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Washington State Disaster Risk and Preparedness: A Primer for Health Care Providers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2020

Stephen C. Morris Open the ORCID record for Stephen C. Morris [Opens in a new window]
Stephen C. Morris*
Affiliation:
Emergency Medicine and Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WashingtonUSA
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Abstract

Disaster in Washington State (USA) is inevitable. It is incumbent on health care providers to understand the practice environment as it will be affected by disasters. This means understanding the basic concepts of emergency management, local to national emergency response structure, and the risks and vulnerabilities of the region where one works. This understanding will help health care providers anticipate and prepare for disaster response and recovery. Washington State has many unique features with regard to climate and geography, population, public health, and general infrastructure that create significant vulnerabilities to disaster and strengths with regard to potential response and recovery. This report attempts to define and contextualize emergency management and to condense the extensive research and planning that has been conducted in Washington State surrounding disaster assessment, planning, mitigation, and response from a health care providerʼs prospective. The aim is to increase awareness of and preparation for disaster-related topics among health care providers by creating informed responders.

Keywords

disaster riskplanningWashington State
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , June 2020 , pp. 341 - 345
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2020

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