Nurses play a critical role in disaster management at all levels. They are responsible for planning, educating the community and providing direct care during a disaster and actively participate in its preparedness and response. When a hurricane strikes, it leads to devastating effects as the storm and sustained wind damage buildings, infrastructure, roads, power lines and cause flooding. Nurses are responsible for assessing and planning the risks posed by hurricanes before the disaster, respond when the crisis occurs and help in efforts to mitigate any hazards in the recovery phase. In conducting their work, nurses must also ensure that they do not endanger their lives through exposure to flood water or dangerous environments and buildings.
Some of the strategies a nurse can use to volunteer to the community during a hurricane disaster include; mitigating, preparing, responding and recovering. Mitigation is a preventive approach that tries to reduce any risk to people and property. Possible actions include the protection of buildings and other infrastructure from the effects of wind and water. Nurses can volunteer to inspect the premises and surrounding areas, offering public health advice to stakeholders and isolation of critical infrastructures. Nurses can also use surveillance and security or halt any ongoing activities that might worsen the situation. Preparation takes place at three levels, i.e., personal, professional and community. At the individual level, a nurse should be aware of hurricanes and the warning signs. They should be able to map out evacuation routes and two locations outside their home or neighborhood where meetings can be held. The nurse should also select a contact person who is not from within. The response involves all activities carried out just before, during and after the occurrence of a hurricane. Nurses should take actions that will not only save lives but also ensure their safety. They can assemble first aid kits, supplies and other needed types of equipment and people. During the hurricane, they can attend to any injured person as long as they are not exposing themselves to danger. They can also assess the damage immediately after the storm to determine the level of support required from other stakeholders, for instance, fire department and appropriate techniques for evacuating the injured. Recovery is all activities conducted by the community and other stakeholders after the hurricane. It involves restoring minimum services and striving towards long-term restoration. All these strategies will help in dealing with storms at different levels leading to reduced casualty numbers (American Nurses Association, 2017).
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Social media can be useful in preparing for, responding to and recovering from the devastating effects of a hurricane. Through social media, the networked public can easily communicate with nurse volunteers. Alert warnings can also reach many people through social media enabling them to take preventive actions, therefore, reducing the effect of hurricanes. Preparedness messages can also be sent to the networked group to reach more people in the shortest time possible. Canada and American Red Cross have for example considered the role of communication and social media in emergencies. They have instituted online monitoring, engaged the networked community and offer virtual assistance to volunteers. Recovers.org in the U.S, for instance, is an online platform for volunteers and case management. The toolkit also has donation management and the ability to share information. When Hurricane Sandy landed in New Jersey and New York, the platform signed 23,000 volunteers. (Kaminska & Rutten, 2014).
Such are the powers of online platforms. They can mobilize resources quickly, inform of an imminent disaster and help the volunteers who are attending the affected community. Their ability to reach millions in the shortest time possible makes them valuable in warning the community about an oncoming hurricane. One challenge of social media it is that it can be used to send the wrong warnings. Similarly, they can lead to a high number of volunteers making it hard to coordinate response and recovery efforts (Kaminska & Rutten, 2014).
References
American Nurses Association, (2017). Who Will Be There? Ethics, the law, and a nurse’s duty to respond in a disaster.
Kaminska, K., & Rutten, B. (2014). Defense Research and Development Canada . Cradpdf.drdc-rddc.gc.ca . Retrieved 28 November 2017, from http://cradpdf.drdc-rddc.gc.ca/PDFS/unc157/p800316_A1b.pdf
