EMERGENCY AND DISASTER NURSING

EMERGENCY CARE Emergency - is a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or environment. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some situations, mitigation may not be possible and agencies may only be able to offer palliative care for the aftermath.

Emergency Nursing is a nursing specialty in which nurses care for patients in the emergency or critical phase of their illness or injury. This is common to many nursing specialties, the key difference is that an emergency nurse is skilled at dealing with people in the phase when a diagnosis has not yet been made and the cause of the problem is not known.

Emergency Nursing (usually) involves the provision of nursing care for patient or patients with acute injuries or life threatening illnesses. (usually) care is provided at ED, Urgent care, Trauma unit and/or ICU/CCU

EMERGENCY NURSE specialize in rapid assessment and treatment when every second counts, particularly during the initial phase of acute illness and trauma. must tackle diverse tasks with professionalism, efficiency, and above allcaring. must possess both general and specific knowledge about health care to provide quality patient care for people of all ages. must be ready to treat a wide variety of illnesses or injury situations, ranging from a sore throat to a heart attack.

Roles and Functions of Emergency Nurse Patient Care - Emergency nurses care for patients and families in hospital emergency departments, ambulances, helicopters, urgent care centers, cruise ships, sports arenas, industry, government, and anywhere someone may have a medical emergency or where medical advances or injury prevention is a concern.

Education - Emergency nurses provide education to the public through programs to promote wellness and prevent injuries - alcohol awareness - child passenger safety, - gun safety - bicycle and helmet safety - domestic violence prevention.

Leadership and Research - administrators - managers - researchers

Types of emergency Dangers to life - Many emergencies cause an immediate danger to the life of people involved. - incidents affecting a single person - heart attacks - strokes - trauma - incidents affecting large numbers of people - natural disasters - hurricanes, - floods - mudslides.

Dangers to health - broken limbs Dangers to property - fire Dangers to the environment - forest fires - marine oil spills

Agencies involved in dealing with emergencies Police - deal with security of person and property Fire service - deal with potentially harmful fires, but also often rescue operations such as dealing with road traffic collisions. - help to prevent loss of life, damage to health and damage to or loss of property. Emergency medical service (Ambulance service) - these services attempt to reduce loss of life or damage to health. - attempts to prevent loss of life and damage to health.

Four Phases in Emergency Management Preparedness - the agencies decide on how they will respond to a given incident or set of circumstances Response - execute plans, and may end up improvising some areas of their response Recovery - assist in the clear up from the incident, or help the people involved overcome their mental trauma Mitigation - involves taking steps to ensure that no re-occurrence is possible - this should feed back in to the preparedness stage, with updated plans in place to deal with future emergencies, thus completing the circle.

Indication for priority in care Altered level of consciousness Respiratory distress Chest pain Elderly or very young patient Severe pain Alteration in body temperature Injuries Shock

Bleeding Behavior Chemical burns Significant alterations in vital signs Vague symptoms which causes concern

Priorities for Emergency Care Assess respiration Ensure a patent airway and ventilate if necessary Assess cardiovascular function Maintain adequate blood pressure Apply pressure to any bleeding Assess the level of consciousness Splint all suspected fractures Apply sterile dressing to wounds

DISASTER are sudden catastrophic events that disrupt patterns of life and in which there is possible loss of life and property in addition to multiple injuries

Disaster Nursing involves response to (and preparedness for) natural or man-made events that affect an entire community or communities. usually involve massive numbers of casualties and extensive property damage

DISASTER are sudden catastrophic events that disrupt patterns of life and in which there is possible loss of life and property in addition to multiple injuries

Nuclear Attack

Natural Disaster: Tsunami

World Trade Center in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Flight 175 approaches the WTC South Tower

Types of Disasters NaturalMan-made Technological Biological Unintentional Tsunamis Floods Hurricanes Earthquakes Wildfires Bhopal disaster Haz-mat (hazardous material) Nuclear Plant Accident Epidemic Pandemic IntentionalAct of God Chemical, Nuclear, Radiological Explosion, Acts of Terrorism Bioterrorism

Effects of Disaster People are killed, and injured and separated from their families Victims may become homeless Panic, confusion and chaos occur during the early stages Transportation difficulties Less food and water supply Inadequate medical supply Utilities can be disrupted

Role of Nurses in Disaster Give initial first aid treatment or supervises the activities of others Aid or help victims to cope with their emotional reaction to the disaster Coordinate with governmental or non-governmental agencies Hospital nurses must have a disaster plan to cope with sudden influx of victims needing emergency care

Causes of Disaster Nature - Air - Tornado, Hurricane, Blizzard - Land - Earthquake, volcanic eruptions, avalanche, cave-in, landslides - Water - Floods – slow rising and flush flood - Tidal waves, tsunami

Man-made - Transportation - air, land, water - Fire - housing, forest, explosion Disease - Epidemic - Civil - riot, war, terrorism