Impact of Natural Disasters on Health: A Case Study of Black Saturday Bushfire in Victoria

Running head: NURSING

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NURSING
Every year, millions of people throughout the world, are affected by the man-made
and natural disasters. Forest fire, bushfire, wildfire, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes and
heavy rainfalls cause more than 1000 casualties along with fatal injuries and loss of property
(Reid et al., 2016). The relationship between the natural disaster and human health has been
suggested for centuries. The natural disasters have significant impact on the overall lifestyle
and health related quality of life of the populations residing in the area that are prone to
natural disasters like volcanic eruption, earthquakes or forest fire. The main impact of the
natural disaster include detal, fatal injuries leading to extensive damage to human health,
damage to the water bodies, healthcare facilities, increase threat towards famine alone with
high prevalence of communicable diseases like an epidemic (Reid et al., 2016). When the
humanitarian and natural disasters crises strike, the affected communities is devastated and is
left vulnerable. The following paper will attempt to highlight the impact of health related
outcomes over the community in response to a natural disaster that was occurrence within
past 20 years in Australia. The paper will mainly focus on the Black Saturday Bushfire in
Victoria (2009). After analysis of the health impact of the bushfire, the paper will include
relevant discussion of the interventions employed by the nurses in the rural and the remote
areas affected by bushfire in order to promote fast recovery of the health. Overall the paper
will highlight the natural disasters and health outcomes while emphasizing on the importance
of nurse role in management of adverse health impact.
As Australian disaster with took place with the past 20 years and created a significant
health impact is Black Saturday bushfire in Victoria. The Black Saturday fires started on
2009, 7th of February. Approximately a total of 400 different bush fire outbreaks occurred in
Victoria that affected nearly 78 communities. The total death penalty amounted to 173 people
and with a loss of 2029 dwelling houses. A significant number of community dwelling people
experienced significant loss of their life and priced possession as a result of this bush fire.

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NURSING
The main affected region of Victoria includes Beechworth, Churchill, Narre Warren,
Bendigo, Horsham, Redesdale, Bunyip, Kinglake and Upper Ferntree Gully. More than
19,000 Country fire Authority (CFA) employees were deployed for battling against the
bushfire outbreak. The Offices from the Victorian Department of Sustainable communities
were also involved in the process of recovery. The government of Australia also took
significant steps in the recovery management for the forest fire by giving a funding of $30
million. $5,000 grants are given to the people who lost their homes and $10,000 grants were
provided to the bereaved families (Australian Institute Disaster Resilience, 2019).
The wildfire lead to the development of several adverse health-related impacts along
with a destruction of vegetation and properties. Wildfires are uncontrolled fires occurring in
forests in the vegetative areas. This fire spreads rapidly and it is difficult to control. Liu,
Pereira, Uhl, Bravo and Bell (2015) are of the opinion that the apart from the significant
environmental impact of the forest fire, the health of the people residing in the areas that have
experienced a massive bushfire is also affected negatively. Cascio (2018) highlighted in their
study that smoke evolved during the outbreak of the bush fire is rich in carbon dioxide,
carbon mono-oxide, water vapour, particulate matter, organic chemicals, hydrocarbons,
nitrogen oxides and other trace elements. The composition of the wildfire smoke mainly
varies depending upon the temperature of the fire and wind condition. The main component
that is alarming smoke coming from the wild fire is the particulate matter (PM). Exposure of
PM that is generated during the wildfire is associated with adverse health effects like
wheezing, coughing, sore eyes, sore throats along with the development of the shortness of
breath. Constant exposure of thick smoke fire evolving from bush fire outbreak is also
associated with negative health outcomes like the asthma-related hospitalizations, acute and
chronic respiratory failure and negative cardiovascular health-related outcomes (Liu, Pereira,
Uhl, Bravo & Bell, 2015).

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NURSING
Study conducted by Liu, Pereira, Uhl, Bravo and Bell (2015) highlighted that main
impact of the bushfire is Australia is generation of acute respiratory problems like acute
asthma among the children and the older adults. The smoke fire is filled with high
concentration of particulate matter (PM) like PM2.5 and PM10 micrometer penetrates inside
the lungs leading to the generation of the respiratory and breathing problems. Chronic
respiratory and breathing problem (COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) was
associated with decreasing the oxygen saturation while increase in respiratory rate (laboured
breathing). Apart from the respiratory problems, the smaller particles PM 2.5 microns gets
absorbed into the blood stream and thereby triggering adverse cardiovascular health effects
mainly among the older adults who are suffering from hypertension and other cardiovascular
diseases. This increased the overall cardiovascular mortality rate in Victoria Australia by 5%
after the outbreak of the bush fire (Ranse, Lenson & Aimers, 2010). Heat stress was another
significant health impact of the bush fire outbreak in the Victoria. Adeton et al. (2016) stated
that radiant heat is one of the biggest killer in the bush fire outbreak. People who are exposed
to the radiant heat of the bush fire, developed heat stress leading to the significant increase in
the body temperature, damage of skin (burning sensation over skin), dizziness, weakness and
fatigue. The children mainly have a sensitive skin and thus adverse impact over the children
was higher than the adults. Few children exacerbated symptoms like vomiting and rapid
breathing as an impact of heat stress. Additional health effects of the bush fire were itchy
skin, runny nose and irritation or redness of eyes (Doerr & Santín, 2016). Apart from the
physical health, the outbreak of the bushfire in Victoria Australia also resulted in the
development of mental health consequences and mental health consequences resulted in the
development of long term affect on health. Massive loss of property or sudden losses of the
near and dear ones are the reason behind the development of the mental health complications
like depression and anxiety (Ranse & Lenson, 2012).