“Disaster” The crisis & roll of

“Forensic Pathologist”.
DR. A N M AL MAMUN(ROMAN)
DEPARTMENT OF FORENSIC MEDICINE
SIR SALIMULLAH MEDICAL COLLEGE
 Lets Warm up
Achievements in all spheres of humans endeavour to create a better
world and the progress they made over generations all can be wiped out
in a twinkle of an eye,by a violent disaster natural or unnatural.

Bangladesh, one of the developing country of the world, burdened with

large population had been affecting by some form of natural disaster like
flood, cyclone, tidal surges etc every year. These disasters were due to its
geographical location an climate. ®
The process of identification of the victim of disaster is one of the
challenging problem for a forensic pathologist.
Forensic investigator can contribute their role expertise and
recommendations in collaboration with other agencies.
 What is Disaster ? ?
Disaster
The term disaster owes its origin to the French
word “Desastre” which is a combination of two
words ‘des’ meaning bad and ‘aster’ meaning star.

Thus the term refers to ‘Bad or Evil star’.

“A serious disruption in the functioning of the
community or a society causing wide spread
material, economic, social or environmental
losses which exceed the ability of the affected
society to cope using its own resources”.
“Catastrophe”– A large scale mega-disaster.
 Definition
Definitions, from the World Association of Disaster and
Emergency Medicine (WADEM):
“A serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human,
material and environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society
to cope using only its own resources; the result of a vast ecological breakdown in
the relations between man and his environment, a serious and sudden event (or
slow as in drought) on such a scale that the stricken community needs
extraordinary efforts to cope with it, often with outside help or international aid.”
According to “WHO”
Any occurrence that causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human
life and deterioration of health and health services on a scale sufficient to
warrant an extraordinary response from outside the affected community.
Cuny (Prehospital and Disaster Medicine)defined Disaster as:
“A situation resulting from an environmental phenomenon or armed
conflict that produced stress, personal injury, physical damage, and
economic disruption of great magnitude.”
 Mind it:..
“A hazard is” anything that may pose a danger; thus, it is used in this discussion to
mean a natural or manmade phenomenon or a mixture of both that has the
potential to adversely affect human health, property, activity, and/or the
environment.
“Risk” is the objective (mathematical) or subjective (inductive) probability that
something negative will happen.
Magnitude-The size of the event.
Frequency- How often the event happens.
Return Period- The time between two events of the same size.
“The scale”-The intensity of event in geographical area involved.Examples :the
incidence of a infectious disease in a country, the depth of rain that accumulated in a
specific city in a given period of time, and the number of hectares under an
accumulation of water due to flooding.
“Magnitude”-The total energy encompassed by the event, the combination of the
integral of the amplitudes, the area involved (being studied), and total duration of
event. Examples:the kiloton explosive equivalent of a nuclear bomb explosion,and
total rainfall over an area during entire course of a storm.
“The amplitude”-The degree of departure from the point of equilibrium (pre-event
state). Examples of amplitude include a flood crest, storm surge, and wave height.
Types of Disasters:
Natural
Manmade
Accidental (leaks, spills,
structural failures)
Geophysical(earthquak Intentional (car bombs,
e, landslide, volcano) computer attacks)

Weather (hurricane, Commonly referred to as

blizzard, flood,drought) terrorism weapon.

Infectious (endemic, There are five main categories:

epidemic, pandemic) Chemical Biological
Radioactive Incendiary
Explosive
Intentional acts are also seen in
war.
Cont……
 Types of Disasters:
Natural Manmade
(caused by nature)
(caused by hazards made by
Volcanic eruption human)
Earthquake Conventional warfare
Cyclone or Hurricane Non conventional
Avalanche warfare(eg.Nuclear and chemical)
Flood Transportation accident
Drought Structural collapse
Forest fire or Bushfire Explosions
landslides Fires
Tidal wave Pollution
Civil interest
Environmental pollution
Terrorist attack
Snow storms
Epidemic Disease Contd……..
 Types of Disasters:
Classification –
bonnet(1990)
Minor disaster- Limit of 25
persons killed or injured
Moderate disaster – up to 100
persons injured or killed.
Major disaster – exceeds 100
persons
Mass disasters also can be considered as a “closed” or “open” system.
The first is a system in which a specific number of known individuals are
involved, for example, an air disaster with a passenger’s list.
Othe other hand in “Open” case number of indivisuals are not confined.
Contd…
 Types of Disasters:
Internal versus external disaster
Internal disaster Disaster that affects the hospital
and/or hospital grounds, e.g.: Bomb threat• Fire
or explosion• Power failure• Employee strike.

• External disaster Disaster that affects the

surrounding community but not the hospital
directly, e.g.: Chemical plant explosion• Riots•
Tornado through a residential community.

Contd….
• Levels of disaster Another classification
scheme for disasters is based on the resources
required for a response.