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DiversityNursing Blog

Emergency Preparedness for Nurses: Being Ready For Natural Disasters

Posted by Carlos Perez

Tue, Aug 29, 2023 @ 09:32 AM

Lately, the media has been filled with reports of devastating wildfires in Maui, destructive flooding in Vermont, and powerful tornadoes and earthquakes. These natural disasters serve as a reminder of the importance for Nurses to be prepared for any emergency.

Nurses play a vital role in disaster response, and being well-prepared for natural disasters is crucial to ensure they can provide effective care during these emergencies.

Here are steps Nurses can take to be prepared for natural disasters:

1. Education and Training:

  • Emergency Preparedness Courses: Nurses should consider taking courses in disaster preparedness and response. These courses often cover topics such as triage, emergency medical procedures, and disaster management protocols.

  • Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS): Maintaining current BLS and ACLS certifications is essential, as these skills are valuable in emergency situations.

  • ICS/NIMS Training: Familiarize yourself with the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). These frameworks are used in disaster response and coordination.

2. Workplace Protocols:

  • Nurses should be familiar with their healthcare facility's emergency protocols, including evacuation plans, roles and responsibilities during emergencies, and how to access emergency supplies.

  • Participate in emergency response drills and exercises at your workplace to become comfortable with the procedures and to identify any areas that need improvement.

3. Personal Preparedness:

  • Create a personal emergency plan for your family, including evacuation routes, meeting places, and communication strategies. Ensure everyone in your household understands the plan.

  • Build a personal emergency kit that includes essentials like water, non-perishable food, first aid supplies, medications, flashlight, batteries, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

  • Regularly update and refresh your emergency kit to ensure that supplies are not expired.

4. Stay Informed:

  • Keep informed about potential disasters or emergencies by following local news, weather alerts, and official sources of information.

  • Download emergency alert apps or subscribe to text alerts from local authorities.

5. Networking and Collaboration:

  • Establish relationships with other healthcare professionals and organizations involved in disaster response. This can include local public health agencies, emergency medical services (EMS), and disaster relief organizations.

  • Understand your role within a disaster response team and how to collaborate effectively with other healthcare providers.

6. Triage Training:

  • Understand the principles of triage, which involve assessing and prioritizing patients based on the severity of their injuries or conditions.

  • Practice triage scenarios to improve your ability to make quick and accurate decisions during emergencies.

7. Psychological Preparedness:

  • Be aware of the emotional and psychological challenges that can arise during disasters. Understand how to provide emotional support to patients, families, and even colleagues.

  • Consider taking courses or attending workshops on psychological first aid and stress management.

8. Documentation Skills:

  • Emphasize the importance of accurate and thorough documentation during emergencies. Ensure that you are well-versed in charting procedures, both on paper and electronically.

9. Continuous Learning:

  • Stay up-to-date with the latest guidelines and best practices for disaster response and emergency medicine.

  • Attend conferences, seminars, and workshops related to disaster nursing and emergency preparedness.

10. Community Involvement:

  • Participate in community disaster preparedness efforts. This involvement can help you better understand local risks and resources.


By following these steps, Nurses can enhance their preparedness for natural disasters, contributing to more effective and compassionate care during emergencies. Preparedness not only benefits Nurses but also the communities they serve.

Topics: emergency medicine, emergency help, natural disasters, emergency preparedness

Disaster Response Gives Retired Nurse New Purpose

Posted by Johnson&Johnson

Thu, Oct 12, 2017 @ 11:12 AM

NP-DN_4.jpgArticle from www.discovernursing.com

With the many horrific disasters happening across the country, have you considered how you can help? Of course you have. You’re a Nurse and that’s what you do – care for others. This is a terrific interview of a Nurse who retired a year ago and is now volunteering for the Red Cross. Her skills are desperately needed. Perhaps her story will inspire you.

Mary Yoshino, FNP, wore an identification badge for years that told the world who she was and what she represented in the healthcare community. When she retired from being a nurse, Mary wasn’t sure what her next step would be, but she knew she wanted to continue to help people.

Currently, Mary is on the ground in Houston, Texas, volunteering in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, an extremely destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that made landfall in southern Texas in August 2017. We recently had the opportunity to speak with her to learn more about her career and her current role as a volunteer disaster response nurse.

Nursing Notes (NN): Can you share a little bit about your nursing background?

Mary: All my life, I wanted to be a nurse. As a student nurse at Johnston-Willis Hospital School of Nursing in Richmond, Va., I became very active with the American Red Cross by taking and teaching classes. Since graduation, my nursing career has spanned 47 years in all areas of nursing and multiple states. I have worked in intensive care units and emergency rooms, college health services, and the Army Nurse Corps Reserve. I went back to school to become a nurse practitioner in 1990, and then worked as a family nurse practitioner for 26 years before retiring last year at the age of 69. I took this past year to reflect on what I wanted to do in my next phase of life.  

NN: What made you want to volunteer during Hurricane Harvey, and how did you get involved?

Mary: I received a text from my son in Friendswood, Texas, saying that his home was taking on water and that he and his family were evacuating. That morning, I signed up to volunteer with the Red Cross. I was so desperate to help people again and was deployed out of Albany, N.Y., to Houston with a team of four other nurses.

NN: What are your day-to-day responsibilities as a volunteer nurse?

Mary: Currently, I’m a supervisor for a 460-resident shelter facility. We’re responsible for going from cot to cot, making rounds and assessing residents’ health needs daily. We are doing dressing changes, distributing over-the-counter medications, and calling for prescription refills. Some of our patients are very sick; yesterday alone we called 911 four times. We talk to our patients, hear their stories, and hold back our tears as we wipe away theirs. Our day is busy. There’s no time to sit, and very little time to eat because our patients’ needs come first.  

NN: What is the most rewarding aspect of this volunteer role?

Mary: The most rewarding aspect is to see the gratefulness in the eyes of the people we help. They come in feeling dehumanized, as they have lost all that they hold dear. Some cry and some are quiet, but they see that we care and we talk to them about the realness of their situation and ask them quietly how we may help them. Today, I was with a woman who teared up and said, "You really care, don't you?" A kind smile, manners, and showing respect goes a long way.

NN: What did you take away from this experience?

Mary: This experience has inspired me to go back and work in our local Red Cross chapter, to be a spokesperson for the Red Cross and to encourage others to volunteer. Even on a local front, there are so many ways to help.

NN: What do you wish others knew about the impact that Hurricane Harvey has had on citizens and communities?

Mary: My team has seen firsthand the destruction around Houston and realized just how real this hurricane was and how it has changed the lives of so many. As other breaking news has developed, people here are still feeling the effects of Harvey and are coming together in the communities that were hit the hardest. In my son's community, all homes were destroyed, but they went door to door helping each other. It’s about people helping people.

NN: What advice do you have for other nurses who are interested in disaster response nursing?

Mary: Let's do it!!! Be there, hold a hand, wipe a tear, make people feel human and safe again. Think back to why you became a nurse, and let those reasons once again come to the front. Let's go make a difference.

NN: Is there anything else you’d like to share about this experience?

Mary: When I retired from nursing, I broke down emotionally. I did not know who I was besides a nurse practitioner. The Red Cross has given me my life back. I feel like I have found my niche. I came to Houston and realized that I can still make a difference. I will return home in mid-October after having been in Houston for a month. In November, I hope to be deployed somewhere again. This time, I will go in knowing I have the confidence to lead and make a difference for the victims of a disaster.

To learn more about volunteering as a nurse through the Red Cross, visit www.redcross.org.  

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Topics: first responders, retired nurse, natural disasters, disaster response

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