DISASTER ASSESSMENT - THE EMERGENCY HEALTH EVALUATION OF A POPULATIONAFFECTED BY A DISASTER

In the past decade, interest in the operational and epidemiologic aspe cts of disaster medicine has grown dramatically. State, local, and fed eral organizations have created vast emergency response networks capab le of responding to disasters, while hospitals have developed extensiv e disaster plans to address mass casualty situations. Increasingly, th e US armed forces have used both their ability to mobilize quickly and their medical expertise to provide humanitarian assistance rapidly du ring natural and manmade disasters. However, the critical component of any disaster response is the early conduct of a proper assessment to identify urgent needs and to determine relief priorities for an affect ed population. Unfortunately, because this component of disaster manag ement has not kept pace with other developments in emergency response and technology, relief efforts often are inappropriate, delayed, or in effective, thus contributing to increased morbidity and mortality. The refore, improvements in disaster assessment remain the most pressing n eed in the field of disaster medicine.