Disaster

Many saw the wall street crash as a disaster, with 6 million unemployed by 1933. Despite this Hitler and his Nazi party saw this as an opportunity to gain support. They believed that if they could solve the issue with unemployment they could win the votes and secure their place at the top in the Reichstag. The only question was, could Hitler achieve this? Adolf set about providing job creation schemes which would have a knock on effect. He did this by spending government money on public projects.

Hitler knew that if he provided Germany with autobahns and the like he would need workers to construct such developments, they would need supplies and so the ‘domino effect’ went on. The program had such a positive feedback that by the end of 1933 the Nazis had fed 5,000 million Reich marks directly into construction. Thousands that were once without work were now employed and the economy began to pick up, if people had money they were more likely to buy consumer items.

To target peoples new found income Hitler reduced motor vehicle tax to encourage investment in the automobile, therefore boosting car production which doubled from 1932-33. Once a work force had been assembled the Nazis wanted organisation. Millions found themselves in the RAD (Reich Labour Service) and were put to work. By 1935 it become compulsory for both women and men aged 18-25 to do 6 months work in the RAD an extremely well disciplined workforce. In an addition to this The German Labour Front was set up to replace the free trade unions banned previously in 1933.

The pay and working times were regulated and compared to many occupations workers did a lot of work for a small amount of pay. Despite this there was no alternative except a poverty that nobody wanted to endure once again, so on went Hitler’s firm hold on those that worked within the union. To prevent any outbreaks of protest or a revolt, Adolf created two organisations to help support the workers, to boost mood and productivity. The first of these was the ‘Beauty Of Labour’ which aimed to improve conditions at work, the theory was that if the workplace was a pleasant place, the employees would not mind working hard.

The second initiative was called ‘Strength through Joy’ a reward scheme that provided cheap holidays and leisure facilities to reward those that earned it. The most popular offer was a where workers could put a bit away each time they received wages to buy a car. Despite the innocence behind such an idea, nobody ever received an automobile. The money was infact fed into the Re-armament of Germany. Many of the organised rewards that were offered to employed Germans had the sinister aim to re arm the country for war.

When the Nazis were elected into power Germany had no air force, tanks or basic military equipment. Secretly the Military registration had a register of 2800 companies with whom they placed orders with. Yet again jobs were produced from a sudden surge of requests of components for war. In 1935 72,000 workers were employed in air craft production more as apposed to the meagre 4000 that were in work in 1933. Slowly Hitler slowly began to gather soldiers by introducing conscription for males between 18 and 25 and by 1939 there were over 1. 4 million men in the armed forces.

Communication Facilities For Disaster Management

ITU Southern and East Africa Workshop on
the use of Telecommunications/ICT for

Disaster Management: Savings Lives
Lusaka, Zambia, 17-18 July 2008

Role of Telecommunications and ICTs in Disaster Management

Overview of Association of Telecom Operators & ICTs Players in the SADC (Southern African Development Community, which is an economic grouping of 14 Member States) Established 28 years ago under SADC Treaty and Protocol on TCM Consultative Member of SADC on telecom and ICTs matters Sits on Telecom Sub-Sectoral Committee (SCOM) of SADC; and Has Constitution, clear Objectives, Mission and Vision and a permanent office (Maputo) led by its Executive Secretary (CEO)

July 2008

Copyright 2008 © SATA Secretariat, All Rights Reserved

SATA Members

July 2008

Copyright 2008 © SATA Secretariat, All Rights Reserved

What are disasters?

• Natural
• Man-made
It is evident that by no means disasters can be fully prevented and only the loss caused by these events can be prevented or minimised.

July 2008

Copyright 2008 © SATA Secretariat, All Rights Reserved

Impact of disasters?

• Disasters disrupt life, livelihoods, economies, political systems, belief systems – in short, everything that makes society work.

Recent Disaster in Zambia – Floods
Zambia flood victims enjoy reconstruction via ITU satellites The ITU deployed 25 satellite terminals to help restore vital communication links in the aftermath of severe floods that inundated low-lying districts across Zambia.

Nearly 400,000 people in 19 districts across the country were affected, with as many as 36,000 inhabitants displaced. Most victims were in Monze (Western Province), Mumbwa and Mkushi (Central Province), Mazabuka (Southern Province) and Kafue (Lusaka Province A total of 3,418 homes and 44 schools collapsed as a result of heavy rainfall, and ensuing floods destroyed roads and communication links, hampering the coordination and delivery of assistance.

Telecommunications and ICTs in Disaster Mitigation and Management
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can be used to minimize the impact of disasters in many ways. ICT is used in almost all phases of the disaster management process. In the disaster mitigation and preparedness process, ICT is widely used to create early warning systems.

An early warning system (EWS) may use more than one ICT media in parallel and these can be either traditional (radio, television, telephone) or modern (SMS, cell broadcasting, Internet). As demonstrated by AlertNet, on-line media play an important role.

It is essential that ICT is given its due place in disaster management but it should also not be taken as panacea for all ills. ICT, like any other tool, can deliver its best when the other necessary ingredients are in place. Disaster management (also called disaster risk management) is the discipline that involves preparing, warning, supporting and rebuilding societies when natural or manmade disasters occur. It is the continuous process by which all individuals, groups and communities manage hazards in an effort to avoid or minimize the impact of disasters resulting from hazards.

Effective disaster management relies on thorough integration of emergency plans at all levels of government and non-government involvement.
Activities at each level (individual, group, community) affect the other levels. Source: UNDP :ICT in Disaster Management

Disaster Management Structure

Source: ITU – Dr. Cosmas L. Zavazava – Presentation during the Symposium on Multi-Hazard EWS for Integrated Disaster Reduction – Geneva 23 -24 May 2006

Critical Role of ICTs in Disaster Preparedness

Means for communication of information

Critical in disaster preparedness and reducing the loss of life and property Early warning systems, television and radio broadcasting, web portals, long-distance education and telecommunications have a role to play in disaster mitigation. “Typhoons, hurricanes, forest fires, oil spills, tornadoes, tsunamis and other natural disasters that travel distances, are by their very nature able to give advance notice to significant populations of potential victims that lie in their path.

“The need for good early warning systems and signals, and prompt and effective transmission to vulnerable populations is one of the actions that the global community needs to commit to and invest in. Investing in making such information available is a fraction of, and is worth most of, the [aid] money which is collected.” For ICTs to be used more effectively, a high level of co-operation, partnership and communications ability is needed from various agencies of national governments as well as provincial and local government agencies. ICT regulators, telecom suppliers, broadcasting companies and internet service providers, should also be included in the collaboration efforts

Where ICT fits in Disaster Management Mitigation – includes any activities that prevent a disaster, reduce the chance of a disaster happening, or reduce the damaging effects of unavoidable disasters.
• Preparedness – includes plans or preparations made to save lives or property, and to help the response and rescue service operations.
• Response – includes actions taken to save lives and prevent property damage, and to preserve the environment during emergencies or disasters. The response phase is the implementation of action plans.
• Recovery – includes actions that assist a community to return to a sense of normalcy after a disaster.

These four phases usually overlap. ICT is being used in all the phases, but the usage is more apparent in some phases than in the others.

Use of Telecommunications and ICTs
Radio and television:

Considered the most traditional electronic media used for disaster warning, radio and television still have a valid use.

The effectiveness of these two media is high because even in developing countries and rural environments where the tele-density is relatively low, they can be used to spread a warning quickly to a broad population.

The only possible drawback of these two media is that their effectiveness is significantly reduced at night when they are normally switched off.

Use of Telecommunications and ICTs (cont)
Telephone (fixed and mobile):

Telephones can play an important role in warning communities about the impending danger of a disaster.
There were many examples of how simple phone warnings saved many lives in South Asian countries during the 2004 tsunami.
Perhaps the most famous was an incident that occurred in one small coastal village of Nallavadu in Pondicherry, India.
A timely telephone call – warning about the impending tsunami – was said to have saved the village’s entire population of 3,600 inhabitants, as well as those of three neighbouring villages.

Use of Telecommunications and ICTs (cont)
Short Message Service (SMS):

During the 2005 hurricane Katrina disaster in the US, many residents of affected coastal areas were unable to make contact with relatives and friends using traditional landline phones.
However, they could communicate with each other via SMS more easily when the network was functional.
This is because SMS works on a different band and can be sent or received even when the phone lines are congested.
SMS also has another advantage over voice calls in that one message can be sent to a group simultaneously.

Use of Telecommunications and ICTs (cont)
Cell Broadcasting:

Most of today’s wireless systems support a feature called cell broadcasting.
A public warning message in text can be sent to the screens of all mobiles devices, which have such a capability in any group of cells of any size, ranging from one single cell (about 8 kilometres across) to the whole country if necessary. GSM, D-AMPS, UMTS and CDMA3 phones have this capability.

Use of Telecommunications and ICTs (cont)
Satellite Radio:

Satellite radio can play a key role during both the disaster warning and disaster recovery phases.
Its key advantage is the ability to work even outside of areas not covered by normal radio channels.
Satellite radio can also be of help when the transmission towers of the normal radio channels are damaged in a disaster.

Use of Telecommunications and ICTs (cont)
Internet and Email:

The role Internet and email can play in disaster warning depends entirely on their penetration within a community.
These media can play a prominent role in a developed country where nearly half of all homes and almost all offices have Internet connections. In many developing countries, however, less than five percent of the population uses the Internet and even those who are users, do not use it on a regular basis. In such a situation, it is difficult to expect Internet and email to play any critical role in

Use of Telecommunications and ICTs (cont)
Internet and Email:

The role Internet and email can play in disaster warning depends entirely on their penetration within a community.
These media can play a prominent role in a developed country where nearly half of all homes and almost all offices have Internet connections. In many developing countries, however, less than five percent of the population uses the Internet and even those who are users, do not use it on a regular basis. In such a situation, it is difficult to expect Internet and email to play any critical role in disaster warning.

However, both Internet and email can play an important role in the other phases of disaster management.

Use of Telecommunications and ICTs (cont)
On-Line Media
Reuters’ AlertNet is a good example of an ICT/media initiative that contributes towards early disaster warning and management, at an international level. “AlertNet started in 1997 by Reuters Foundation – an educational and humanitarian trust – to place Reuters’ core skills of speed, accuracy and freedom from bias at the service of the humanitarian community.

It is a humanitarian news network based on a popular website that aims to keep relief professionals and the wider public up-to-date on humanitarian crises around the globe.” (AlertNet, 2007)
AlterNet has been in operation for more than a decade now. It was born in the aftermath of the Rwanda crisis of 1994, when the Reuters Foundation became interested in media reports of poor coordination between emergency relief charities on the ground. Reuters Foundation surveyed charities to determine what could be done to remedy this.

AlertNet now attracts more than three million users a year, it has a network of four hundred contributing humanitarian organizations and its weekly email digest is received by more than 17,000 readers. (http://www.alertnet.org)

ICTs for Disaster Response and Recovery
The most difficult period of a disaster is the immediate aftermath. This period calls for prompt action, within an exceptionally short period of time. In the aftermath of any disaster, a significant number of individuals will be injured and/or displaced.

Many of them might still be living with the trauma they have encountered, including loss of loved ones.
Affected individuals might also be without food or other essential items. They might be waiting in temporary shelters, with no idea of what to do next. Some might need immediate medical attention, while the disaster aftermath environment also creates ideal breeding grounds for possible epidemics. ICT can play a key role in such an environment in managing the available resources.

A good example of this is Sahana, a free and open source software (FOSS)-based disaster management system that grew out of the events during the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster.
This system was developed in Sri Lanka – one of the countries hardest hit by the tsunami – by a team of ICT volunteers to help track families and coordinate work among relief organizations during and after the tsunami disaster.

Subsequently, Sahana has been deployed to manage the earthquake disaster in Northern Pakistan (2005), the Guinsaugon landslide in the Philippines (2006) and the earthquake in Yogjakarta, Indonesia (2006). Source: UNDP :ICT in Disaster Management

SAHANA – Open Source
Sahana provides four main solutions:
•Sahana Missing Person Registry: This is an on-line bulletin board of missing and found people. Information about the person seeking another person is also captured, which increases the chances of people finding each other. • Sahana Organization Registry: This registry keeps track of all the relief organizations and civil society groups working in the disaster region. It
captures not only the places where they are active, but also information on the range of services they are providing in each area.

• Sahana Camps Registry: This registry keeps track of the location of all the camps in the region and provides basic data on the facilities they may have and the number of people in them. It also provides a GIS view to plot the location of the camps in the affected area.

• Sahana Request Management System: This is a central on-line repository where all relief organizations, relief workers, government agents and camps can effectively match requests of aid
and supplies to pledges of support. It looks like an on-line aid trading system tracking request to fulfillment.
Source: http://www.sahana.lk/

Emergency Telecommunications Activities
undertaken by SATA

• Provide a forum for building a network of emergency planners and to promote emergency preparedness within the
  telecommunications and ICT industry
• Promote best practices for emergency preparedness within the telecommunications and ICT industry
• Established a process designed to facilitate mutual aid support in the event of a regional, national or international disaster
• Encourage cooperation and information sharing, raise understanding and establish a working relationship with members, government and other external organization
• Telecom/ICT Sector Issues and Challenges
• Standardization of critical infrastructure and protection across all levels
• Development of common and agreed protocols for the sharing of information across critical infrastructure at the appropriate times during a disaster
• Lack of Telecommunications /ICT infrastructure

Telecom/ICT Sector Issues and Challenges (cont’d)
How USA Experience Can help us

The USA has experienced many disasters in the last few years:
Oklahoma bombs, where messages had to be carried on foot because the many tiers of authority could not talk by incompatible radio;

the Columbine school shootings – 46 agencies and little communication;

Hurricane Katrina, with its unholy alliance of lack of compatibility and substandard equipment (three channels for local emergency workers but none for outsiders);

and 9/11 – perhaps the most obscene of failings, where police in helicopters could not tell fire-fighters that the North Tower was about to collapse – with one hundred fire-fighters inside.

Conclusion

As far as disaster management is concerned, there is no reason why ICT should take a secondary role

Reaction paper: Last July 23, 2011, an orientation on disaster preparedness and prohibited dangerous drugs was held at the CE building during our NSTP. The speaker wanted to make us prepared at all times in case of natural disasters or calamities either natural or man-made. He also enlightened our minds of the possible harms drugs can do to an individual. When we say disaster or calamity, it is a great or sudden misfortune or catastrophe, an adverse or unfortunate event, or an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction.

While preparedness means, the state of having been made ready or prepared for use or action. So disaster preparedness is in a state of readiness to contain the effects of a forecasted disastrous event to minimize loss of life, injury, and damage to property, it can provide rescue, relief, rehabilitation, and other services in the aftermath of the disaster. There are two types of disaster, natural and man-made. Natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard which leads to financial, environmental or human losses. Disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability. Natural disasters are also categorized.

Examples: geological disasters – avalanche, earthquake, volcanic eruptions; hydrological disasters – floods, limnic eruptions, tsunamis and meteorological disasters: blizzards, cyclonic storms, droughts, hailstorms, heat waves, tornadoes and fires. While man-made disaster is a disastrous event caused directly and mainly by one or more individual on purpose also called human-made disaster. On his lecture on disaster preparedness, he told us that we must always remember the word safety. If you have the right skills that can make you safe, then that’s better. In everything that you do, your attitude counts.

Being flexible at all times makes it feasible for us to overcome whatever may happen. And yes, education is very crucial; having the right knowledge could help a lot. Having trainings can develop your skills and it all depends with you. If you put it all together; skill, attitude, flexibility, education, training and you, SAFETY follows. While it may be impossible to prepare for every possible scenario, the important point to remember here is to start somewhere with your own personal preparedness plan. Good preparation will lessen the impact of a disaster on our physical, mental, psychological, emotional and other spect of our human lives and love ones. He also explained to us the effects of dangerous drugs to us and that we should avoid taking such. Take note of the acronym DRUG – danger, route, unto, grave. A drug may be helpful or harmful. The effects of drugs can vary depending upon the kind of drug taken, how much is taken, how often it is used, how quickly it gets to the brain, and what other drugs, food, or substances are taken at the same time. Effects can also vary based on the differences in body size, shape, and chemistry. Some teens believe drugs will help them think better, be more popular, stay more active, or become better athletes.

Others are simply curious and figure one try won’t hurt. Others want to fit in. A few use drugs to gain attention from their parents. Many teens use drugs because they’re depressed or think drugs will help them escape their problems. The truth is, drugs don’t solve problems — they simply hide feelings and problems. When a drug wears off, the feelings and problems remain, or become worse. Drugs can ruin every aspect of a person’s life. This orientation indeed has given us knowledge which may help not only us, but also other people in the future.

he assignment for this paper asks about a disaster that could happen in my community. A disaster is any natural or human-made incident that causes disruption, and or devastation requiring external assistance (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p.508). The purpose of the paper is to provide information how the professional nurse react in the community when a disaster take place.

The disaster selected for the paper is a chemical plant fire explosions. I reside in an area that is reported to have quite a few chemical plants. In terms of human-made disaster prevention, the nurse should be aware of high-risk targets and current vulnerabilities and what can be done to eliminate or mitigate the vulnerability (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p.512). Preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters and emergencies are the nurse roles for emergency disasters. Clinical judgment and decision-making skills Public health nurses’ skills are necessary to provide temporary housing, with basic health needs such as water and food resources, for people who must evacuate their homes and provides a safe place to eat, sleep.

Age specifics are taken into consideration because of vulnerability and care need for the older adult population and children. Developing and testing systems for childcare and elder-care during public health emergencies could reduce the burden of competing responsibilities for nurses (O’Boyle, Robertson, & Secor-Turner, 2006). Children require special protection, especially nursing babies, infants and under-fives (ODPEM, 1989). Several nurses skilled to practice safely and competent are necessary for patient care in the event of a disaster in the community. The nurses must have knowledge of the environmental factors and the risk they put to themselves and other during the disaster.

The public health nurse’s knowledge of the geographical locations of medical facilities and clinic to transport patients seriously injured needing care are important to all persons involve in the disaster. Nurses need awareness of the surrounding medical facilities and services provided in their area, including alternate care sites and medical shelters (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). The public nurses are educated, trained and skilled to respond quickly to aid in the disaster. Nurses have unique skills for all aspects of disaster to include assessment, priority setting, collaboration, and addressing of both preventive and acute care needs (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p.511).

The nurses provide education and emotional support to the community. It is the role of the public health nurse to communicate with all healthcare professionals such as physician, other nurses, emergency medical team, the emergency coordinator, and fire department personnel actively participating in the emergency disaster. Communication with health care participants will assist them in rapidly establishing priorities and necessary actions during the emergency disaster. Communication and collaboration among other health care professionals is critical for delivering safe effective patient care all areas of care.

The nurses prepared at the Baccalaureate level must have knowledge of laws and ethics when making clinical judgments, and decision making. Nurses incorporate critical thinking, research and evidence base practice, informatics, cultural sensitivity and awareness in their practice when communicating information to other health care professional. Nurses prepared at the Baccalaureate level are educated to use respectful communication and collaboration to aid in care coordination, delegation, and conflict resolution in any situation when caring for patients and individual in the community.

Developing partnerships between public and private health-care, emergency management, and law enforcement entities, while using current technology to promote timely disease identification and reporting, can improve the daily capacity of a community to respond to illness and disease regardless of magnitude (CDC, 2013). Nursing Strategies

There are strategies nurses can use in emergency disaster before it takes place. Work with the community providing education and teaching to identify hazards that could affect their local area. Use communication techniques holding public meetings and events for the community geared towards improving the public’s understanding of a disaster and how to address disasters that may arise. The health and safety of the community following a disaster of any kind, therefore, depends on the ability of its residents to be “disaster ready.” (Adams, L., Canclini., S., 2008).

Provide clear in-depth information about the chemicals hazards and the importance of an organized response to the emergency of a chemical plant explosion. Encourage colleagues, by increasing awareness that disaster do happen in our communities. provide knowledgeable information about disasters. Set up programs with communities and facilities practicing drills and communication techniques. Drills enhance confidence in systems, individuals, procedures, and equipment (O’Boyle, Robertson, & Secor-Turner, 2006). Nursing leadership for prevention, preparedness and recovery is critical to ensure a multi-disciplinary, coordinated and evidence-based response for chemical plant disaster.

Although public health nurses can function in many capacities, they are most likely to be deployed to the “operations section” because they bring leadership capacity, broad understanding of community systems, nursing knowledge, skills, and abilities (ASTDN 2007). During a public health emergency, occupational health nurses can be instrumentals in facilitating schedules and assignments that limit worker exposure to physically and psychologically over-whelming events (O’Boyle, Robertson, & Secor-Turner, 2006). Minimize errors owing to the absence of communication amongst health professionals.

Accurate communication can reduce accidents and fatalities, stress and emotional conflict between health care professionals and the community population. To summarize this paper in short. Public health nurses’ roles are broad. The focus for nurses in the communities is to prevent diseases, provide teaching and education. The public health nurse’s experience and skills in the event of an emergency disaster promotes a positive outcome.

Disaster is a phenomenon that involves a sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of life and detrimental effect on assets. It is an event that has unfortunate consequences. Disasters happen due to natural and man-made causes which have impact on human and other living beings and colossal damage to property and establishments.

Natural Types of disasters are caused due to forces of nature that include Earthquakes, Tsunami, Landslides & debris flow, Cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, thunderstorms and lighting; Floods and flash floods, Drought and water shortage, famines agricultural diseases & pests, etc. Unnatural or Man-Made disasters, also called asanthropogenic hazards, are caused by human action or inaction.

Anthropogenic hazards have severe and adverse effects on humans, eco-organisms and ecosystems, property and establishments. Anthropogenic hazardsinclude thedisaster due to war, terrorism, social and civil disorder;Industrial hazards include industrial accidents, releases of hazardous materials, mining accidents, release of toxic gases, etc;

Engineering hazards include failures of structures, buildings, dams etc;rail accidents, collisions and sinking of ships etc; waste disposal hazards like Industrial release, domestic wastes, nuclear and radiological wastes; Hazardous materials such as Organo-halogens, Toxic metal; Nuclear and Radioactive Hazards; Rail, Road and Aviation hazards; Aero-Space Hazards and Bio-hazards.

CBRN Disasters

CBRN disaster is one of the man-made or anthropogenic disaster and is an outcome of science and technology.CBRN material is amplified as for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear material. CBRN materials cause great harm either caused due to deliberate action of terrorists or non-deliberate causes like human error or accidents.

CBRN materials of weaponized nature can be easily delivered using conventional bombs (e.g., pipe bombs), improved explosive materials (e.g., fuel oil-fertilizer mixture) and enhanced blast weapons (e.g., dirty bombs). Non-weaponized CBRN materials that are at high risk are referred to as Dangerous Goods (DG) or Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT).

An accidental CBRN incident is an event caused by human error or natural or technological reasons, such as spills, accidental releases or leakages. These accidental incidents are usually referred to as HAZMAT accidents. Outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as SARS, or pandemic influenza are examples of naturally occurring biological incidents.

Chemical Disasters

The chemical disasters can be categorized into industrial and non-industrial (weapons). Chemical, being at the core of modern industrial systems, poses serious concern for disaster management within government, private sector and community at large. Chemical disasters may be traumatic in their impacts on human beings and have resulted in the casualties and also damages nature and property.

The elements which are at highest risks due to chemical disaster primarily include the industrial plant, its employees & workers, hazardous chemicals vehicles, the residents of nearby settlements, adjacent buildings, occupants and surrounding community. Chemical disaster non-industrial (weapons)Chemical weapons are those that are effective because of their toxicity: that is, their chemical action can cause death, permanent harm or temporary incapacity. Some of the toxic chemicals are phosgene, hydrogen cyanide and tear gas.

Biological disasters

These are causative of process or phenomenon of organic origin or conveyed by biological vectors, including exposure to pathogenic micro-organisms, toxins and bioactive substances that may cause loss of life, injury, illness or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.

Biological weapons are weapons that achieve their intended effects by infecting human, flora and fauna with disease-causing microorganisms including viruses, and pathogenic organisms. The disease caused is due to the result of the interaction between the biological agent, the host and the environment.

Nuclear and Radioactive Disasters

A nuclear and radiation accident is an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility. The consequences include lethal effects to individuals, radioactive isotope to the environment, or reactor core melt. The reason for the incident can be due to a human error, accident or malicious act.

The outcome of any nuclear explosion is release of radiations that include gamma, neutron, and ionizing radiations. During a nuclear explosion, people near to ground zero would receive lethal doses of radiation; however, they get killed by the blast wave and thermal wave. The residual radiation from a nuclear explosion is mostly from radioactive fallout.

Any radiation incident resulting in, or having a potential to result in, exposure to and/or contamination of the workers or the public, in excess of the respective permissible limits can be termed as a nuclear/ radiological emergency.

Characteristics of CBRN incidents are following:

• Causes mass casualties and loss of lives.
• Creates an extremely hazardous environment with long term effects.
• Relatively easier and economical to produce chemical weapons.
• Difficulty in detecting in determining the type of material involved
• Necessitates organised, trained and equipped personnel to give rescue and cure.
• Requires pre-coordination within health services to establish medical treatment protocols, to stock pharmaceuticals and to determine treatment requirements and establishing coordinated incident management/response procedures for such incidents.
• Highly challenging to counter it. Difficulty in diagnosis and then first aid, and cure.

CBRN weapons are likely to be deployed:

• Against highly dense population of civilians especially at higher echelon or VIP targets
• Strategically important targets and infrastructure such Power plants, chemical and petrochemical facilities, plants, gas stations, nuclear facilities, etc.?
• On the Security forces and their establishments.
• Affect the psychological and political will and create national insecurity.

Countermeasures for CBRN disasters include:

• Protection equipment and kits for personal and community.
• Medical emergency aids and therapy.
• Government strategies, National intelligence systems, standard operating procedures, training and sensitization of public.
• Administrative machinery for pro-active and re-active mitigations.
• International laws and Regulations.

Since, from drafting of Indian Constitution and independence of India in 1947, the subject Disaster Management could not find a suitable entity in the Constitution of India. It is only in the year 2005 the Disaster Management Act was enacted and came into force. This Act provides a legal and institutional framework at national, state and district levels for the creation of specialized disaster management institutions.

Post enactment the perception about disaster and its management has undergone a change.  Now the definition of disaster includes not only the events emanating from natural and man-made causes, but even those events which are caused by accident or negligence. In pursuance of the Act, the Ministry created national level institutions like:

• National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM),
• National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA),
• National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and
• National Executive Committee (NEC) in 2006.

Statement of the Problem

One of the challenging aspects in terms of security to any nation in the coming decades is CBRN incidents. The cessation of cold-wars and straight battles, with rise of terrorist nations has given way to covert methods such as CBRN attacks to the enemies of the state.

Further, the exponential growth of industries and piling of hazardous substances pose enormous threat to all living kinds and non-living assets. CBRN attacks are an easy means to hamper the progress of a state. In the present day scenario when economic competition among nations is high, CBRN attacks are cause of concern from both safety and security point of view.

India’s economic success in recent decades faces significant challenges to security alongside its opportunities for further growth.The security can be breached either by its own internal failures due technical causes or the other from hostile agencies. Advancement in technology has triggered the means and methods for the hostile agencies to cause harm to our country.

In the present scenario, the threat perception is CBRN attack cannot be denied. Initially, CBRN perceived as threats to military alone, but today civilian population are easy and influential targets. Thus, the need for the civil authorities to prepare against CBRN incidents is of paramount importance. This aspect also imposesto examine the CBRN issues scientifically and devise strategies to prepare against them.

Disaster Management (DM) Act 2005 defines the role of various authorities and stakeholders (centre-state-local) for disaster management in India. In the event of any disaster, the DM forces come into action for rescue and aid. However, for CBRN disasters there seems that the subject knowledge is limited to the people who are engaged either professionally of academically with CBRN issues. Preparedness, training, evaluation, education and awareness are the key to mitigate and minimize personal injuries and loss of life due to disaster.

Does questions arise that are the various stakeholders aware and fully prepared to respond effectively and in a responsible manner to approach for disaster rescue? To manage CBRN disasters, judicial engagement of stakeholders is highly crucial. It is also important to engage various non-governmental agencies, organizations and individuals towards buildin