The country that I have chosen for the study is Somali and the study will focus on the flood situation that occurred on the 23 rd of December 2019. Somali is a country located on the Eastern most part of African commonly known as horn of Africa. It extends to the Equator North towards the Gulf of Eden and one of Sub-Saharan countries in Africa. There were heavy rains in the larger part of regions known as Shabelle as well as Hiraam and people were caught unaware as floods hit the area. Their shelters and household items were swept away by floods and they were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge at higher grounds. The rain also damaged roads and several places in the region were impassible making it difficult to reach those who were still stuck as well as supplying necessities to the affected.
First Hour
The first step into development of nurses into a functioning team is calling a crisis meeting where all the nurses will be involved. The next step is to inform them of the situation at hand and then grouping them and assigning each nurse to a specific task. Together as a team we will set goals on what needs to be achieved immediately and giving priority to the most urgent needs such as first aid and primary care. The team will then be dispatched to attend to the needs of the injured and affected. a meeting will then be held every evening to report on the situation, needs for support and giving any other feedback. Not everyone in Somali speak English and in fact majority of them speak the native language. The communication challenge will be overcome through the use of interpreters as well as sign language in the worst scenarios where there are no interpreters.
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The three pattern control I would give to my patients includes;
Assessing the potential of injury
Pain control
Development of coping skills.
I will prioritize pain control because it is the most urgent intervention that a patient requires to ease them form discomfort and further injury in case of issues such as bleeding, fractures among others.
Systems specific assessment
The specific assessments I performed on the patient were
Assessing if they are experiencing any pain
Looking out for the cause of pain
Checking their Cognitive ability
And checking for any anxiety levels.
The patients that I will assign to see the doctor first are those in critical condition and whose lives can be saved. The rationale behind this is that they still have a chance of survival and their lives need to be saved by attending to them first.
Infection control
The pertinent concepts of infection control include;
Sterilization
Oral alimentation
Isolation precautions
Being careful when carrying out any invasive procedures
Cleaning
Disinfection
What I taught to my patients concerning infection control are:
Maintenance of hygiene
Avoid sharing any personal items s
Assignment and delegation
Provide support for patients when they need to move
Help with cleaning
Watching over them to avoid falls on the places they are laid
Changing their linen
Implementing care
The expected orders for patients in the shelters are
Food
Medicine
Clothes to keep warm
And other supplies such as crutches
I will obtain suppliers from neighboring hospitals, organizations such as AMREF, flying doctors, the local community and the local authorities.
I will assist the patients in obtaining their home medication through the volunteers and local medical centers, and relatives. The medication can be distributed by registering them and then organizing for local transport to help in the distribution.
Psychosocial concerns
First I will help them find a place to shelter themselves, help them clam down through counseling. I will then organize for registration of lost persons so that they can identify from the lists of people reported to be dead or stuck. I will then inform the volunteers to help in supplying basic needs so that after the crisis is manage they can have a place to start life again.
The signs and symptoms of Ptsd include
Extreme distress
Having flash backs
Being invasive
Emotional numbness
Avoiding certain activities
I will look for the signs and symptoms for the people in the shelter when I see abnormal behavior being depicted.
The people who care for patients can experience
Vicarious trauma
Burnout
Anxiety
Stress
The measures to help emergency responders include
Working in shifts
Having discussions to encourage them
Confidentiality
Showing bias of any kind
Not supporting them when they need help such as counseling
Abusing them in any way such as sexually or physically
Types of records kept include;
Nursing records reports and I am the one who keeps them
Medical records kept by the physician
Violence and abuse
Somalia have been having cases of violence and even during the time of devastating there were still cases of looting and sexual assault. The reports of crime and abuse taking place are theft, and women and children being sexually abused.
Culture and religion
People in Somali are Muslims and they are extremely strict with their women in this regard I was extremely careful not to expose their bodies much because it is against their culture. Most of them hold Islamic religious beliefs.
Major Global Health Organizations and/or International Relief
AMREF
World health organization
World food program
International Red Cross
USAID
Nurses can join through registering as members and receiving necessary training
Conclusion
In conclusion it is important to note that the crisis that hit Somali has been experienced in several other regions and there is need for more preparedness to save lives and also secure property. The teams responded well and several people were saved and evacuated to higher paces for shelter. There were some challenges which include language barrier as well as cultural hostility.
References
Friedman, C., & Newsom, W. (2011). IFIC basic concepts of infection control. International Federation of Infection Control, Portadown .
World health organization (2020) Somalia retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-cluster/countries/somalia/en/
