Deck 26: Public Health Preparedness

Question 1

The severity of natural disasters is likely to continue to increase due to climate change. Why are public health professionals concerned about climate change?

Answer 1

Public health professionals are concerned because climate change has multiple impacts on human health such as:
-Heat-related illnesses and deaths due to increasingly frequent and severe heat waves
-Injuries and increases in waterborne disease due to increased precipitation and associated flooding
-Threats to public safety during coastal flooding and storm surges as a result of rising sea levels

Question 2

List and describe the basic phases of disaster management.

Answer 2

The basic phases of disaster management include mitigation or prevention, warning and preparedness, response, and recovery.
-Mitigation includes actions to reduce the harmful effects of a disaster, such as those that may prevent further loss of life, disease, disability, or injury.
-Warning, or forecasting, refers to monitoring events for indicators that signify when and where a disaster might occur and what its magnitude might be.
-In preparedness, officials or the public plan a response to potential disasters and, in so doing, lay the framework for recovery.

Question 3

Health care professionals around the world are increasingly responding to the potential peril from emerging infectious diseases. Diseases of grave concern include those that can be spread by what methods?

Answer 3

Diseases of grave concern include those that can be spread:
-When an infected person releases tiny airborne droplets through sneezes or coughs (e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS], influenza)
-When skin or mucous membranes come in contact with blood or other body fluids or contaminated objects or surfaces (e.g., Ebola virus disease [EVD]
-When in close contact, such as living with or caring for an infected person (e.g., Middle East respiratory syndrome [MERS]