Disaster response strategies and implementation

Haiti Earthquake

After examining the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake of Jan 2010, it is quite obvious that the impact of this natural disaster will be felt for many years to come and much healing and growth will be needed in the near future in order to bring the people of this country to a decent standard of living. This report will document the many public health challenges that were evident after the earthquake and will provide guidance on how future natural disasters' impacts may be mitigated by wise and prudent action. This after action review of the response will highlight the successes and failures of the efforts provided and make suggestions on how those processes may be improved upon.

Initial Observations

Before anyone may help anyone in such a damaging situation as a major earthquake, an acceptable amount of peace and security must be established or nothing may be accomplished. The sense of chaos, death and despair creates a panicked atmosphere where little may be done to affect the necessary medical treatment that is necessary to save lives and bring peace.

Haiti was quite chaotic as I stumbled through the rubble. A deep sense of lawlessness and fear permeated the destroyed landscape which hampered any type of humanitarian efforts. Information was scarce and there was little communication between the many nongovernmental organizations, military units, domestic police and various other invaders of the nation who had come with the best intentions to help.

In what areas there were security, a more objective examination could take place. In these areas near the capital city of Port Au Prince, the response was quite disorganized. A clear lack of response plan seemed evident as there was little consistency between information discussed amongst people. Rumors and lies soon replaced facts as the scene in these collection of triage areas operated in a fog of confusion and disorder.

After some days elapsed order was slowly being restored and a more objective realization of the public health efforts could be monitored. It turned out that the Haitian government reported that 222,570 people had died; over 300,000 had been injured while 1.3 million were displaced.

Establishing Standards

The most glaring idea that seemed to contribute to the failed efforts of rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts in Haiti 2010 was a lack of leadership and shared vision. The massive earthquake may not have been predicted, but a complete lack of response may be more to blame for loss of life than the earthquake itself.

Understanding the importance of a strategic plan requires the public health official to organize his ideas into a useful and practical sequence of action. To help guide this intent 4 minimum standards should be observed and promoted. The following priorities of work are helpful in setting up this strategic approach:

1. Establish Health

2. Food/Water

3. Shelter

4. Sanitation

The public health official must use and combine all the resources available to set and meet these standards in order to ensure that recovery and rebuilding may begin.

Suggestions for Improvement

The most obvious need to help nations and people recover from a natural disaster event such as the one experienced in Haiti is the need to become more organized and prepared. The tragic loss of life and horrors of the violence and disease that have encapsulated this country should not be done in vain. Only when those who are responsible enough to lead this country into a more conservative and reasonable path of action will organization be maximized to its fullest potential.

As a result of this disorganization, there was little guidance direction or purpose. To combat the ill effects of this tendency a disaster response plan at each level of government must be employed. In many third world countries this is unreasonable, and such was the case in Haiti. Disaster response plans are sophisticated instruments of security that the Haitian people are not prepared to deal with at the social, intellectual and emotional levels. The poverty and poor living conditions suggest that basic needs of food and shelter, water and medicine were in dire need before the earthquake struck, and in many ways simply made a bad situation worse.