Natural Disasters and Impacts on Health 2H
Natural Disasters and Impacts on Health 2H : Tornadoes. Due to the lack of warning, a tornado offers a community little time to prepare or seek shelter, and hence the morbidity and mortality is proportionally higher compared to other disasters. In the United States, the leading cause of death and critical permanent injury in a tornado is cranio-cerebral injury due to projectiles accelerated by tornado winds. Crush injuries due to collapsing structures or extremely large airborne debris are also frequent. Common non-fatal injuries include fractures, penetrating trauma, lacerations, and other soft tissue injuries. Lacerations, contusions, abrasions, punctures, and musculoskeletal strain account for over half of the total injuries seen in local emergency rooms. Most victims suffer from multiple wounds and many of the soft tissue injuries occur in areas of exposed skin such as the head and neck. Tornado victims also exhibit a characteristic abrasion pattern on exposed skin that is due to fine particles of soil, mud, sand, and even water which strike the body at highly accelerated speeds. Wound contamination, and subsequent infection, appear to be a major contributor to post operative sepsis leading to an increased need of aggressive wound care and surgical debridement. One fifth of fracture injuries in the aftermath of a tornado can be expected to be open, contributing to the infection rates among patients. Studies have shown that due to a high proportion of projectile injuries, one half to two thirds of tornado victims who require surgery will exhibit signs of early bacteremia and sepsis. A possible fatal outcome of sepsis infection is multiple organ dysfunction syndrome which then leads to multiple system failure.
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