An Examination Of Explosive Compaction Environmental Sciences Essay

An Examination Of Explosive Compaction Environmental Sciences Essay 1.0 Introduction Explosive compaction has been used in various projects throughout the world over the last 80 years. Explosive compaction involves placing a charge at depth in a borehole in loose soil (generally sands to silty sands or sands and gravels), and then detonating the charge. Several charges are fired at one time, with delays between each charge to enhance cyclic loading while minimizing peak acceleration. Often several charges will be stacked in one borehole with gravel stemming between each charge to prevent sympathetic detonation. Explosive compaction is attractive, as explosives are an inexpensive source of readily transported energy and allow densification with substantial savings over alternative methods. Only small-scale equipment is needed (e.g. geotechnical drill or wash boring rigs), minimizing mobilization costs and allowing work in confined conditions. Compaction can be carried out at depths beyond the reach of conventional ground treatment equipment. Most explosive compaction has been driven by concerns over liquefaction, and has been on loose soils below the water table (and to depths of nearly 50 m). (W. B. GOHL, 2000) However, compaction also increases ground stiffness and strength, and explosive compaction has wide application for general ground improvement . 1.1 Backgrounds on explosive compaction In 1936, explosive compaction was first used for the densification of a railway embankment at the Svirsk hydroelectric power project in the former Soviet Union (Ivanov, 1967). Ivanov notes that up to 44cm of settlement occurred as a result of 3 blasting coverage, but the blasting caused extensive cracking of the overlying unsaturated soils and was not considered successful. The first successful application of explosive compaction was performed in the late 1930s to dandify the foundation soils for the Franklin Falls dam in New Hampshire (Lyman, 1940). Soon following the work at Franklin Falls dam, the effectiveness of this technique was confirmed by its successful performance for compaction an hydraulic fill dike on the Cape Cod Canal and by several tests at the Dennison Dam in Texas and the Almond Dam in New York. These cases concluded that blast densification could be widely used for compaction loose cohesionless soils that are substantially saturated. In 1967, Ivanov presented a ma nual on explosive compaction which provides guidelines for the placement and sizing of the explosive charges used in compaction. However, in most explosive compaction projects several short columnar charges are placed in each blast hole, and neither set of available guidelines appears valid. More importantly, these guidelines present no method to estimate the impacts from the blasting or final soil properties achieved. (Mitchell, 1995) 2.0 Cohesionless soil Explosive Compaction is conducted by setting off explosive charges in the ground often applicable to cohesionless soil. The explosive energy will caused cyclic straining of the soil. This strain process, repeated over many cycles caused by the sequential detonation of explosives, induces a tendency for volumetric compaction of looser sub soils. It is thought that shearing strains are responsible for this volumetric compaction, particularly at distances more than a few meters from a blast hole. In saturated soils, the overburden pressures are thrown onto the pore fluid and excess pore pressures develop during blasting, which caused a shakedown settlement of the soil. If strain amplitudes and number of cycles of straining are sufficient, this will caused liquefaction of the soil mass (i.e. pore water pressures temporarily elevated to the effective vertical overburden stress in the soil mass so that a heavy fluid created). The reconsolidation of the soil mass caused by the dissipation of water pressures is time dependent, generally happens within hours to days. This depends on the permeability of the subsoils and drainage boundary conditions, and is reflected by release of large volumes of water at the ground surface. Immediate volume change can happen and is caused by passage of the blast-inducted shock front through the soil mass. 2.1 Disadvantage Issue associated with explosive compaction is it results in large amount of gas being released into the soil water system, in the form of nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Release of carbon dioxide may lower the PH of the ground water and this may increase the ammonia level. Both nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide are both poisonous substance in the air and venting is necessary if blasting is carried within confined areas. Hence, the chemical make-up of a particular explosive and its by-product should be reviewed for every project in order to assess its suitability for use at a particular area. 2.2 Blast hole pattern The blast hole pattern generally use a staggered rectangular grid of boreholes at spacing of 4 to 9 metres. This pattern is used to provide a pattern of two or more phases within the treatment area. The initial phase will destroyed any bonds existing between the cohesionless soil particles. Subsequent passes cause additional settlement after pore pressure dissipation. Once the area has been shot and pore pressures have largely dissipated, repeated applications of blast sequences will cause additional settlement depending on soil density and stiffness. Bore holes are drilled over the full depth of soil deposit to be treated, and 75 to 100 millimetres diameter plastic casing is installed. The casing will support the loaded explosive at one or more levels within the boreholes, with each charge separated by gravel stemming. The stemming will reduce the back blast and encourage the crater effect. The number of holes detonated in any shot will depends on vibration control considerations an d the effect of liquefaction and settlement on adjacent slopes and structures. The advantage of using multiple blast phases is the increase of settlement and more uniform densification. This is because local soil loosening can occur immediately around a charge, subsequent passes of blasting from surrounding boreholes are designed to re-compact these initial loosened zones. Therefore at least two phases are usually recommended for explosive compaction. 2.3 Instrumentation The instruments used for an explosive compaction projects generally includes the following: Surface geophones to measure vibration response at critical location. Pore pressure transducers to measure residual pore pressures generated by blasting. Hydrophones installed in water-filled casings near blast zones used to identify charge detonations. Sondex tubes to measure settlements with depth in a soil profile after blasting. Ground surface settlement measurements Inclinometers where blasting is carried out near slopes to measure slope movement. In some projects, additional confirmation of explosive detonations is required, electronic coaxial cables are installed down the blast holes and used to measure firing times of explosive deck using high speed data acquisition systems. Alternatively, high speed filming of the firing of non-electric delays can also be employed to monitor charge detonations. Standard Penetration Testing (SPT), Becker Penetration Testing (BPT) or electronic Cone Penetration Testing (CPT) is commonly used to assess the improvement in soil density after explosive compaction. For sand and silt areas, CPT is considered to provide the most reliable and reproducible results. 3.0 Cohesive Soil Explosive Compaction has been a method used in past decades for the compaction of loose granular soil. However, the use of explosive compaction for cohesionless soil, such as clay, is rare. A new explosive method for replacing soft clay with crushed stones by blasting has been development by Yan and Chu[8], which is called explosive replacement method. Meanwhile, this method has been used in conjunction with a highway construction in China. 3.1 Outline of the method There are three main steps described by Yan and Chu [6] to achieve the replacement method, which are: The explosive replacement is set up as shown in fig1. The explosive charges are first installed in the soil layer, and then crushed stones are piled up next to it on the side of the site that has been improved. When the charges are detonated, the soft soil is blown out and cavities are formed. At the same time, the crushed stones collapse into the cavities. In this way, the cohesive soil is replaced with crushed stones in rapid manner. The soil that is blown into the air will form a liquid and flow away after it falls to the surface. The crushed stones after collapsing from a slope of 1V:3H or 1V:5H, as shown in fig1(b). The impact of the explosion also causes an instantaneous reduction in the shear strength of the soil below the level of explosion so that the crushed stones can sink into the soft clay layer. The stones help the soil at the bottom to consolidate, and the clay itself will also remain part of its original strength after explosion. The explosion also has a densification effect on the gravel layer below the clay layer. More crushed stones are backfilled to from a leveled ground and steeper slope, as shown in fig1(c). Fig 1.(a)Before explosion; (b) After explosion; (c) After backfill 3.2 Ground-probing radar(GPR) tests GPR test is used to detect the distribution of the crushed stones in the soft clay. The radar system transmits repetitive, short pulse electromagnetic waves into the ground from a broad bandwidth antenna. Some of the waves are reflected when they hit discontinuities in the subsurface, and some are absorbed or refracted by the materials that they come into contact with. The reflected waves are picked up by a receiver, and the elapsed time between wave transmission and reception is automatically recorded.[Koerner R.M. Construction and geotechnical methods in foundation engineering. McGraw-Hilll, New York,1984] 4.0 Explosive Compaction Design Explosive Compaction Design is based on empirically methods, which had been presented by Narin van Court and Mitchell (refer 1). Wu (refer 2) developed the explosive compaction design by using the finite element model. His model applies dynamic cavity expansion theory and assumes that a charge detonation may be idealized by assuming a blast pressure-time input applied normal to the surface of a spherical cavity. The charge weight per delay is proportional to the size of the spherical cavity, thus larger charge weight could result in larger cavity size and larger detonation effect. Wus model also considers the non-linear shear stress- strain response of the soil and rate dependent viscous damping. Parameters used in the Wu model are calibrated based on initial estimates of the relative densities of the granular soils and analysis of single and multiple-hole test blasts at a site. Cavity expansion theory indicates: a) multiple cycles of blasting will be more effective than single cycles; (b) the zone of influence of a given charge detonation increases as the size of the cavity increases (c) charge weight should be increased as the depth increases. (Refer 3 Gohl et al, 2000). The design of explosive compaction often begins with Hopkinsons number (HN) and Normalised Weight(NW) as: Where Q is the charge weight in kilogram and R is the effective Radius in plan (metre). However, due to the infinite combinations of charge weight with radius, a suitable HN can be difficult to select. Meanwhile, explosive compaction typically uses columnar charge and a good correlation of energy attenuation by the square root method is demonstrated, so this attenuation function is used in the following analyses, and the energy input attenuation is derived as: where Wi is the weight of individual charges around a point in the soil mass(g), and Rvi is the minimum vector distance from a charge to a point in the soil mass(m). The distance between charges can be estimated as: Where, to allow some overlapping, should be taken to be less than 2. In those equations, HN, NW and E are constants. However, for a given value of HN, NW or E, the above relationships may provide infinite combinations of charge weight with radius. Furthermore, it is difficult to select suitable values of HN, NW or E1 in practice. Based on blasting mechanics, a new set of equation has been derived by Yan and Chu (2004) [6], and the finally radium could be govern as follow : Where Pk is a pressure constant in Pascal, is the density of the explosive in kilogram per cubic metre, D is the velocity of the explosive in metre per second, Pa is the atmospheric pressure in Pascal, Qis the mass of the explosive,is the unit weight of soil in Newton per cubic metre and hc is the thickness of the soil above a cavity in meter. The distance between charges can be estimated as: Where, to allow some overlapping, should be taken to be less than 2. In addition, Gohl has developed an equation to approximate the charge effectiveness in a given soil type and it is derived based on the Hopkinsons Number and it is given as the following: Where e is the fraction of maximum achievable vertical strain and k is a site factor related to the soil properties and damping. From past project, k was found to be 81 to 143. 5.0 Conclusion Explosive compaction uses the energy released by completely contained detonations within the soil mass to rearrange the particles into a denser configuration. This technique offers several advantages over other soil improvement techniques. especially with regard to the cost, soil type, and depth effectively treated. Moreover, explosive compaction is an effective and predictable method for both cohesive and cohesionless soil. In which explosive replacement method for cohesive soil is newly developed. Although this compaction method has been used for decades, under a variety of site and environmental conditions, explosive compaction has not achieved general acceptance in civil engineering. Therefore, further development is encouraged and due to the physical testing restrains, possibly numerical simulation will develop in future.

Explanation as to Why Projects Fail Essay

Having the right members of staff is very crucial when running a project. Project mangers have to be extremely careful when employing members of staff, hiring people that do not know how to use tools during the development of a project can result in time consumption. Going over the budget If the project manager wastes more money then necessary, then how their project going to be able to continue, how will members of staff get paid, and where are they going to get the money for the tools that are needed. Project managers have to always be wary about how much money is being spent and to always keep track of their budget and avoid spending too much money. Insufficient details from client It is extremely important for the project manager to find out as many details as possible in order to create the product for them. If there are not enough details and the product is made, the client may not be satisfied and therefore the project has failed as well as the project manager. There are projects out there that do not give enough requirements which have led to cases where the developers of the project having no input from the client, and create a project that they believe is needed without them knowing anything about the business itself. When the project has then been given to the client, business users will then say that it does not do what is needed to be done. This is also connected to a lack of user involvement; a user has to always know exactly what they want and have the ability to specify it precisely. Not enough proper time to research and plan Before any project starts, planning has to always be taken place in order to prepare for the unexpected so that we can react quicker minimising any problems as much as possible. But if not enough time has been given to properly plan and also to research a product, that will only increase the risk of the project failing. Using the wrong kind of tools There are many different kinds of software’s that can be used for many different kinds of things. Using the wrong software can be almost impossible or difficult to do the project. For example to create a spreadsheet, Microsoft Excel will be needed. But if Microsoft FrontPage is provided, then it would be impossible to create the spreadsheet because FrontPage is used to make websites and WebPages, not spreadsheets. They can over-run (passed the deadline) If a project has passed its deadline, it has failed and the client will probably not be able to afford the project any longer and will terminate the project. Projects can pass the deadline simply because certain problems may have been very difficult to overcome and therefore time-consuming. Other things can also include members of staff not working full time or not working properly in the project. Poor communication People have to communicate with each other in order to know what is happening and what is going on. If people do not communicate with each other then how they will know if they are doing everything in the correct order and if everything is working perfectly in order for them to continue. It is extremely important that members of staff tell each other when to apply certain things or when to start creating little bits in order to make the project. Lack of User Involvement Everyone that has been hired to carry out the project must always be involved so that project can run as smoothly as planned. A lack of user involvement can prove to be fatal for any kind of project. Every user has to be involved otherwise nobody in the business will be committed to a system and may be also hostile to it. In order to have a successful project every single user has to be involved from the start of the project and continue to be involved throughout the whole development. Changes in the requirements While a project is being developed, what can sometimes happen is that the client can suddenly decide to add more details to the production of the project, because of this happening many projects has failed simply because there was not enough time to finish the project due to the amount of time that it took to add those extra details. Long or Unrealistic Time periods Sometimes clients give project managers a ridiculous amount of time to finish a project when it is impossible because there maybe few members of staff, or not enough money to pay for tools that are needed to create the project. Project managers have to plan carefully how much time is needed to create a whole project, a manager will have to take in consideration how much members of staff are needed and for how much time. Managers have to also be aware of any unrealistic time periods, for example for a product to arrive or a specific tool or software. Waiting for tools to be delivered could take a week or more which could have an impact over the whole project. It is recommended that project managers review all project plans so that they will be able to see if they are all realistic before they proceed with anything. Poor Testing People that are developing projects will have to carefully test them and also test to see if it meets the business requirements. But testing can sometimes fail because of many faults, these can include: * Poor requirements * Tests not done properly or not at all * Trained users that do not know the purpose of the system * Insufficient time to perform tests as the project is late Bad decisions being made This can involve wrong decisions that have been made by the project manager. Bad decisions can normally happen if no planning has taken place and the project manager does things without any meaning or thinking about it, managers will need to carefully make any decision. An example of this could be hiring more staff then needed or buying more software’s then needed for the project. Reference details: http://www.adaptivepartners.com/projfailb.htm 22/09/09 http://www.coleyconsulting.co.uk/failure.htm 22/09/09 http://www.carlosconsulting.com/downloads/Reasons_why_projects_fail.pdf 06/10/09

Disaster Planning: Public Health Role

After working through the project â€Å"Disaster in Franklin County,† I will admit that I have a new appreciation for the role of the public health nurse in the event of an emergency. The simulation helped me to understand the important role that the public health team. The plays in assisting the community during a disaster. Role of the Major Public Health Personnel Each of the major public health personnel, including the public health nurse, play a key role in keeping a disaster organized flowing smoothly.The key roles are the medical health director, agency incident commander, public information officer, liaison officer, operations chief, planning chief, logistics chief, finance and administration chief, and public health nurse. With the exception of the public health nurse, the positions are often filled by people who may not be specifically trained for the roles, however, have a general overview of what the specific role requires.Agency Incident Commander – The agen cy incident commander is responsible for making the assignments of each of the other roles. She/he will have a familiarity with the specific skill sets of each person who is eligible for a role and be able to use these skill sets appropriately with in each role to obtain the highest amount of effectiveness. The incident commander will have a broad overview of what the different areas are working on, and know how each role will work to benefit other roles within the big picture.The AIC oversees the development of the incident mission and key goals, and from this comes the development of an Incident Action Plan (IAP). The AIC is responsible for ensuring that the public health agency incident mission and goals are synchronous with those of the other responding agencies and jurisdictions. The person in this position will have natural leadership qualities such as reliable critical thinking and problem solving skills, ability to make a quick decision, flexibility, adaptability, and a broa d understanding of the area affected.Public Information Officer – The public information officer is the communication coordinator or spokesperson. This individual is responsible for assuring that appropriate information is provided to the public, governmental officials and collaborating agencies. The Public Information Officer also assures that the required information is provided to the public health agency staff, so that the message of the agency is consistent, and in synchrony with other agencies.This person needs to be proficient in gathering the correct data for the situation, organizing facts, preparing appropriate releases for the press and the public, should have good communication skills, the ability to think quickly before responding, and have a good working knowledge of correct policy and procedure, standards, and laws in the public health realm. Liaison Officer – The liaison officer interfaces with and coordinates all activities with external agencies.The L iaison Officer assures that external agencies that are working with the department of health are provided with the resources that are required, as well as assure that agency policies, procedures and sovereignty are respected. She will be a point of contact for other agency representatives, and will coordinate assistance from other agencies such as hospitals, counties, EMS and federal emergency management.She will be responsible for creating and maintaining a list of cooperating agencies, their representatives, and point of contacts, and keeping other agencies aware of the public health status within the given situation. The liaison officer will have a functional working relationship with other agencies and have good communication and organizational skills. Operations Chief – The Operations Chief carries out the specific tasks and objectives that the public health agency needs to do in order to accomplish the goals of the incident.In this section, the Incident Action Plan is a ctually executed. This person will have a working knowledge of what needs to be done, how to get it done, and who to send to complete the task. He will also identify additional issues and resources needed and make those requests to the appropriate people. Examples of Operations activities include distribution of vaccines, water or soil sampling, delivery of risk communication messages to the public and case investigation, to name a few.The skill set appropriate for this person is someone with leadership qualities such as critical thinking, direct communication, and the ability to multitask. Planning Chief – The planning chief position is used to organize data, make projections and forecasts about the event and report the information to the AIC. Where required, this person may engage in intelligence activities – which for public health may be gathering, analyzing and sharing incident information (some of which may be sensitive) with other agencies.Examples of intelligen ce activities may include analysis and projections regarding  epidemiological data about a bioterrorist event, risk assessments based on information reported by law enforcement or determination of toxic contamination levels in an environmental incident is responsible for knowing the status of all resources available during a disaster both personnel and equipment. They will know how to obtain these resources, be able to determine current situation and status of the event, making a plan to provide the community with the things that are needed during a disaster, and have contingency plans in case the initial plans are unable to be carried out.This person will have strong contacts throughout the community, a working knowledge of resources available and strong planning skills. Logistics Chief – The Logistics Chief provides the support to all other sections that have been activated in the public health agency so that the work can be accomplished. Logistics acquires and sets up th e things that are needed for Operations to get the job done. A logistics chief will have excellent organizational skills and good ties with the community.Finance and Administration Chief – The finance and administration chief has an essential role including assuring that a contractual and financial process is in place for emergency procurement of supplies, equipment, space and personnel; interpretation of human resource policies; tracking of fiscal resources that are expended during the response (so that costs can be recovered by the agency during the recovery phase of the event) and in some cases, assurance of availability of resources to address the physiological and psychological needs of the paid and volunteer agency personnel who are engaged in the response.Diligent work done by the Finance / Administration Chief during an emergency can serve to prevent a financial or human resource disaster after the event. This person will have a skill set and background in finance or bookkeeping. Public Health Nurse – The public health nurse’s role in a disaster is to assess medical health and safety needs of the community and implement interventions as soon as safely possible after the event.This may include assessing individual needs of community members for things such as appropriate shelter, medications, basic provisions, such as food and water, and assessing for overall coping and stress management skills within a household. As these needs are assessed the public health nurse may refer to other agencies for resources in assisting these community members. The public health nurse will also be involved in vaccine delivery as appropriate and treating basic emergencies as needed. Chain of Command for the Community Health NurseIn the simulation â€Å"Disaster in Franklin County,† the chain of command for the community health nurse began with reporting to the agency incident commander who reported to the public health director, who reported to the medical health director, who then reported to the operations chief for the county incident command system, who reported to the emergency operation center commander. This clear-cut chain of command makes it easy to get information up the chain to the appropriate people without the public health nurse having to relay information to multiple people. Available ResourcesResources available to the community health nurse to deal with situations outside her scope of practice included environmental health specialists to assist with inspections of restaurants available to reopen and inspections of housing before people returned home and help educate the public regarding the use of generators; law enforcement to assist with volatile situations, security and safety needs; hazmat and fire crews to assure safety of homes and businesses, and assist with cleanup efforts; public works to assure water safety, electrical safety, and assess for gas leaks are just a few of the resources available t o the public health nurse to assure that the community is safe throughout the event and healthy upon returning to their homes.Actions Taken During the Door-to-Door Interviews During the door-to-door interviews in the simulation, the community health nurse encountered Mr. Fugate, who did not have his blood pressure medications. This had the potential to be an emergency, had Mr. Fugate’s blood pressure been high, or had he been symptomatic. The simulation stated that Mr. Fugate could have stayed at home or gone to the shelter, according to the community health nurse.In this situation, even though his blood pressure came back at a reasonable reading at the moment, I believe Mr. Fugate would be best served at the shelter where his blood pressure and his general safety could be monitored until events after the storm could be better stabilized. Should Mr. Fugate, choose to stay at home, there is a risk that his blood pressure would spike to a much higher level at a time when he is alone, and unable to receive appropriate medical treatment in a timely fashion. This also increases his risk for issues such as stroke and falls. While we must respect the wishes of the patient, as nurses, we also can make strong recommendations to our patients using basic health facts and logic that will sometimes change their decisions.In the case of Mrs. Alvarez, who spoke Spanish only, the enclosed generator had the potential to be lethal to Mrs. Alvarez and her son. The immediate education regarding the ventilation of the generator was necessary to prevent a buildup of deadly gases. Had there not been anyone at the Alvarez his residence who spoke English, not having access to a translator could have been detrimental to their health as they would not have been a way to discuss the risks with Mrs. Alvarez. Having a plan in place for access to a translator in a time of the disaster is very important as education, such as this, may be necessary on the spot, as opposed to at a later time.In the case of Susan Fuhr, my main concern would have been a lack of coping skills and an immediate danger to herself and her child. In a disaster, many things can happen to cause an increase in stress levels. In a person who is already stressed, any one of the stressors may cause an already overloaded person to be pushed beyond their breaking point. This puts at risk everyone in their path for physical and verbal abuse. Susan Fuhr had the stressors of a young child, as well as caring for her mother-in-law to deal with before the storm. While a recommendation to go to the shelter would have provided her with food, shelter and water, sometimes the stress of being away from your home, especially when caring for others is more difficult to deal with.Assuring that the family had the essentials that they needed and that follow-up was arranged was imperative in this situation. In a disaster, many people are afraid that they will be a burden to others if they ask for help. In the cas e of Mr. Westlund, the chemical spill and cleanup without being educated about the proper ways to do this could be detrimental to Mr. Westlund’s health. Putting him in touch with the appropriate resources, such as the hazmat team, was imperative to assuring that the chemical spill was cleaned up properly, both for Mr. Westlund and the community. Assisting the Community in Coping The community health nurse provided education to each of these families appropriate to their situations.She acted as a coordinator and advocate to put them in touch with the appropriate resources as well as a collaborator, by listening and respecting their needs and wishes. Using these techniques helps to calm the fears of the residents of the community by helping them feel more prepared through education, know that there needs and wishes are important and will be respected by those providing help to them, and by acting as an advocate, they are reassured that someone cares about their situation and wa nts to help them in this time of need. Disaster Nursing-How Can I Help As a nurse in the community, whether working in the public health realm or another sector, it is our instinct to go where they need is.One of the first things that you can do to help in the situation of the disaster is to be preregistered with an organization that is known to provide first responder assistance such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or local disaster teams. Even though the areas we are needed are rarely the areas of our expertise, extra bodies and extra hands are always welcome in a disaster. For those that work in areas such as hospitals, emergency rooms, and urgent care centers, checking in with your employer to see where help is needed is always appropriate. As a nurse, I worked through Hurricane Ike in September 2008 as it hit the Texas coastline and wreaked havoc on the city of Houston and surrounding communities. Even though I was in management at the time, I worked 58 hours straight through the hurricane coordinating nursing staff, caring for patients, and doing whatever needed done.This meant that, along with normal nursing duties, I made sandwiches, I cleaned beds, I removed red bags with patient waste inside, I assisted in putting out small fires, and I coordinated a move of the nursery when water started leaking through the ceiling. None of these was my regular duty, however, they were things that needed done at that moment. I believe the biggest service in any disaster for nursing personnel is to first be prepared for the disasters that can happen in your area; have a plan for your own family that can include being separated from them; know how you will get to the area you could be working in should a disaster occur in; and once you’re  there, be willing to do what needs to be done, even if it’s outside your comfort zone.Being a nurse during a disaster can be stressful and exciting all at the same time. It will make you think outside the box to so lve situations in new and different ways. Critical thinking and problem solving are taken to a whole new level during a disaster. Nursing of this type will boost confidence and test endurance as the nurse often works with little sleep, little food, and stress surrounding her. I will also say that nursing during a disaster is some of the most rewarding nursing I have ever done, and as crazy as it will sound to the rest of the world, nurses will always run in as everyone else runs out. It’s just who we are Disaster Planning: Public Health Role After working through the project â€Å"Disaster in Franklin County,† I will admit that I have a new appreciation for the role of the public health nurse in the event of an emergency. The simulation helped me to understand the important role that the public health team. The plays in assisting the community during a disaster. Role of the Major Public Health Personnel Each of the major public health personnel, including the public health nurse, play a key role in keeping a disaster organized flowing smoothly.The key roles are the medical health director, agency incident commander, public information officer, liaison officer, operations chief, planning chief, logistics chief, finance and administration chief, and public health nurse. With the exception of the public health nurse, the positions are often filled by people who may not be specifically trained for the roles, however, have a general overview of what the specific role requires.Agency Incident Commander – The agen cy incident commander is responsible for making the assignments of each of the other roles. She/he will have a familiarity with the specific skill sets of each person who is eligible for a role and be able to use these skill sets appropriately with in each role to obtain the highest amount of effectiveness. The incident commander will have a broad overview of what the different areas are working on, and know how each role will work to benefit other roles within the big picture.The AIC oversees the development of the incident mission and key goals, and from this comes the development of an Incident Action Plan (IAP). The AIC is responsible for ensuring that the public health agency incident mission and goals are synchronous with those of the other responding agencies and jurisdictions. The person in this position will have natural leadership qualities such as reliable critical thinking and problem solving skills, ability to make a quick decision, flexibility, adaptability, and a broa d understanding of the area affected.Public Information Officer – The public information officer is the communication coordinator or spokesperson. This individual is responsible for assuring that appropriate information is provided to the public, governmental officials and collaborating agencies. The Public Information Officer also assures that the required information is provided to the public health agency staff, so that the message of the agency is consistent, and in synchrony with other agencies.This person needs to be proficient in gathering the correct data for the situation, organizing facts, preparing appropriate releases for the press and the public, should have good communication skills, the ability to think quickly before responding, and have a good working knowledge of correct policy and procedure, standards, and laws in the public health realm. Liaison Officer – The liaison officer interfaces with and coordinates all activities with external agencies.The L iaison Officer assures that external agencies that are working with the department of health are provided with the resources that are required, as well as assure that agency policies, procedures and sovereignty are respected. She will be a point of contact for other agency representatives, and will coordinate assistance from other agencies such as hospitals, counties, EMS and federal emergency management.She will be responsible for creating and maintaining a list of cooperating agencies, their representatives, and point of contacts, and keeping other agencies aware of the public health status within the given situation. The liaison officer will have a functional working relationship with other agencies and have good communication and organizational skills. Operations Chief – The Operations Chief carries out the specific tasks and objectives that the public health agency needs to do in order to accomplish the goals of the incident.In this section, the Incident Action Plan is a ctually executed. This person will have a working knowledge of what needs to be done, how to get it done, and who to send to complete the task. He will also identify additional issues and resources needed and make those requests to the appropriate people. Examples of Operations activities include distribution of vaccines, water or soil sampling, delivery of risk communication messages to the public and case investigation, to name a few.The skill set appropriate for this person is someone with leadership qualities such as critical thinking, direct communication, and the ability to multitask. Planning Chief – The planning chief position is used to organize data, make projections and forecasts about the event and report the information to the AIC. Where required, this person may engage in intelligence activities – which for public health may be gathering, analyzing and sharing incident information (some of which may be sensitive) with other agencies.Examples of intelligen ce activities may include analysis and projections regarding  epidemiological data about a bioterrorist event, risk assessments based on information reported by law enforcement or determination of toxic contamination levels in an environmental incident is responsible for knowing the status of all resources available during a disaster both personnel and equipment. They will know how to obtain these resources, be able to determine current situation and status of the event, making a plan to provide the community with the things that are needed during a disaster, and have contingency plans in case the initial plans are unable to be carried out.This person will have strong contacts throughout the community, a working knowledge of resources available and strong planning skills. Logistics Chief – The Logistics Chief provides the support to all other sections that have been activated in the public health agency so that the work can be accomplished. Logistics acquires and sets up th e things that are needed for Operations to get the job done. A logistics chief will have excellent organizational skills and good ties with the community.Finance and Administration Chief – The finance and administration chief has an essential role including assuring that a contractual and financial process is in place for emergency procurement of supplies, equipment, space and personnel; interpretation of human resource policies; tracking of fiscal resources that are expended during the response (so that costs can be recovered by the agency during the recovery phase of the event) and in some cases, assurance of availability of resources to address the physiological and psychological needs of the paid and volunteer agency personnel who are engaged in the response.Diligent work done by the Finance / Administration Chief during an emergency can serve to prevent a financial or human resource disaster after the event. This person will have a skill set and background in finance or bookkeeping. Public Health Nurse – The public health nurse’s role in a disaster is to assess medical health and safety needs of the community and implement interventions as soon as safely possible after the event.This may include assessing individual needs of community members for things such as appropriate shelter, medications, basic provisions, such as food and water, and assessing for overall coping and stress management skills within a household. As these needs are assessed the public health nurse may refer to other agencies for resources in assisting these community members. The public health nurse will also be involved in vaccine delivery as appropriate and treating basic emergencies as needed.Chain of Command for the Community Health NurseIn the simulation â€Å"Disaster in Franklin County,† the chain of command for the community health nurse began with reporting to the agency incident commander who reported to the public health director, who reported to the medical health director, who then reported to the operations chief for the county incident command system, who reported to the emergency operation center commander. This clear-cut chain of command makes it easy to get information up the chain to the appropriate people without the public health nurse having to relay information to multiple people.Available ResourcesResources available to the community health nurse to deal with situations outside her scope of practice included environmental health specialists to assist with inspections of restaurants available to reopen and inspections of housing before people returned home and help educate the public regarding the use of generators; law enforcement to assist with volatile situations, security and safety needs; hazmat and fire crews to assure safety of homes and businesses, and assist with cleanup efforts; public works to assure water safety, electrical safety, and assess for gas leaks are just a few of the resources available to the public health nurse to assure that the community is safe throughout the event and healthy upon returning to their homes.Actions Taken During the Door-to-Door Interviews During the door-to-door interviews in the simulation, the community health nurse encountered Mr. Fugate, who did not have his blood pressure medications. This had the potential to be an emergency, had Mr. Fugate’s blood pressure been high, or had he been symptomatic. The simulation stated that Mr. Fugate could have stayed at home or gone to the shelter, according to the community health nurse.In this situation, even though his blood pressure came back at a reasonable reading at the moment, I believe Mr. Fugate would be best served at the shelter where his blood pressure and his general safety could be monitored until events after the storm could be better stabilized. Should Mr. Fugate, choose to stay at home, there is a risk that his blood pressure would spike to a much higher level at a time when he is al one, and unable to receive appropriate medical treatment in a timely fashion. This also increases his risk for issues such as stroke and falls. While we must respect the wishes of the patient, as nurses, we also can make strong recommendations to our patients using basic health facts and logic that will sometimes change their decisions.In the case of Mrs. Alvarez, who spoke Spanish only, the enclosed generator had the potential to be lethal to Mrs. Alvarez and her son. The immediate education regarding the ventilation of the generator was necessary to prevent a buildup of deadly gases. Had there not been anyone at the Alvarez his residence who spoke English, not having access to a translator could have been detrimental to their health as they would not have been a way to discuss the risks with Mrs. Alvarez. Having a plan in place for access to a translator in a time of the disaster is very important as education, such as this, may be necessary on the spot, as opposed to at a later t ime.In the case of Susan Fuhr, my main concern would have been a lack of coping skills and an immediate danger to herself and her child. In a disaster, many things can happen to cause an increase in stress levels. In a person who is already stressed, any one of the stressors may cause an already overloaded person to be pushed beyond their breaking point. This puts at risk everyone in their path for physical and verbal abuse. Susan Fuhr had the stressors of a young child, as well as caring for her mother-in-law to deal with before the storm. While a recommendation to go to the shelter would have provided her with food, shelter and water, sometimes the stress of being away from your home, especially when caring for others is more difficult to deal with.Assuring that the family had the essentials that they needed and that follow-up was arranged was imperative in this situation. In a disaster, many people are afraid that they will be a burden to others if they ask for help. In the case of Mr. Westlund, the chemical spill and cleanup without being educated about the proper ways to do this could be detrimental to Mr. Westlund’s health. Putting him in touch with the appropriate resources, such as the hazmat team, was imperative to assuring that the chemical spill was cleaned up properly, both for Mr. Westlund and the community. Assisting the Community in Coping The community health nurse provided education to each of these families appropriate to their situations.She acted as a coordinator and advocate to put them in touch with the appropriate resources as well as a collaborator, by listening and respecting their needs and wishes. Using these techniques helps to calm the fears of the residents of the community by helping them feel more prepared through education, know that there needs and wishes are important and will be respected by those providing help to them, and by acting as an advocate, they are reassured that someone cares about their situation and want s to help them in this time of need. Disaster Nursing-How Can I Help As a nurse in the community, whether working in the public health realm or another sector, it is our instinct to go where they need is.One of the first things that you can do to help in the situation of the disaster is to be preregistered with an organization that is known to provide first responder assistance such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or local disaster teams. Even though the areas we are needed are rarely the areas of our expertise, extra bodies and extra hands are always welcome in a disaster. For those that work in areas such as hospitals, emergency rooms, and urgent care centers, checking in with your employer to see where help is needed is always appropriate. As a nurse, I worked through Hurricane Ike in September 2008 as it hit the Texas coastline and wreaked havoc on the city of Houston and surrounding communities. Even though I was in management at the time, I worked 58 hours straight through t he hurricane coordinating nursing staff, caring for patients, and doing whatever needed done.This meant that, along with normal nursing duties, I made sandwiches, I cleaned beds, I removed red bags with patient waste inside, I assisted in putting out small fires, and I coordinated a move of the nursery when water started leaking through the ceiling. None of these was my regular duty, however, they were things that needed done at that moment. I believe the biggest service in any disaster for nursing personnel is to first be prepared for the disasters that can happen in your area; have a plan for your own family that can include being separated from them; know how you will get to the area you could be working in should a disaster occur in; and once you’rethere, be willing to do what needs to be done, even if it’s outside your comfort zone. Being a nurse during a disaster can be stressful and exciting all at the same time. It will make you think outside the box to solve s ituations in new and different ways. Critical thinking and problem solving are taken to a whole new level during a disaster. Nursing of this type will boost confidence and test endurance as the nurse often works with little sleep, little food, and stress surrounding her. I will also say that nursing during a disaster is some of the most rewarding nursing I have ever done, and as crazy as it will sound to the rest of the world, nurses will always run in as everyone else runs out. It’s just who we are.

Development Of Workable Plans Help Individuals Maintain...

Introduction This paper will discuss the influence of research study findings on the development of workable plans to help individuals maintain the healthy lifestyle and increase life expectancy. The data collected from these three studies was analyzed and showed how the environment impacts a person s overall health and wellbeing and how that can affect a person’s longevity. The application of the findings was used to make suggestions to improve environments like inner cities, by incorporating more green spaces, or health initiatives recommending greater awareness about positive lifestyle choices. Summary Today, with the aging population and lack of funds, society is looking for ways to keep elderly persons healthy and productive into there eighties, if not longer. The Duke study on Aging aimed to identify predictors of longevity. A follow-up study was done in 1981. When the data was analyzed they found that there were a variety of predictors of longevity like; physical function, non-smoking, alcohol and tobacco abuse to life satisfaction and health. This research has influenced the use of physical interventions like decreased smoking, drinking and increased exercise, which helps improve the health of older people. The methodology was clearly identified. The researchers used the observational research method and the participants went through a series of physical, social and laboratory tests. The study was initiated between 1955 and 1959 and followed 270 volunteers fromShow MoreRelatedI Am A University At Grove City High School5627 Words   |  23 Pagesboy while on vacation who is a DMD patient. Thesis (Part II (A-B)) New parents often bask in the enjoyment of their young children as they lovingly watch the days pass as their life story is written. Though a great amount of parents are lucky enough to avoid an encounter with illness threatening to steal their child’s life, many can only hope that their child will not be the single male child of every 3,500 to be afflicted by DMD (Peterlin , 2014). Too many boys—somewhere between 400 and 600 annually—willRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagesto self-assessment, to a wealth of interactive visual and audio resources, WileyPLUS gives you everything you need to personalize the teaching and learning experience.  » F i n d o u t h ow t o M A K E I T YO U R S  » www.wileyplus.com ALL THE HELP, RESOURCES, AND PERSONAL SUPPORT YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS NEED! 2-Minute Tutorials and all of the resources you your students need to get started www.wileyplus.com/firstday Student support from an experienced student user Ask your local representativeRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pagesmymanagementlab is an online assessment and preparation solution for courses in Principles of Management, Human Resources, Strategy, and Organizational Behavior that helps you actively study and prepare material for class. Chapter-by-chapter activities, including built-in pretests and posttests, focus on what you need to learn and to review in order to succeed. Visit www.mymanagementlab.com to learn more. DEVELOPING MANAGEMENT SKILLS EIGHTH EDITION David A. Whetten BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Read MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 10: 0-13-283487-1 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-283487-2 Brief Contents Preface xxii 1 2 Introduction 1 What Is Organizational Behavior? 3 The Individual 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Diversity in Organizations 39 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 69 Emotions and Moods 97 Personality and Values 131 Perception and Individual Decision Making 165 Motivation Concepts 201 Motivation: From Concepts to Applications 239 3 The Group 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Foundations of Group Behavior 271 UnderstandingRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pagesstrengths and weaknesses Evaluating competitive relationships and analysing how organizations compete Identifying competitors’ objectives Identifying competitors’ likely response profiles Competitor analysis and the development of strategy The competitive intelligence system The development of a competitive stance: the potential for ethical conflict Summary CONTENTS vii Stage Two: Where do we want to be? Strategic direction and strategic formulation 7 Missions and objectives 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4Read MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesChange 2. Images of Managing Change 121 121 147 147 Text 3. Why Organizations Change Text Cohen †¢ Effective Behavior in Organizations, Seventh Edition 14. Initiating Change 174 174 Text iii Cases 221 221 225 The Consolidated Life Case: Caught Between Corporate Cultures Who’s in Charge? (The)(Jim)(Davis)(Case) Morin−Jarrell †¢ Driving Shareholder Value I. Valuation 229 229 253 279 1. The Value−Based Management Framework: An Overview 2. Why Value Value? 4. The Value Manager