Disaster Management and Emergency Planning

Student activity instructions:

1. First, read the article "Needs assessment in humanitarian crises".
2. Now go through the slides "Emergency response in resource-poor settings". These should give you an overview of what the needs are in the aftermath of a disaster.
3. Now post your thoughts on the discussion forum on how disaster needs are assessed.
4. You may wish to also refer to the detailed "IASC Initial Rapid Assessment Guidance Notes" for a deeper understanding of how needs assessments are carried out.

Recommended resources

1. Needs assessment of humanitarian crises: This article gives a brief overview of the role of needs assessments in disasters.
2. Rapid Health Assessment Protocol for Emergencies: This WHO publication has 10 protocols designed to help those involved in a rapid health assessment to determine the health impacts of a range of emergencies and to help in planning. http://www.healthlibrary.com/book51.htm
3. According to Need? Needs Assessment and Decision-Making in the Humanitarian Sector, Chapter 3 goes into some depth and detail but explains the conceptual issues, principles and purpose of needs assessment.
4. General effects of disasters on health: The chapter looks into health problems common to all disasters and by the type of disaster; table 1.1 neatly presents the short-term effects of different types of disasters.
5. Methodological challenges and contributions in disaster epidemiology Study design and statistical methods to estimate the health impact of a disaster have been discussed in this 'Epidemiological Review' journal article by Dominici F et al. The authors have taken an interesting view regarding what can be learnt from disasters.