter and in the associated Glossary of Terms. Some definitions discussed in this Chapter include: (1) disaster; (2) medical disaster; (3) hazard; (4) risk; (5) prevention; (6) modification; (7) event (including onset, duration, amplitude, intensity, scale, and magnitude); (8) impact; (9) mitigation; (10) preparedness; (11) damage; (12) vulnerability; (13) resilience; (14) absorbing capacity; (15) buffering capacity; (16) disaster management; (17) response; and (18) recovery. An annotated, comprehensive set of definitions is provided in the Glossary of Terms in these Guidelines.

Keywords

absorbing capacityamplitudebuffering capacitydamagedefinitionsdisasterdurationeventhazardimpactintensitymagnitudemanagementmedical disastermitigationmodificationonsetpreparednesspreventionrecoveryresilienceresponseriskscalevulnerability
Type
Conceptual Framework
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 17 , Issue S3: Health Disaster Management: Guidelines for Evaluation and Research in the “Utstein Style” , December 2002 , pp. 31 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Al-Mahari, AF, Keller, AZ: Review of disaster definitions. Prehosp Disast Med 1007;12(1):17–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Cuny, FC: Introduction to disaster management. Lesson 1: The scope of disaster management. Prehosp Disast Med 1992;7(4):400–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Perez, E, Thompson, P: Natural hazards: Causes and effects. Prehosp Disast Med 1994;9(1):80–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Gunn, SWA: Multilingual Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and International Relief. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp 23–24.Google Scholar
5.Last, JM (Ed.): A Dictionary of Epidemiology. New York, Oxford, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1995, p 149.Google Scholar
6.Krymsky, VG, Akhmedjanov, FM, Suslov, AS, Yunusov, AR: Regional Management of accidents risk level: Strategy based on effective feedbacks. Society for Risk Analysis - Europe 1998 Annual Meeting. Abstract.Google Scholar
7.Thatcher, VS, McQueen, A (eds): The New Webster Dictionary of the English Language. Chicago: Consolidated Book Publishers, 1971, p 542.Google Scholar
8.Thompson, D (ed): The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. 9th ed, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, p 43.Google Scholar
9.Ibid., p 1230.Google Scholar
10.Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization: Evaluation of preparedness and response to Hurricanes Georges and Mitch: Conclusions and recommendations. Prehosp Disast Med 1999;14(2):21–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Group 4: Invitational Workshop on Quality Control of Health Disaster Management: Nordic School of Public Health, Gothenburg, Sweden 1997. Unpublished data.Google Scholar
12. Thompson, Dictionary, p 338.Google Scholar
13.Sareen, H, Shoaf, KI: Impact of the 1994 Northridge earthquake on the utilization and difficulties associated with prescription medications and health aids. Prehosp Disast Med 2000;15(4):173–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14. First Book of Moses. The Bible, Chapter 41, verses 1-57.Google Scholar
15.Taylor, EJ (ed): Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co., Hartcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1988, p 1849.Google Scholar
16. Group 1: Invitational Workshop on Quality Control of Health Disaster Management: Nordic School of Public Health, Gothenburg, Sweden 1997. Unpublished data.Google Scholar
17.Guill, CK, Shandera, WX: The effects of Hurricane Mitch on a community in northern Honduras. Prehosp Disast Med 2001;16(3):166–171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Goenjian, AK, Molina, L, Steinberg, AM, Fairbanks, LA, Alvarez, ML, Goenjian, HA, Pynoos, RS: Posttraumatic stress and depressive reactions among Nicaraguan adolescents after hurricane Mitch. American Journal of Psychiatry 2001;158(5):788–794.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Caldera, T, Palma, L, Penayo, U, Kullgren, G: Psychological impact of the hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua in a one-year perspective. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology 2001;36(3):108–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Balluz, L, Moll, D,Diaz Martinez, MG, Merida Colindres, JE, Malilay, J: Environmental pesticide exposure in Honduras following hurricane Mitch. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2001;79(4):288–295.Google ScholarPubMed