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The United Nations1 defines a disaster as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or society. Disasters involve widespread human, material, economic or environmental impacts, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Any disaster can interrupt essential services, such as healthcare electricity, water, sewage/waste removal, transportation and communication. There are four main types. Firstly there are natural disasters, which include floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcano eruptions, have immediate impact on human health and secondary impacts such as landslides, fires and tsunamis. The comment and opinion in this issue by Stevenson et al.2 highlights the earthquake in Canterbury, New Zealand (2010), and the major and long-lasting impact on people long after the immediate effect was mitigated. Aftershocks continue today and understandably cause anxiety. Incredibly, during the chaos of the original incident, the local acute hospitals and many primary care facilities kept running. In fact, the response of the Canterbury District Health Board has been praised internationally for its responsiveness and resilience, a testament to its emergency planning strategy.
Then there are environmental emergencies, such as technological or industrial accidents, and Chernobyl is one memorable example. Manmade disasters can also be classified under this category,...