Citation

Costanzo S. Disaster Prev. Manage. 1992; 1(1): online.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Emerald Group Publishing)

DOI

10.1108/09653569210011129

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Public health authorities have a crucial role to play in disaster prevention. They must identify the source of danger and ensure that it is kept at a level of simple risk bringing into play every preventive measure to guarantee a minimum level of safety. Outlines the importance of impact studies – the potential catastrophic agent is identified and examined with an eye to its reliability and “intrinsic safety”. A second instrument available to public health authorities is vulnerability analysis, namely the relationship between the environment and the population. Stresses the role of education as a “social” intervention in encouraging knowledge and the adoption of a behaviour which will diminish the hazard factors and increase the protection factors.