Week 5 – Disaster Preparedness

Week 5 – Disaster Preparedness The date was 10/01/2017. The location was Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was the Route 91 Music Festival. I was in Las Vegas for a World Class Softball Tournament for ages 50 and over in which my husband was a participant. We had considered attending the festival however, in the world of softball tournaments, it is unpredictable when games will be played. We were unable to advance purchase tickets. We chose to forgo the concert festivities since we had no idea what our tournament schedule would be. The night of the shooting, I was actually finishing up dinner with our coach and his wife across the street from the shooting. We heard the gunfire & she asked what it was. Like many others, I told her it was the fireworks at Treasure Island. IT sounded like the reverberance you expect to hear from fireworks. We proceeded to leave the restaurant. Once in the car, we attempted to pull pout on the street and were greeted by speeding fire trucks and police cars. We pulled out right behind them and made our way down the Las Vegas strip. About a block from the concert, the police fish-tailed in front of us and directed us to a local casino. We valet parked and just went into the casino since our friend were staying there. We made the decision to gamble at the casino with our friends. About 10 minutes later, I noticed that casino workers were abandoning their work stations. I inquired as to why they were doing so and was told there was an active shooter in the casino and I needed to run for cover. After getting back to my family and friends to inform them, we proceeded to leave the casino. Little did we know that by going outside, we were putting ourselves in direct fire o the active shooter. We had to hurdle bodies that were lying on the floor (out of fear), to get out of the casino. Once we were outside, it took at least 15-20 minutes before we even realized what was taking place. The SWAT team arrived and proceeded to rush everyone inside of the casino. Unfortunately, they would not allow anyone, even medical personnel to go outside to render aid to the victims. I wish I could say that I was on the streets and able to assist many of those in need however, the SWAT team rushed us in the building and locked us down. I was unable to leave the building despite parroting my trauma ICU/ER credentials to the team. The incidence that I was able to assist with began August 23, 2005. It was a natural disaster called Hurricane Katrina. According to NASA.Gov, (2015), it was a category 5 hurricane that struck landfall on the coast of New Orleans, LA. They had 2 weeks advance warning to prepare however, not everyone took them seriously as there have been many false alarms throughout the years. Many took heed and left the city or prepared their homes/properties for the worse. I reside about 440 miles from New Orleans. Our area began preparation to receive hurricane victims once the storm hit and the severity of the storm was noted. We have a local camp facility 3 miles from my home. We prepared the dormitories to receive victims and made a medical area that I was able to utilize my trauma/ER and medical knowledge to assist in. We received hundreds of survivors. Many had wounds related to prolonged water submersion. There were various injuries including fractures, strains/sprains, skin breakdown and infections from prolonged exposure to the elements. According to NCBI, (2006), there were about 7500 non-fatal injuries. We were able to provide medical care through volunteers, donations of medical supplies, and provide shelter and food for hundreds of victims. It was very rewarding to be able to utilize my medical skills and knowledge to provide medical and psychological care to these victims. Our community pulled together as one and provided much needed support to the victims as well as, the workers that volunteered their time. Schools opened up their gymnasiums and cafeteria’s and allowed the school aged children to attend our local schools. The medical community allowed EMT’s, nurses and doctors to volunteer their time. Some of them even compensated their staff whom assisted. The local churches provided lay-volunteers and financial support. ] h3 []’;lkttps:// Preparing for disasters, terrorist threats, or communicable disease outbreaks is an important part of public health nursing. • Share an overview of a natural or human-made disaster that has occurred in your area in the last 20 years. o Include a URL and reference to the event. This may be a news article. • Describe how your community was impacted. • Describe lessons learned and changes made to preparedness. Search entries or author Filter replies by unread Unread Collapse replies Expand replies Subscribe ReplyReply to Week 5: Disaster Preparedness • Collapse SubdiscussionMarissa Ramos Marissa Ramos Dec 16, 2018Local: Dec 16, 2018 at 6:42pmbrCourse: Dec 16, 2018 at 5:42pm Manage Discussion Entry Welcome to Week 5 Class! This week's graded topics relate to the following Course Outcomes (COs). o CO3: Plan prevention and population-focused interventions for vulnerable populations using professional clinical judgment and evidence-based practice. (POs 4 and 8) o CO6: Utilize a systems-based and collaborative approach to address factors that influence the health of a community and population health problems. (PO2) Preparing for disasters, terrorist threats, or communicable disease outbreaks is an important part of public health nursing. You may have heard that there is a recent measles outbreak in Minnesota (Minnesota Department of Health, 2017). As of the end of May this year there were 70 cases this year alone. This may not seem like many people from a glance, but bear in mind the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2017) noted only 188 cases were reported in 2015 nationwide and only 70 cases in 2016. This is a concerning outbreak! The Minnesota Health Department reports 66 of the cases were confirmed to be unvaccinated children and 59 of the cases were of Somali ethnicity. o What roles do culture and ethnicity play when implementing a population based intervention? Did ethnicity play a role in this outbreak? o What role can a community health nurse have in preventing such an outbreak of a preventable disease?