Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Peter M. Ginter, PhD, W. Jack Duncan, PhD, Lisa C. McCormick, MPH, Andrew C. Rucks, PhD, Martha S. Wingate, DrPH, and Maziar Abdolrasulnia, MPH, MBA. Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, RPHB 330, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, (205) 975-8970, pginter@uab.edu

Disasters researchers and emergency managers have relied upon categories or phases to describe disasters over time. Together these phases have been referred to as the disaster life cycle. A number of disaster life cycles have been proposed based upon the major functional activities of a period and have been useful in codifying research results and planning disaster network organization and activities. Similarly, epidemiologists have depicted epidemic and pandemic curves or life cycles by tracking the number of cases over time. Epidemic and pandemic life cycles have been useful in predicting disease severity and marshaling necessary health care services. Public health departments and other organizations are preparing for and responding to a variety of potential nature- and human-initiated disasters including hurricanes, tsunamis, infectious disease outbreaks, and mass casualty terrorist events. Yet, too little is known about disaster life cycles for different types of disasters. A better understanding of the nature of disaster life cycles will aid public health and other responders in planning, organizing, and responding to various types of disasters. This paper reviews previous work on disaster life cycles and proposes a new model for understanding the phases of disasters. The paper describes the disaster life cycle phases and examines the length of the phases by disaster type. Further, the paper specifies the agencies and organizations that are involved in each disaster phase by type of disaster. An understanding of the relevant agencies and organizations of disaster life cycles will aid in planning for, building and managing effective response networks.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Understand that disasters have different types of life cycles.
• 2. Understand that the phases within disaster life cycles have different lengths, functions, and participants.
• 3. Be able to use disaster life cycles types to plan for and organize pre-disaster, response, and recovery phases of disasters.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered