Climate Change Impacts on Disaster and Emergency Medicine Focusing on Mitigation Disruptive Effects: an International Perspective

Daniel Aiham Ghazali, Maximilien Guericolas, Frédéric Thys, François Sarasin, Pedro Arcos González and Enrique Casalino
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Daniel Aiham Ghazali: Emergency Department and EMS, University Hospital of Bichat, Paris 75018, France
Maximilien Guericolas: Emergency Department and EMS, University Hospital of Bichat, Paris 75018, France
Frédéric Thys: Acute Care Division & Emergency Department, Grand Hôpital de Charleroi, Charleroi 6040, Belgium
François Sarasin: Emergency Department, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva 44041, Switzerland
Pedro Arcos González: Unit for Research in Emergency and Disaster, Department of Medicine, University of Oviedo, Oviedo 33006, Spain
Enrique Casalino: Emergency Department and EMS, University Hospital of Bichat, Paris 75018, France

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-13

Abstract: In recent decades, climate change has been responsible for an increase in the average temperature of the troposphere and of the oceans, with consequences on the frequency and intensity of many extreme weather phenomena. Climate change’s effects on natural disasters can be expected to induce a rise in humanitarian crises. In addition, it will surely impact the population’s long-term general health, especially among the most fragile. There are foreseeable health risks that both ambulatory care organizations and hospitals will face as global temperatures rise. These risks include the geographic redistribution of infectious (particularly zoonotic) diseases, an increase in cardiac and respiratory illnesses, as well as a host of other health hazards. Some of these risks have been detailed for most developed countries as well as for some developing countries. Using these existing risk assessments as a template, organizational innovations as well as implementation strategies should be proposed to mitigate the disruptive effects of these health risks on emergency departments and by extension, reduce the negative impact of climate change on the populations they serve.

Keywords: climate change; emergency medicine; health; disaster preparedness; management; European perspective (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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