Community Nursing Essay Discussion Paper
Please write 1 paragraph for each of the following (total 3 paragraphs).Discuss a natural disaster or act of terrorism that has occurred in the last 15 years.
2. In your opinion, do you feel that the event was handled appropriately? Why or why not?
3. Do you have an emergency or disaster plan in place for your family? What does it involve?
Community nursing
Tropical Storm Barry is a natural disaster that occurred in July of 2019, having been formed and dissipated in a period of six days. This was a category 1 hurricane that affected Louisiana. It was characterized by wind speeds of as high as 120 km/h (75 mph), and minimal central pressure of 29.3 inHg (993 millibars). It caused 1 fatality, and damages approximated at $600 million (Insurance Information Institute, 2020).
The event was handled appropriate. Firstly, information was promptly availed within the public domain to help in handling the disaster. The public was aware of the affected areas, where to receive help, and hotlines from which to get information. In fact, the National Hurricane Center forecasters were instrumental in tracking the storm and giving warnings thus directing both the public and emergency response services. Secondly, the response was well organized and managed by a multi-agency team comprised of the Environmental Protection Agency, United States Coast Guard, Louisiana Department of Health, Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office, and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The multi-agency team coordinated all state and local response efforts, and directed federal officials. Still, there are some shortcomings with the way in which the event was handled. There was a lack of preparedness as indicated by the extensive damage that could have been avoided. This is particularly so for the buildings and infrastructure that should have been structurally prepared to handle the storm given that the area is typically affected by storms (Insurance Information Institute, 2020; Wagner et al., 2019).
My family has an emergency plan for handling natural disasters. Firstly, the plan includes emergency rations for handling emergencies that keep the family indoors to include food rations, medicine, clothing, and a power generator. Secondly, the family members are assigned tasks to help with passing through the disaster safely. For instance, I am in charge of communication to ensure that all family members take shelter and are safe, and that emergency personnel are aware of our location.
References
Insurance Information Institute (2020). Facts + statistics: hurricanes. Retrieved from https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-hurricanes
Wagner, M., Murphy, P., Hammond, E. & Rocha, V. (2019). Tropical Storm Barry. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/tropical-storm-barry-2019/index.html . Community Nursing Essay Discussion Paper