Disaster Series: Elements of a Disaster
Abstract
A disaster is an environmental disruption of medical care, a victim generator that disrupts the ability to treat multiple patients. Death can come from physiological, physical, social, or behavioral threats within the disaster environment. Legal or administrative definitions of disasters are necessary for out-of-area resource allocation. Topological dynamical systems describe the continuous transformations within the topological space of a disaster. A functional description of disasters focuses on the damage produced by the disaster rather than how the damage was caused. An ecological description underscores how damage creates a new environment within our familiar, formerly safe work environment. The disaster environment can have a latent effect on physiology in several ways. The disaster forms an embedded problem, an ill-structured problem embedded in the environment. We extend operations into disasters by developing capabilities rather than assessing risk.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 20, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.51362/neonatology.today/2021101610108115
Entities
People
- Daved Van Stralen
- Sean D. Mckay
- Thomas A. Mercer
Organizations
- Loma Linda University
- United States Navy