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Fatalities from Volcanic Activity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

William H. Dice  and
James F. Bascom
William H. Dice
Affiliation:
From the Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma WA 98431, USA
James F. Bascom
Affiliation:
From the Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma WA 98431, USA
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Extract

The eruption of Mount Saint Helens in the Cascade Mountain Range of Washington State on 18 May 1980 resulted in a life-threatening and economically disruptive natural disaster that required the mobilization of supportive agencies from the State and Federal government for control. Because of the potential for further eruptions, the mechanism of death for those persons exposed to the initial blast was examined to aid in contingency planning.

Fatalities as a result of the eruption could be attributed to lack of understanding of the danger in the area of the mountain. Although several scientists were killed during the eruption, most were sight-seers who ignored the warning seismic activity and the precautionary blockade of the area. A few were outside of the well-publicized danger zone, but were caught in the rapidly moving mudslides or the ash cloud.

Type
Part III: International Organizations - Planning - Disaster Events
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 1 , supplement S1: Disaster Resuscitology , 1985 , pp. 433
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1985

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