The global health threat posed by the ongoing deterioration in natural ecosystems and damage to our physical environment is growing at a rapid pace. Less recognized is the threat from natural hazard disasters, which concentrate contaminants from the damaged environment and expose large vulnerable populations to life-threatening medical conditions and disease. Currently neither international nor any national health and medical emergency response protocols or programs have prepared health responses to protect the health of communities in such events.

This study performed a retrospective health risk assessment on two recent events where such impacts unfolded, namely the 2015 southeast Equatorial Asia smoke haze disaster and the 2016 Melbourne thunderstorm asthma epidemic. The primary objective was to test if the characterization of health risk could have been identified earlier and catastrophic levels of mortality and morbidity reduced.

The study employed a two-staged retrospective health risk characterization assessment. The first step applied the UNISDR (2017) framework for health risk disaster assessment combing a thematic and targeted word literature review to identify the level of health and medical risk knowledge prior to each event. The second stage applied a risk characterization matrix developed using ISO and Australian Health Department semi-quantitative health assessment standards.

The 2015 southeast Equatorial Asia smoke haze disaster risk assessment was characterized as an extreme health risk and the 2016 Melbourne thunderstorm asthma epidemic characterized as a high health risk.

Innovative medical response approaches are urgently needed to mitigate the growing health risk to whole populations from natural hazard disasters compounded by deteriorating natural ecosystems and the physical environment. This requires emergency medical and health teams to recognize the two-tailed human health risk from natural disaster hazards, along with investment in advanced planning, environmental risk surveillance, specialist training, technical guidance, and multi-sector coordination.