Phases of a Disaster

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Phases of a Disaster
Honeymoon
Reconstruction
Pre-disaster
Disillusionment
Threat Warning
Recovery
Impact
Time
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• ASSESSMENT OF NEED
• The Goal is to understand -
• How disaster populations differ from one
  another
• The key variables affecting survival and
  welfare
• How relief organizations can be most effective
• How disaster management could be improved
• Design a System
• Which cannot be easily skewed by the perspectives
  of one individual or a political party
• A process that is inherently more stable and
  reliable
• Is ground-truth based and implies a
  consultative process
• Engaging a wide variety of individuals from a
  variety of professional and personal vantage
  points

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• LARGE GROUP TRAUMA
• Communities are confronted with the enormous
  consequences
• Lives lost
• Numbers injured
• Societal insecurity and disruption
• Destruction of Institutions
• Economic burden
• Psychological problems long term
• But,
• Disaster affected communities are rarely
  homogeneous

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• HELPLESSNESS AND THE PERCEPTION OF WEAKNESS
• A crisis could be an opportunity for genuine help
  or can lead to harm
• Spectacle of helplessness may evoke strong
  emotions
• Evoke everything from compassion to cruel
  exploitation - best and worst of human emotions
  and behavior
• Profiting from the suffering of others is not
  unknown
• Helplessness creates a need/fear dilemma -
  succumb to need satisfaction at the cost of
  fearing (hostile) dependency and control
• How About Us Syndrome
• HAUS is aroused in the needy whenever the needs
  of others are fulfilled
• Communities with a self-help orientation recover
  much faster than those demanding external
  assistance while delaying to re-build on their own

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HELPLESSNESS - THE PERCEPTION OF WEAKNESS
People in crisis are highly malleable and easily
influenced In the desperate search for
safety and security the distressed are liable to
accept almost anything that is offered to
them After cataclysmic events like the Tsunami of
December 2004 governments seemed willing to do
whatever it takes to get aid, even if it meant
Making alliances with former enemies Racking
up a huge debts Agreeing to sweeping policy
reforms In crisis people tend to look to their
leaders for guidance in much the same way that
children turn to their parents when they are
distressed. transference
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• THE DISASTER OF POVERTY
• Poverty fuels conflict
• When states are poor they cannot fully control
  their territory or Resources
• Lack capable police and border control agencies
• Lack well functioning judiciary or military
• Officials are especially vulnerable to corruption
• Tendency to apply draconian measures
• Also, weak in other respects
• Unable to meet their citizens basic needs, food,
  education and health care
• Often are prey for extremist religious groups and
  charities
• Deadly disease and the burden of mental distress
  falls heavily on low or middle income countries

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AID ASSISTANCE Managing the flood? In the wake
of a disaster The channels through which aid
assistance both in material and services is
received, are difficult to regulate, supervise or
monitor. Everybody asks for coordination but
many refuse to be coordinated
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AID ASSISTANCE Managing the flood Number of
NGOs multiplies whenever a disaster strikes
BANDA ACEH, 250 after the tsunami. SRI LANKA
was 1000. Add-ons not been estimated?
Massive NGO influx, Experts arrive, some invited,
many come anyway . UN system, (WHO,
UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, etc). Intnl Professional
Groups (Medical Associations), World Bank,
Expatriate organizations, University departments,
Faith-based organizations, International rapid
response teams, foreign military emergency relief
operations, Red Cross and Red Crescent teams from
different nations.
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AID ASSISTANCE Managing the flood Locally hired
relief personnel may not assert themselves even
when policies of the foreign organization are
clearly lacking in cultural sensitivity. Biting
the hand that funds you could cost the loss of
your job The HAUS syndrome may create resentment
and divisions within nations and communities.
Phuket got more publicity that Banda
Aceh. Inequity in aid distribution is a common
feature (and complaint) in aid assistance that
became the focus of internal tensions as
evidenced in Sri Lanka over establishing a Joint
Mechanism for tsunami relief efforts.
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AID ASSISTANCE Managing the flood Spontaneous
Volunteers - Highly trained individuals can
present a major logistical problem Tsunami
Tourists? Expatriate Donors may have differing
motivations? Security issues Various nefarious
activities may be channeled through seemingly
innocent humanitarian programs, creating in
addition, a serious security (terrorism, arms
smuggling) risk
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AID ASSISTANCE Managing the flood Western
NGOs and culture competence? Local
institutions tend to lose their
cohesion? Credibility of mercy missions and aid
donors could be compromised in an environment of
suspicion or when the significance of offerings
is not understood A military presence coordinated
with established law enforcement agencies
contributes to better emergency services
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SPIRITUAL DIMENSION The centrality of religious
beliefs in most cultures influences help seeking,
finding social support, understanding adversity.
This usually takes place in the context of the
religious community But, Religion can be used to
divide people as it could to unite them Religious
and cultural beliefs become challenged in the
face of unexplained crisis. Following an
initial phase of anger, disillusionment, and loss
of faith, stories of miracles to the faithful
help to re-affirm their beliefs
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MENTAL HEALTH The overall goal of all disaster
mental health service workers is to provide
emergency services and reduce the number of
people who could develop psychological
disorders. Measuring Trauma ? The psychological
impact of any disaster must be measured from
different angles across several disciplines
(psychology, psychiatry, sociology, culture,
history and anthropology etc) Anxiety and
depression are the commonest manifestations of
disaster stress.
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MENTAL HEALTH Trauma and PTSD (Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder) Disaster victims may not fit the
category of PTSD but show some typical
signs. Treatment can occur in the context of
social influence with limited medical
intervention. Cultural Factors? The Singhalese,
Tamil and Muslim communities along the tsunami
damaged east coast of Sri Lanka showed
significant differences in response to the
tsunami and the relief efforts
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MENTAL HEALTH GRIEF IS THE INEVITABLE OUTCOME
OF LOSS Death Toll is the first index of a
disasters damage and how they are generally
reported Grief is
the single most common consequence of disasters,
whether it is from loss of lives or of the
non-human environment. The loss of one life can
have far reaching repercussions on the lives and
futures of several families. Novel rituals
have to be invented to deal with new problems -
funerals for victims whose bodies cannot be
identified or are missing. Grieving (as an
internal process) can be delayed or complicated
by many external factors.
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MENTAL HEALTH CULTURE AND COUNSELING Signs and
symptoms of psychological distress vary
widely People of different civilizations have
different views on The relation between
man and God What happens after death and
how to grieve The individual and the
group The citizen and the state
Parent and children, husband and wife
Liberty, independence, authority and hierarchy
Shame and guilt, modesty and sexuality
Saving face and humiliation Relative
importance of rights and responsibilities
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Lessons Missed A fund of creative strategies have
evolved in countries that have faced severe
tragedy. These developments in medicine,
psychology and social sciences in the Eastern
world have not been sufficiently disseminated. In
the field of disaster management they include
mobilization of social networks in the community,
psycho-education, and practices such as yoga,
meditation, massage, and traditional medicine.
Because past experience of disaster may render a
community better prepared for future disasters,
their example and advice tends to be overshadowed
by standard western practices.
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Delivery of relief material, Dec 30, 2004
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Thank You