Disaster Health Management ─ A Primer for Students and Practitioners

Disaster health involves the study and application of multidisciplinary areas of health research towards the prevention, preparation, response and recovery systems for health problems that result from a disaster. As disasters worldwide differ in their nature, scope and cultural context, a thorough understanding of the fundamental tenets of sound disaster health management is essential for both students and practitioners to participate confidently and effectively in the field.

Disaster Health Management: A Primer for Students and Practitioners is the first comprehensive textbook to provide a standard guide to terminology and management systems across the entire spectrum of disaster health. Developed with support from the Australasian Collaborative for Disaster Health Education and Research, this textbook provides an authoritative overview of:

• The conceptual basis for disaster management

• Systems and structures for disaster management

• Getting ready for disasters

• Incident management

• Recovery

• Natural disasters

• Man-made disasters

• Strategic considerations.

Using examples of broad principles which will find application globally, Disaster Health Management: A Primer for Students and Practitionersis an essential text for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as for professionals involved in all health aspects of disaster management.

Gerard Fitzgerald is Professor of Public Health in the Faculty of Health at QUT and Director of CEDM. Professor Fitzgerald has extensive experience in emergency health from service delivery and policy perspectives. He was formerly Commissioner of the Queensland Ambulance Service and Chief Health Officer for Queensland. He has led the development of the Emergency and Disaster Management programs at QUT and has led National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research programs in emergency and disaster management.

Michael Tarrant holds adjunct appointments including Associate Professor in the Public Health Faculty at Queensland University of Technology and in the Department of Tropical Medicine at James Cook University Townsville. Until 2012 he was an Assistant Director Research at the Australian Emergency Management Institute and has worked in disaster management education and research for the past 25 years.

Peter Aitken is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health, Tropical Mediciaine and Rehabilitation Sciences, James Cook University, Australia.