...Healthcare Facilities Safe from Disaster The price we pay for the failure of healthcare facilities due to disasters, such as tornados is high in cost. The cost of planning and making a healthcare facility safe from a tornado disaster is low compared to rebuilding it after disaster strikes. The damages of disaster healthcare systems and facilities is a human tragedy which results in large economic losses, dealing with devastating blows to the development goals of the facility, and it can also shake social confidence. Making healthcare facilities safe from tornado disasters is an economic requirement for the safety and well-being of our patients as well as our staff. The disaster definition of a tornado is any occurrence that causes economic disruption, disaster, deterioration in the facility services on a scale sufficient to response from outside the affected community or area, and loss of human life. The demand for healthcare has to be met when the destructive forces of a tornado has overwhelmed the community in which the demand for healthcare must be met after a disaster has occurred. The common denominator of such magnitude from a tornado disaster is the overwhelming of organization or resources as well as the inability for the institution to return to normalcy post to the event of a tornado without external existence. This can prove the inability of adequate healthcare if a proper plan is not set and met. Tornados can happen at any time and almost anywhere in the...
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...On April 27, 2011, a devastating tornado swept through the city of Tuscaloosa, leaving fifty-two people dead in its wake. On this particular Wednesday in late April, Alabama and a few other southern states (Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) were ravaged with a total of 199 tornadoes. The storms began shortly after midnight on April 27 with the majority of them happening from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm as supercell storms formed over Mississippi and Alabama. The violent EF4 tornado that damaged Tuscaloosa began at 4:43 pm in rural Greene County. It quickly trekked over southwest Tuscaloosa and into downtown at 5:13 pm destroying anything and everything in its path. As it continued on its journey, it hit the poor areas of Alberta...
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...“How to Prepare for a Tornado” Tornadoes can be devastating acts of nature. Part of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are rotating, whirling winds that appear in a funnel shape. These storms can reach winds of 300 miles per hour, and can devastate neighborhoods and towns in minutes and is very dangerous. In order to protect yourself and your family from this natural disaster you will need to prepare before the disaster even occurs. Tornados can be a very frightening disaster and it’s always the best to prepare beforehand so in the next few paragraphs I’m going to explain the steps of how to prepare for a tornado, such as prepare your family, prepare your house, stay alert/informed, and the steps to take once a tornado has occurred. First, discuss a plan and practice it. Create a list with contact information, insurance information, and in case of emergency out of town contacts. Make sure everyone in the family knows where to go, what to take, and how to be safe if a tornado hits. Store important documents, just in case. Make copies of birth certificates, insurance information, and social security cards to bring with you if you need to evacuate. This will be valuable if you aren't able to return home immediately after the tornado. Set up means of communication. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to get in contact with everyone else. School number, work number, and cell phone numbers should be compiled on a list. Anyone, such as a babysitter, that your children...
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...to property. Searching for methods to prepare all people and communities might be a challenge. For example, what precautions would a community take to prepare for a tornado? In an event of a disaster, a community may be limited to the number of officials in a police and/or fire department. Events such as a tornado, depending on which type, may leave a community damaged to the point where no vehicle can pass, such as an ambulance or fire truck. When a disaster, for instance, a tornado occurs, the community could be the best hope for survival until responders reach the scene. Involving citizens...
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...Grades 6-8 Protocol for Natural Disaster: Tornado Tyson Lee March 3, 2013 Information about the Protocol Living in Mississippi, there are many tornadoes that hit this area. Mississippi has on average, 29 tornadoes per year. One of nature’s most violent acts is a tornado. Tornadoes can cause enough devastation to tear through a neighborhood and demolish it and they can cause fatalities. At times, a tornado can develop so quickly that advance warning can be too little too late. When preparing for a tornado, schools need to be aware of tornado watches and warnings. The National Weather Service issues a warning when conditions are favorable for the development of a tornado and a warning is issued when a tornado has been detected. In the school, there should be someone that will be monitoring the weather radio for potential bad weather. There should also be a plan and provisions set in the school for during school hours, after school hours, and any school related activities. During school hours, there need to be a procedure for relaying this information to all faculty, staff, and students. In order to make sure that all faculty, staff, and students are prepared, in the event of a real tornado, is to have a severe weather safety plan in effect where everyone can take cover within a minute. It is important to do this with regular tornado drills. This allows for all persons to be prepared in the event of a real tornado. The evacuation procedures...
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...Natural Disasters Index Introduction Types of Disasters Effects of Disaster on Economy Effect of Disaster on Health Care Organization * Sudden Influx * Damage to Facilities * Inadequately Prepared * Specialty Treatment Availability Effects on the Population * Immediate Health Impact * Long-Term Impacts Steps in Disaster Management * Mitigation * Preparedness * Response * Recovery Real Incident Study * Background: * Immediate Response Considerations: * Evacuation: * Special Immediate Concerns: * Recovery Process: * Facility Considerations: * Lessons Learned at This Point in Response/Recovery: * Takeaways from this incident: Conclusion References Introduction According to dictionary.com Disasters means “a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood…” Disasters such as Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, tornados, epidemic disease outbreaks and more can damage any population and have a tremendous effect on the health care organizations that respond. Many health care organizations face major challenges during natural disasters. There are many different causes for those challenges.According to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in 2002, international disasters affected 608 million people and killed more than 24,000. The recent natural disaster in the...
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...dangerous and destructive tornado struck the city of Cullman, Alabama at around 3:00 p.m. CDT (2000 UTC). This large, multi-vortex tornado was captured on several TV tower cameras from stations such as Birmingham's Fox affiliate WBRC (channel 6) and ABC affiliate WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU (channels 58, 33 and 40). The tornado caused extensive destruction in downtown Cullman, a city of about 20,000 people; the tornado has been rated an EF4.[36] The final damage count was 867 residences and 94 businesses in Cullman.[37] At 4:00 p.m. CDT a tornado struck Lawrence County, Alabama, causing severe damage and killing a couple dozen people. At around 5:10 p.m. CDT (2210 UTC), a very large and exceptionally destructive tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[38] About 40 minutes later, the same tornado struck the northern suburbs of Birmingham. A tornado emergency was issued for both cities, and many other tornado emergencies were issued that day. Many local TV stations, including WBRC and WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, as well as CBS affiliate WIAT (channel 42), captured footage of this long-track tornado in both Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. A debris ball was observed by the Birmingham NEXRAD,[39] indicating that the tornado was causing extreme damage. Photos from the damage path showed total devastation. The path of this tornado struck the same small communities as the F4 storm on April 1956 Birmingham tornado, and the F5 storms on April 1977 Birmingham tornado and April 1998 Birmingham tornado. The supercell responsible...
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...every company they need to have a plan in place just in case there is some kind of emergency. One of the biggest plans is a fire drill. The mall I work at has a monthly fire drill where they test the alarms and response times it takes for their security and other personal to evaluate and other measures they have to prevent any fire from spreading. In the spring months they just started having tornado drills as well. A few years ago they had a close call with one, and they added areas that are well marked for just such a disaster. Even the food court is now a safe zone if there were to be a tornado. They test all the emergency lighting and all the pipes throughout the mall are opened, not with water, they have a colored gas they can see coming out of it were the water is to be coming out. The company that owns this mall owns malls all over the world. From what one of the malls maintenance men said, when they built this mall, they wanted this mall to with stand earth quakes, and other natural disasters. They have malls in LA, Tokyo, Singapore. When they bought this mall, they didn’t tear it down and rebuild it, they just closed parts of it and moved the food court and theaters when they added the new wing. They then closed the old wing and remade it for stores while they gave Macys a face lift. Macys stayed open while they were making it one off the tornado safety zones. I am sure with all that was done to this mall, if a natural disaster were to come, this would be one...
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...Tornadoes David Griswold April 20, 2014 Natural Disasters ES117-01-77 DR. Brazell Tornadoes A tornado is one of the few natural disasters that have taken place in the Midwest, but its effects can cause devastation that can be felt worldwide. Tornadoes destroy entire towns. In some cases they will level an entire block, but leave one house standing almost untouched. Their paths can be unpredictable, and cost of the destruction almost immeasurable. A major natural disaster such as this could wipe out people’s way of life and a food supply that helps to feed the world. In many cases flooding accompanies tornadoes. These super cell storms can drop several inches of water in a very short time. Tornadoes can also destroy water towers leaving communities without drinkable water, knock over power lines leaving communities in the dark and tear open gas lines creating a very high risk of fires and explosions. Tornadoes have been somewhat sensationalized in media. There have been books written about tornado events such as The Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman, the story of her cousin’s families bout with the June 3, 1980 Grand Island, Nebraska tornadoes, to movies such as the made for TV movie of the same name and The Wizard of Oz, not to mention the Blockbuster Twister. Although these movies are entertaining, they are far from accurate. “A storm chasers dream come true is to get close enough to a mile-wide tornado to shoot unique video of nature's extreme fury. Maybe even take some...
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...name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma meaning “red people” (Baird, & Danney, 1994). On the afternoon of May 20, 2013 an EF5 tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas on the afternoon of May 20, 2013, with peak winds estimated at 210 miles per hour, killing 23 people and injuring 377 others. The storm first struck near Newcastle, Oklahoma, at 2:56 p.m. CDT Monday, 16 minutes after the first warnings went out, according to the National Weather Service. Moore residents had another 30 to 40 minutes before the massive storm entered the western part of the city. On the east side of Moore, Briarwood Elementary was damaged, but everyone made it out alive. At Plaza Towers Elementary, about 75 students and staff members were hunkered down when the tornado struck. Several died at the school, including a number of children. The building was reduced to just a few walls. Moore Medical Center was also hit. It went from a two-story building to a one story and was not able to be occupied. Type of Team With any disaster plan there will be different team for different projects. As this area has frequent tornado, team planning would be on ongoing process. There will also be various levels of teams. Every city should have a city wide disaster plan. One of the teams would be a problem solving team. This team would meet several times a year to discuss ways of...
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...to the impacts of disaster. Instead, the age of the child intersects with other personal and social characteristics, such as his or her geographic location, family structure, socioeconomic status, physical and mental ability, stage of development, and nationality, to determine the likelihood of harm in a particular disaster event. When disaster strikes, children are among those most vulnerable to death and injury, especially in developing countries” (Peek & Stough, 2010, p. 2). It is easy understand how children are a vulnerable population. One situation is children with disabilities. These children are more at risk in disasters than those without disabilities. According to disability is defined as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual” (Peek & Stough, 2010, p. 2). Children can be physically, cognitively, and educationally vulnerable in a disaster. Children with physical disabilities have a harder time getting to shelter when there is a sudden disaster such as a tornado. The article also points out that children with a cognitive disability such as mental retardation might not recognize the signs of danger and therefore become injured or even die. These children rely more on their parents, so if the parents are unable to assist in protection of the child, then they are left to fend for themselves. Parents and caregiver should realize states do not have a disaster plan for disabled children...
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...Emergency Planning and Security Preparedness Patricia Gutierrez SEC 493 July 15, 2013 David Bagnon Introduction The security of our nation is something that is very important to the country. Because of the horrible events that occurred in September 11, 2001, national security has had to bump up their security measures. But security is not only for terrorist attacks, it is also put in place to secure people from natural disasters, before and after the disaster. Technology has helped each agency to better plan certain for disasters or keeping control as to who comes into the country, thru air, water, or land. Homeland Security Homeland Security consists of many government agencies working on protecting the security of the United States of America. When people think of homeland security, the first thought for them is terrorist attacks but homeland security even protects when there is a natural disaster. Airport security is run by Transportation Security Administration. This department of Homeland Security was created in 2001 after the September 11 attacks. After the attacks, many things changed for passengers flying. There are more restrictions as to what can be brought on the plane. Liquid could not be more that certain amount of ounces, all shoes are checked. Passengers wearing jackets must remove them to get pat downs and now only passengers are allowed at the gates. There technology...
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...Webb, Robert K. EM 331 1November2012 Overview of Andalusia, Alabama Andalusia, Alabama is located in south Alabama. The population, as of 2010, is 9,015. The percentage of white people is 70.5% and the percentage of African American people is 25.9%. People age 65 and over make up 18%, people over 18 years of age make up 23.4%, and people under the age of 5 make up 6.3%. The education level in Andalusia was somewhat surprising. Only 18% of the total population had earned a bachelor’s degree, leaving 79.9% of the population only having a high school diploma. I feel this is the reason their poverty level is at 22.8%. This will have a major effect on how Emergency Managers respond to a natural disaster and what kind of assistance will be needed. (Andalusia, Al) Annotated Bibliography http://www.ready.gov/hurricanes This website, set up by FEMA, informs individuals on what to do before, during, and after a hurricane strikes their area. There are also multiple choices the individual can make when visiting this website; how to build an emergency kit, defined terminology that forecasters may use, storm surge, Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, and various publications that will greatly educate the reader. (Hurricanes, 2012) http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL63A9138A2047B1A4&feature=plpp These are videos that the NOAA developed and posted to youtube so that individuals could be better informed as to how to prepare for hurricane season. They are informative, well produced...
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...As a newly hired consultant, I have been tasked with the duties of creating and presenting a risk management and business contingency plan for my first client, ORAZON Corporation. ORAZON Corporation operates retail clothing stores worldwide and sells clothing on the web. A. A risk is the likelihood of something undesirable happening at a given time (Merna, 2008). Risk management is a two-step process ̶ identifying what risks exist and then handling them in the way best-suited to the business objectives (Investopedia, 2012 at).ORAZON is a well-known corporation that started in 1930. From a company that opened the first clothing website and sold the first shoes and clothes on the World Wide Web, the corporation is recognized globally. ORAZON also hosted its website in Ghana, a country located on the west coast of Africa. ORAZON has customers worldwide that buy its clothing on the website. ORAZON ships its products to customers from almost every country in the world on a daily basis. Like any other business, many risks must be considered. Below is a risk register that shows eight risks currently facing ORAZON. 1. Risk one is power outage Description:| ORAZON Corporation hosts its website from Ghana. Ghana is a country situated on the West African coast. Ghana has a history of a constant power outage because Ghana is a poor country that does not have money to update its electrical grids. ORAZON Corporation needs electrical power to host its website. The company also needs...
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...organizations treat it that way. A comprehensive business continuity plan (BCP) provides a roadmap for continuance and/or restoration of mission-critical functions during and after a disaster, such as a fire, flood, tornado or even a disease epidemic.Your BCP must be thought out, written down, and distributed to key personnel well ahead of any incident that could cause a disruption to your operations. Copies should be stored off-site — an obvious but often overlooked requirement. Here are 10 things a good BCP includes. —more—Note: This information is available as a PDF download. #1: Analysis of potential threats Your company's response to a disaster will depend on both the nature and the extent of the disaster. Some threats, such as a tornado or flood, may physically destroy your IT infrastructure. Others, such as pandemic disease, affect human resources while leaving buildings and machinery intact. A cyberterrorism attack might bring down your network but not affect the functionality of the hardware or your personnel. A bombing may destroy both human life and network components. A power outage could render your equipment unusable, but do no lasting damage. Thus your plan should cover contingencies for as many threat types as possible. #2: Areas of responsibility A key component in any crisis management situation — which is what you have during and perhaps immediately after the disaster — is assignment of areas of responsibility and establishment of a chain...
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