Disaster management: Links to UpToDate resources and society guidelines

Introduction — This topic includes links to guidelines related to health concerns following a disaster. We will update these guideline links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website.

The recommendations in the guidelines in this section may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Relevant UpToDate topic reviews, society guideline links topics, and patient education topics can be found below or by using the UpToDate search box. (See 'Related UpToDate topics' below.)

Guidelines

International

●World Health Organization (WHO): Environmental health

•Biological weapons

•Chemical incidents

•Deliberate events

•Earthquakes

•Floods

•Heatwaves

•Landslides

•Radiation emergencies

•Tropical cyclones

•Tsunamis

•Volcanic eruptions

•Wildfires

●Pan American Health Organization (PAHO): Health emergencies and disaster response

●Best practice guidelines on surgical response in disasters and humanitarian emergencies – Report of the Humanitarian Action Summit working group on surgical issues within the humanitarian space (2011)

Australia–New Zealand

●Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP): Managing emergencies in general practice – A guide for preparation, response, and recovery (2017)

Canada

●Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP): Position paper on disaster preparedness

United States

●Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP): Vaccine guidelines and recommendations for emergency situations

●American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP): Disaster and trauma resources for clinicians

●American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

•Disaster relief/disaster preparedness

•Treating patients in or recently returned from hurricane-affected areas

●American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Disasters and children

•Anthrax

•Biological terrorism and agents

•Blast terrorism and explosions

•Chemical terrorism and agents

•Decontamination

•Earthquakes

•Extreme temperatures

•Family separation and reunification in disasters

•Financial crisis

•Flash floods and flood recovery

•Helping children cope and adjust after a disaster

•Hurricanes

•Influenza/pandemics

•Newborn screening during emergencies

•Volcanoes

•Wildfires

●American Burn Association (ABA): Disaster response – Guidelines for care in austere conditions

●American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST): Care of the critically ill and injured during disasters and pandemics (2014)

●American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP): Disaster medicine

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee opinion on hospital disaster preparedness for obstetricians and facilities providing maternity care (2017, reaffirmed 2021)

●American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM): Practice resources on emergency preparedness and management center

●American College of Radiology (ACR): Disaster preparedness and response

●American Thoracic Society (ATS): Disaster related resources

●American Trauma Society (ATS): Blast injury information

•Abdominal blast injuries

•Blast extremity injuries

•Blast lung injury – An overview for prehospital care providers

•Bombings and mental health

•Crush injury and crush syndrome

•Ear blast injuries

•Essential facts

•Eye blast injuries

•Pediatrics

•Post exposure prophylaxis for bloodborne pathogens

•Prehospital care

•Radiological diagnosis

•Radiological dispersal devices and radiation injury

•Thermal injuries

•Traumatic brain injuries

•Treatment of older adults

●Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

•Natural disasters and severe weather

•Prevent illness and injury after a disaster

-Animals and insects

-Asthma

-Carbon monoxide poisoning after a disaster

-Chemicals

-Cleanup

-Diarrhea

-Disaster evacuation centers

-Emergency wound care

-Extreme heat

-Food, water, sanitation, and hygiene

-Immunizations

-Infection control

-Infectious diseases

-Information for specific groups

-Mental health

-Mold

-Personal hygiene

-Prevent illness and injury

-Tetanus

-Trench foot or immersion foot

-Vibrio vulnificus and wounds

-Wound management for healthcare professionals

•Response and cleanup workers

-Emergency responders – Tips for taking care of yourself

-Hurricane season public health preparedness, response, and recovery guidance for health care providers, response and recovery workers, and affected communities (2017)

-Immunization recommendations for responders

-Response worker health and safety

●National Kidney Foundation (NKF): Emergency resources

●Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM): Disaster and emergency resources

●Wilderness Medicine Society (WMS): Clinical practice guidelines

Related UpToDate topics

Infectious disease and infection prevention

Cholera

● Cholera: Epidemiology, clinical features, and diagnosis

Diarrheal illness

● Diagnostic approach to diarrhea in children in resource-abundant settings

● Approach to the adult with acute diarrhea in resource-abundant settings

● Approach to the child with acute diarrhea in resource-limited settings

● Approach to the adult with acute diarrhea in resource-limited settings

● Society guideline links: Acute diarrhea in adults

● Society guideline links: Acute diarrhea in children

● Patient education: Diarrhea in teens and adults (The Basics)

● Patient education: Diarrhea in children (The Basics)

● Patient education: Acute diarrhea in adults (Beyond the Basics)

● Patient education: Acute diarrhea in children (Beyond the Basics)

Hepatitis

● Hepatitis A virus infection in adults: Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis

● Hepatitis A virus infection: Treatment and prevention

● Overview of hepatitis A virus infection in children

● Hepatitis E virus infection

● Patient education: Hepatitis A (The Basics)

Leptospirosis

● Leptospirosis: Epidemiology, microbiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis

● Leptospirosis: Treatment and prevention

● Patient education: Leptospirosis (The Basics)

Soft tissue infections following water exposure

● Soft tissue infections following water exposure

● Society guideline links: Skin and soft tissue infections

Tetanus

● Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis immunization in children 6 weeks through 6 years of age

● Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis immunization in children 7 through 18 years of age

● Tetanus

● Tetanus-diphtheria toxoid vaccination in adults

● Society guideline links: Tetanus infection

● Patient education: Tetanus (The Basics)

Vaccination

● Society guideline links: Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccination

● Society guideline links: Immunizations in adults

● Society guideline links: Immunizations in children and adolescents

● Society guideline links: Travel medicine

Mental health

Acute stress disorder

● Acute stress disorder in adults: Epidemiology, clinical features, assessment, and diagnosis

● Acute stress disorder in adults: Treatment overview

● Society guideline links: Trauma-related psychiatric disorders in adults

● Patient education: Post-traumatic stress disorder (The Basics)

Anxiety

● Society guideline links: Anxiety and anxiety disorders in adults

● Society guideline links: Anxiety and trauma-related disorders in children

Depression

● Unipolar depression in adults: Assessment and diagnosis

● Unipolar depression in adults: Choosing treatment for resistant depression

● Unipolar major depression in adults: Choosing initial treatment

● Society guideline links: Depressive disorders

● Patient education: Depression in adults (The Basics)

● Patient education: Medicines for depression (The Basics)

● Patient education: Depression in adults (Beyond the Basics)

● Patient education: Depression in children and adolescents (Beyond the Basics)

● Patient education: Depression treatment options for adults (Beyond the Basics)

● Patient education: Depression treatment options for children and adolescents (Beyond the Basics)

Posttraumatic stress disorder

● Posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: Treatment overview

● Posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: Treatment overview

● Posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, assessment, and diagnosis

● Posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: Epidemiology, clinical features, assessment, and diagnosis

● Posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: Trauma-focused psychotherapy

● Posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: Psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions

Biological and chemical weapons

● Identifying and managing casualties of biological terrorism

● Chemical terrorism: Rapid recognition and initial medical management

● Topical chemical burns: Initial evaluation and management

● Society guideline links: Chemical terrorism

Trauma

General management

● Initial management of trauma in adults

● Trauma management: Approach to the unstable child

● Society guideline links: General issues of trauma management in adults

● Society guideline links: Pediatric trauma

Blunt and penetrating trauma

● Initial evaluation and management of abdominal gunshot wounds in adults

● Initial evaluation and management of abdominal stab wounds in adults

● Initial evaluation and management of blunt abdominal trauma in adults

● Initial evaluation and management of blunt thoracic trauma in adults

● Initial evaluation and management of penetrating thoracic trauma in adults

● Thoracic trauma in children: Initial stabilization and evaluation

● Society guideline links: Pelvic trauma

● Society guideline links: Penetrating neck injury

● Society guideline links: Thoracic trauma

Burns

● Assessment and classification of burn injury

● Emergency care of moderate and severe thermal burns in adults

● Overview of the management of the severely burned patient

● Moderate and severe thermal burns in children: Emergency management

● Topical agents and dressings for local burn wound care

● Treatment of deep burns

● Treatment of minor thermal burns

● Treatment of superficial burns requiring hospital admission

● Society guideline links: Care of the patient with burn injury

● Patient education: Electrical burns (The Basics)

Compartment syndrome

● Acute compartment syndrome of the extremities

● Society guideline links: Extremity compartment syndrome

● Patient education: Acute compartment syndrome (The Basics)

Crush-related injury

● Rhabdomyolysis: Clinical manifestations and diagnosis

● Crush-related acute kidney injury

● Severe crush injury in adults

● Society guideline links: Acute kidney injury in adults

● Society guideline links: Acute kidney injury in children

● Patient education: Acute kidney injury (The Basics)

● Patient education: Rhabdomyolysis (The Basics)

Inhalational injury

● Inhalation injury from heat, smoke, or chemical irritants

Severe extremity injuries

● Severe lower extremity injury in the adult patient

● Severe upper extremity injury in the adult patient

● Surgical management of severe lower extremity injury

● Surgical management of severe upper extremity injury

● Society guideline links: Severe blunt or penetrating extremity trauma

Wound management

● Closure of minor skin wounds with staples

● Skin laceration repair with sutures

● Minor wound evaluation and preparation for closure

● Society guideline links: Minor wound management

● Patient education: Stitches and staples (The Basics)

● Patient education: Taking care of cuts, scrapes, and puncture wounds (The Basics)

Gynecologic problems and pregnancy

● Disaster settings: Care of gynecologic problems

● Disaster settings: Care of pregnant patients

Environmental health

Carbon monoxide poisoning

● Carbon monoxide poisoning

● Society guideline links: Treatment of acute poisoning caused by specific agents other than drugs of abuse

● Patient education: Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning (The Basics)

Drowning

● Drowning (submersion injuries)

Electrical injuries

● Electrical injuries and lightning strikes: Evaluation and management

Heat-related illness

● Exertional heat illness in adolescents and adults: Epidemiology, thermoregulation, risk factors, and diagnosis

● Exertional heat illness in adolescents and adults: Management and prevention

● Heat stroke in children

● Severe nonexertional hyperthermia (classic heat stroke) in adults

● Society guideline links: Exertional heat illness

● Society guideline links: Heat illness in children

● Patient education: Heat stroke (The Basics)

Hypothermia

● Accidental hypothermia in adults

● Hypothermia in children: Management

● Patient education: Hypothermia (The Basics)

Immersion injuries

● Nonfreezing cold water (trench foot) and warm water immersion injuries

Insects

● Society guideline links: Stinging insect allergy

Molds

● Assessment of mold in the indoor environment

Radiation injury

● Management of radiation injury

● Clinical manifestations, evaluation, and diagnosis of acute radiation exposure

Immigrant and refugee health care

● Medical care of adult refugees, immigrants, and migrants

● Society guideline links: Health care for immigrants and refugees

Occupational and environmental health

● Overview of occupational and environmental health

● Society guideline links: Management of environmental emergencies