Components of disaster relief

COMPONENTS OF DISASTER RELIEF

Relief is a transitionary phase that occurs response and short-term recovery operations. Relief activities should be undertaken in such a way that maintains the dignity of the individual and encourages self-reliance. Relief includes the immediate provision of basic human needs immediately following disaster events. It focusses on reducing and stabilising current impacts to prevent the impact of secondary hazards. For effective relief measures, there must be coordination and collaboration between the community, government, NGOs and private sectors. Relief is the provision of immediate shelter, life support and human needs of a person affected by Communities affected by a disaster, require immediate relief such as shelter, food, protection, security, water and sanitation. Each of these components are discussed in detail below:

WATER
Water is essential for all living organisms. During disaster relief operations:

• Arrangements for at least three and a half litres (3.5l) of potable water per person per day should be made
• At least 3 days of water supply should be available and a supply enough for two weeks is desirable
• Replace stored water every six months
• The water should be disinfected with liquid household chlorine bleach.
• The bleach should be stored at a temperature around 21C
• Since the amount of active chlorine in bleach decreases over time due to normal decay, it should be replaced every year

FOOD

• A disaster can easily disrupt the food supply at any time. Hence plans must be made to have atleast three days of food readily available
• The type of foods that should be stored should:
• have long storage life
• require little or no cooking, no refrigeration
• meet the needs of ALL family members especially those on special diet (babies or elders)
• foods should not be salty or spicy as these foods need more water that may be in short supply during disasters
• Packaged foods should be checked for their expiration date
• Foods ahould be stored away from petroleum products
• Foods should be protected from rodents an insects by storing them in boxes or in water proof, air-tight containers
• The water storage containers should be washed and sanitized
• The container used for storing drinking water should be:
• tightly sealed
• not made of glass (as it can break and hurt people)
• should not have been used to store toxic chemicals earlier
• not be made of plastic, cardboard bottles, jugs and containers used for milk or fruit juices

SANITATION

• Sanitation is an essential component during relief since disasters pose significant health threats in the form of contaminated drinking water and spread of infectious diseases.
• Sanitation is the hygenic way of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of waste
• Waste that can cause problems are human and animal feces, solid waste, domestic wastewater (sewage, sullage, greywater), industrial wastes and agricultural waste.
• The term 'hygenic' refers to use of engineering solutions (sewerage and wastewater treatment systems), simple technologies (latrines, septic tanks) or even simple personal hygiene practices (washing hands with soap), etc
• Adopting alternate methods of sanitation must be a priority after a disaster.
• In urban areas, the households do not have individual water sources and sanitation outlets but are connected by common water and sewer infrastructure.
• One of the major relief components involves creation of rudimentary sanitation infrastructure.
• Certain circumstances increase the chance for disease transmission.
• Most common instances of disease are caused by fecal contamination of water and food supplies. Outbreaks of communicable diseases are directly linked with population density and displacement.
• Disruption of sanitation services lead to a disease outbreak
• Open defecation in the area affected by disaster can be prevented by installation of mobile latrines
• Safe disposal of human excreta is a challenge that can be met by incorporating the latest technologies in environmental engineering
• Sanitation is an essential component in emergency response and rehabilitation efforts to limit the spread of diseases in the region.

SHELTER

• In the event of a disaster, the agency responding to the disaster should make arrangements to provide temporary shelter to the affected community 
• The emergency shelters should be easily erected with simple tools and minimum lifting gear.
• Emergency relief structures should be such that they can be erected in a few hours and re-deployed to meet other emegencies at another location at another date. (the relief shelters should be fully air transportable)
• Shelters provide a safe environment for affected people
• Community halls, cyclone shelters, tempporary structures, tents may be used as shelters in case of disasters
• Disaster shelters play a vital role in large-scale disasters and form an important part of disaster response and recovery
• Disaster relief shelters are used to provide private and secure places to people who have lost their usual accomodation due to some form of disaster
• Disaster relief shelters not only provide immediate and short-term shelter for victims of a disaster but also help them to recover from the trauma of a disaster and provide a base to start the process of rehabilitation
• The disaster relief shelters should be designed such that they should be capable of being stored and put to future use

HEALTH

• Disasters cause disruptions to health care infrastructure
• Hospitals may suffer structural damage or health personnel may be among the casualties thereby limiting the ability to provide health services to disaster victims
• Survivors of natural disasters need immediate care for injuries and disease
• Emergency health kits containing essential medical supplies and drugs are provided to victims as part of immediate response to disasters
• Disease instances are caused by fecal contamination of water and food supplies
• If disaster victims live in overcrowded conditions, the risk of disease outbreak increases
• Existing primary health care centers provide an opportunity to integrate and mainstream disaster response services.
• Integrating disaster management with primary health care provides optimal low-cost emergency medical assistance by utilizing existing primary health care network
• The risk of an epidemic after a disaster is related to the endemic levels of diseases in the population
• A few common communicable diseases in case of disasters are - dysentry, cholera, measles, whooping cough, meningococcal meningitis, tuberculosis, malaria, intestinal parasites, scabies, skin diseases, louse borne typhus and relapsing fever
• Natural disasters may alter the potential for disease transmission by altering the ecological conditions
• Most diseases transmitted in disasters are due to disease vectors and water
• A reliable disease reporting system shouuld be set-up to identify outbreaks and initiate control measures

WASTE MANAGEMENT

• Waste management and disposal services form an integral part of disaster relief operations
• The process of waste management does not occupy the top priority during disaster management operations. The top priority is to rescue the affected population
• During disaster management operations, the waste is of two types:
• Primary waste that is generated due to the disaster and
• Secondary waste that is generated by relief efforts
• Primary waste consists of debris containing concrete, various types of roofing material, wood, insulation, mud, large amount of plastic, trees, branches, leaves, vegetation and foliage, petroleum products, combustible fuels and their residue, furniture and other household goods, Electricity poles: transformers and other Wasted Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) related to electrical transmission and communication lines, Hospital waste:Corpses and dead animals, Sewage from burst municipal lines and garbage from temporary site, Items containing Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos and other hazardous substances, metal scrap from damaged buildings, industrial structures and vehicles.
• Secondary disaster waste contains municipal waste and sewage generated at relief centres housing large populations, packaging material received from relief agencies, medical waste from field hospitals that contain people and animals suffering from disease or injury, municipal waste and sewage from towns and cities where existing sewage systems have been damaged and people continue to live
• In order to plan for disaster waste management, the magnitude and composition of disaster waste must be estimated and plans should be developed for waste collection and disposal
• Designated resources (field workers) should be employed for primary disaster waste collection, segregation and disposal
• Steps should be taken to minimize secondary disaster waste as it adds up to clean-up efforts
• Hazardous site should be cleaned to minimize long term impact.
• Outsourcing disaster waste management should be considered if manpower available on site is insufficient
• Trained manpower will be needed to handle waste in the context of a CBRN disaster
• Disaster waste management should be given adequate importance at the planning stage to develop a professional and systematic  waste management action plan