Topic Collection: Natural Disasters

Natural disasters and their consequences (e.g., flooding, injuries experienced during clean up) can wreak havoc on healthcare facilities and the communities they serve. It is important for emergency planners to enroll in alert systems, monitor weather forecasts and have a solid natural disaster or all hazards facility response plan that complements their jurisdiction’s plan. The resources in this Topic Collection highlight lessons learned from recent events, communication tools and information, and checklists, plans, tools, and templates that can be modified to suit specific threats and needs. Articles in this Topic Collection address specific natural disasters and hazards and elements of their planning, but do not address all-hazard planning or specifics of clinical care which may be found in other topic collections (e.g., Burns, Climate Change and Healthcare System Considerations, Healthcare Facility Evacuation/Sheltering, Risk Communications/Emergency Public Information and Warning, and Social Media in Emergency Response).

Each resource in this Topic Collection is placed into one or more of the following categories (click on the category name to be taken directly to that set of resources). Resources marked with an asterisk (*) appear in more than one category.