Biological emergencies: examples. Classification of emergency situations

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

An emergency is characterized as a dangerous situation that has developed in a certain area. The cause of its occurrence can be man-made disasters, destructive natural phenomena or other factors that threaten people with big troubles. The problem of the occurrence of emergencies of a biological nature around the world has recently become especially relevant.

Definition

When an emergency of this type occurs in a separate area, human life, the existence of domestic animals and agricultural plants are in serious danger, the usual living and working conditions are violated.

Sources of biological emergencies are usually various kinds of infectious diseases. With insufficient control over the spread of the virus or slowness in taking measures to eliminate it, the zone of infection will steadily expand, which means that more and more living organisms will become infected.

History

During the existence of mankind, there have been many examples of the destructive action of pathogenic bacteria: in the Middle Ages, the plague destroyed almost two-thirds of Europeans, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, smallpox claimed more lives than two world wars. Every year, new types of infectious diseases dangerous to humans appear, and scientists have not been able to cope with some of them: HIV, Lyme disease, etc.

In Russia, the Ministry of Sanitary Control, medical institutions and the Ministry of Emergency Situations deal with the problems of identifying, preventing and eliminating emergencies of a biological type.

Types of emergencies. Technogenic emergency

ES are classified according to the source of origin. Today it is customary to distinguish the following types:

1. Man-made.
2. Environmental.
3. Natural.

Man-made emergencies, that is, those that occurred at industrial, energy and other facilities. Its main feature is randomness.

Most often, a disaster is caused by a human factor or improper operation of production equipment:

• car accidents, crash of planes, trains, water transport;
• fires in residential buildings and industrial facilities;
• accidents with the threat of release of chemical and radioactive substances;
• building collapse;
• breaks, breakdowns in energy systems;
• accidents at communal facilities responsible for human life support (breakthroughsewerage, water supply, heat cuts, gas failures);
• dam failures.

All man-made disasters occur due to insufficient control or neglect of the operation or safety requirements of an industrial facility or system.

Environmental emergencies

For thousands of years, mankind has been trying to tame the entire world around us, to put nature at the service of its needs, which often has a detrimental effect on all life on the planet. Ecological emergencies are associated with serious and often irreversible changes in the environment:

• drainage of territories, excess of pollution norms;
• changing the composition of the air environment: previously unusual weather changes, excessive content of impurities in the atmosphere, urban smog, exceeding noise standards, "ozone holes";
• problems associated with pollution of the hydrosphere, that is, the water composition of the earth: the unsuitability of drinking sources, drainage, the spread of the desert, the release of waste into the sea.

A few decades ago, these problems were practically not de alt with, but now, after the Chernobyl disaster, the shallowing of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and noticeable seasonal temperature fluctuations, states around the world are interested in preventing and preventing emergencies. Russia annually allocates large funds for these purposes.

Natural emergencies

Natural emergencies are caused not so much by the consequences of human activity as by natural phenomena. Although in some cases mankindindirectly participates in the occurrence of certain disasters.

The classification of natural emergencies includes the following categories:

• Earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
• Phenomena caused by geological processes: landslides, mudflows, dust storms, erosion, landslides, etc.
• The classification of natural emergencies also includes meteorological problems: hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, heavy rain, frost, ice, snowfall, blizzard, extreme heat, drought.
• Dangerous marine phenomena: floods, tsunamis, typhoons, pressure or separation of ice, etc.
• Hydrological phenomena: rising water levels, congestion.
• Natural fires.

Emergency situations of a biological nature are also natural in origin, as they are caused by infectious diseases that spread to people, animals and agricultural plants. The following definitions apply to this category: source of origin, zone of infection, live pathogens, epidemic, epizootic and epiphytotic process.

Reasons

For each emergency, its sources of the problem are identified. So, for emergencies of a biological nature, these are infectious diseases. They are caused by the penetration of alien microorganisms into the body, which are commonly called pathogens.

1. For people, animals and plants, viral infections are the most destructive. In recent decades, influenza has become widespread in various manifestations, withEvery year, viruses mutate and adapt to any drug. In addition, this includes hepatitis, chicken pox, and among animal ailments - foot and mouth disease and glanders.
2. The next cause of biological emergencies is bacterial infections (meningococcal, intestinal, dysentery). The development of medicine in recent decades has led to a decrease in the level of infection with pathogens of this type. Due to the creation of antibiotics, promotion of preventive and hygiene measures, bacterial infections are no longer so terrible for humanity.

Liquidation of the consequences of emergencies largely depends on identifying the cause of the outbreak. Infection is a process that takes place in a single organism; epidemic - when the infection passes from one organism to another.

Distribution rate

Depending on the scale of destruction and the number of victims, emergencies can be classified as follows:

1. Emergency of local importance, when disasters or diseases do not spread beyond a small area, the number of victims is no more than ten people, and material damage does not exceed one hundred thousand rubles.
2. Municipal - the emergency is located in the zone of a separate federal district or city, less than fifty people were injured, and the damage is within five million rubles.
3. Inter-municipal, when the affected area already covers two neighboring objects, be it villages or city districts.
4. Emergency becomes regional when the problem does not go beyond the given area.
5. Interregional.
6. Federal, when the number of victims ismore than five hundred people, and the distribution area covers more than two regions.

The consequences of an emergency biological impact are usually eliminated by each region separately. In rare cases, when infectious diseases affect a large number of people, a nationwide emergency may be declared.

Methods of distribution

• Intestinal infections. May occur when eating contaminated food and water, using the same utensils.
• Respiratory tract infections. The cause of infection is direct contact with a sick person.
• Infection through the outer skin. Occurs due to bites of insects, animals, rodents, ticks, when injured by fragments containing virus pathogens.

A separate problem is the deadly infections spread during hostilities. Despite the prohibitions on the use of such weapons of mass destruction, biological emergencies periodically occur in some hot spots of the world.

Development stages

Environmental, natural and man-made emergencies almost always follow the same pattern, which includes the following phases:

1. The stage of origin, the accumulation of deviations from the norm of a process, the emergence of conditions and prerequisites for the emergence of emergencies. Depending on the type of origin, this phase can last minutes, hours, years and centuries. Examples: fire situation in the forest, weakened immunity, insufficient controlepidemiological situation in the region, etc.
2. Beginning of the emergency. The stage at which the process is initiated. In man-made disasters, this is most often a human factor, in biological ones it is infection of the body.
3. Climax, the very process of an extraordinary event. The maximum adverse impact on the population occurs (for example, the spread of the influenza virus).
4. The fourth stage, the attenuation period, when the consequences of emergencies are eliminated by special services, or they themselves pass for objective reasons.

Liquidation begins at the third stage and, depending on the emergency category, can take months, years and even decades. The situation is especially difficult with biological emergencies. In some cases, it takes years to develop, test and introduce the necessary medicines.

Liquidation order

Emergencies of a biological nature are dangerous because infectious diseases spread very quickly and, if timely measures are not taken, can cause great damage to human he alth, even death. Therefore, a special program of action was developed to eliminate one of the three links in the process of the spread of diseases:

1. Impact on the source of infection, its disinfection.
2. Finding and disrupting disease transmission routes.
3. Development of methods to increase the resistance of organisms to infectious diseases.

If carried out correctly, these measures contribute to the localization of the source of infection, and then the elimination of the consequences of the emergency is already underway.

Possible outcomes

Viruses and bacteria enter the human body and immediately begin to multiply actively, causing significant damage to he alth. Every year, thousands of people die worldwide from complications caused by the flu virus, or from the destructive effect of hepatitis and other bacteriological diseases on internal organs.

The cause of an emergency can be anything. Domestic animals and agricultural plants are also susceptible to various infections and, in turn, can also serve as a source of infection. The media often reports on swine or bird flu, which has killed or forcibly killed a huge number of animals, and the industry has suffered significant damage.

Measures to prevent emergencies

Emergency prevention has its own specifics, here much depends on the development of medical care in the country, the availability of government programs. In Russia, due to the harsh climate, the problem of the spread of the influenza virus annually arises, especially among children.

The best way to prevent an epidemic, or to make sure that the disease causes minimal damage, is active prevention. If the measures taken did not help, you should follow the rules of conduct in case of emergency.

Depending on the nature of the implementation of infection control measures, as well as the degree of spread of pathology, the following ways to prevent epidemics and pandemics are distinguished:

• Preventive measures. They aretaken continuously, even in the absence of disease. Recently, influenza vaccinations have been carried out in Russia, widespread work has been carried out with the population, doctors urge patients to refrain from attending events with a large number of people and observe the rules of personal hygiene.
• Anti-epidemiological actions carried out during a mass infection on an emergency basis in a particular region.

State measures are mandatory for all organizations and structures, while each person is responsible for their own he alth.

Examples in Russia

A hundred years ago, a simple flu could kill thousands of people in one season, but with the invention of immunomodulators and antiviral drugs and preventive measures, emergency prevention has become much more effective. But even today, our country is facing this epidemic on a national scale during the cold period, every year microorganisms mutate and adapt to drugs, so doctors have to look for new solutions.

In addition to the Ministry of He alth, such a structure as Disaster Medicine is involved in the elimination of the consequences of biological emergencies in Russia. This organization not only monitors the incidence in the country, controls the elimination of the consequences of mass infections, but also promotes the rules of behavior in emergency situations among the population, predicts and develops new methods to combat biological problems.

At the momentespecially dangerous infectious diseases are plague, cholera, HIV, yellow fever, viral hepatitis A, dysentery, typhoid fever and influenza.