Humanitarian Supply Management and Logistics in the Health Sector

Main Effects of Disasters
The various effects of disasters on the population and its surroundings
generate different kinds of needs and require different approaches to
meet those needs. It is therefore important to have a general sense of
what these effects are, and which systems are most commonly affected.
However, experience shows that the effects in question cannot be taken
as absolutes, since the impact and form a disaster takes depends on the
specifics of the affected region. Bearing this in mind, the following is an
overview of some basic characteristics of these effects.
Social Reactions
Chapter 1: The context 3
The behavior of disaster victims rarely explodes into general panic or
sinks into stunned apathy. After the initial shock, people tend to start
acting positively to meet well-defined personal goals, leading to an
increase in individual activities that, in spite of being spontaneous,
quickly self-organize into collective endeavors. Earthquake survivors, for
instance, are usually the first to engage in search and rescue efforts,
often within minutes of the impact; in a matter of hours, self-organized
groups have already assigned themselves specific tasks that play a key
role in relief and recovery.
It is only in exceptional circumstances that actively antisocial behavior
such as looting takes place. However, sometimes individuals’ spontaneous
reactions, while perfectly rational from the point of view of selfinterest,
can prove detrimental to the community as a whole, as when
public utility employees do not show up at the workplace until they have
taken steps to ensure the safety of their family and possessions.
Since rumors abound after a disaster, especially concerning epidemics,
the authorities may face tremendous pressure to adopt emergency measures,
such as massive vaccination campaigns against typhoid or cholera,
without there being solid public health evidence for doing so. Moreover,
many people are reluctant to apply the measures considered necessary
by the authorities.
After an early warning has been issued concerning a major risk, and
even after a disaster has actually taken place, many are reluctant to be