Biological emergency: examples. Classification of emergencies

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

Definition

In the formation of emergency situations of this type in a particular area, human life, the existence of domestic animals and agricultural plants are seriously endangered, habitual conditions of life and work are violated.

The sources of the emergence of biological emergencies are usually various kinds of infectious diseases. If there is insufficient control over the spread of the virus or slowness in taking measures for elimination, the zone of infection will increase steadily, which means that more and more living organisms will become infected.

History

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

In Russia, the Ministry of Sanitary Control, medical institutions and the Ministry of Emergency Situations are engaged in detection, prevention and liquidation of biological emergencies.

Types of emergency situations. Technogenic emergency

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

1. Technogenic.
2. Ecological.
3. The natural.

Emergencies of a technogenic nature, that is, occurred at industrial, energy and other facilities. Its main feature is an accident.

Most often, a catastrophe is caused by a human factor or by the misuse of production equipment:

• Car accidents, the crash of airplanes, trains, water transport;
• Fires in residential buildings and industrial facilities;
• Accidents with the threat of release of chemical and radioactive substances;
• Collapse of buildings;
• Breaks, breakages in power systems;
• Accidents at public facilities responsible for human livelihood (breakdown of sewerage, water supply, heat cut-off, failures in gas supply);
• Breakthrough dams.

All man-made disasters occur because of insufficient control or negligent attitude to work or safety requirements of an industrial facility or system.

ES of ecological character

For thousands of years, mankind has been trying to tame the entire surrounding world, to place nature in the service of its needs, which often has a destructive effect on all life on the planet. Emergencies of an ecological type are associated with serious and often irreversible changes in the environment:

• Dehumidification of territories, excess of pollution standards;
• A change in the composition of the air environment: unusual weather changes, excessive content of impurities in the atmosphere, urban smog, excess noise standards, "ozone holes";
• Problems associated with the pollution of the hydrosphere, that is, the water composition of the earth: the unsuitability of drinking sources, drainage, desert distribution, waste disposal at sea.

A few dozen years ago, these problems were practically not dealt with, but now, after the Chernobyl disaster, the shallowing of the Sea of Azov and the perceptible differences in seasonal temperatures, the states of the whole world are interested in preventing and preventing emergencies. A large amount of funds are allocated annually for this purpose in Russia.

Natural Emergencies

Natural ES are caused not so much by the consequences of human activities as by natural phenomena. Although in some cases, humanity indirectly 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.
• 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, head or ice break, etc.
• Hydrological phenomena: raising the water level, congestion.
• Natural fires.

Emergencies of a biological nature are also natural in origin, as they are caused by infectious diseases that spread to humans, animals and agricultural plants. For this category, the following definitions apply: the origin, the infection zone, the living pathogens, the epidemic, epizootic and epiphytotic process.

Causes

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

1. For humans, animals and plants, viral infections are most harmful. In recent decades, the spread of influenza has spread in various forms, with each year the viruses mutate and adapt to any form of drugs. In addition, this includes hepatitis, chicken pox, and among the ailments of animals - foot and mouth disease.
2. The next cause of biological species is bacterial infections (meningococcal, intestinal, dysentery). The development of medicine in recent decades has led to a decrease in the level of infection by pathogens of this type. Due to the creation of antibiotics, the promotion of preventive measures and hygiene, bacterial infections are no longer so terrible for mankind.

Elimination of the consequences of emergencies largely depends on the identification of the cause of the outbreak. Infectious infection is a process that takes place in a separate organism; Epidemic - when the infection passes from one organism to another.

Degree of distribution

Depending on the extent of destruction and the number of casualties, the ES can be classified as follows:

1. Emergency situations of local significance, when disasters or diseases do not spread beyond a small area, the number of victims is no more than ten people, and the material damage does not exceed one hundred thousand rubles.
2. Municipal - ES is located in the zone of a separate federal district or city, affected less than fifty people, and damage within five million rubles.
3. Intermunicipal, when the area of defeat already covers two neighboring objects, be it villages or districts of the city.
4. The regional value of the ES gets when the problem does not go beyond this area.
5. Interregional.
6. Federal, when the number of victims is more than five hundred people, and the distribution zone covers more than two regions.

The consequences of an ES of biological effects are usually eliminated by each region separately. In rare cases, when infectious diseases cover a large number of people, a state of emergency on a national scale can be declared.

Ways of distribution

• Intestinal infections. Can occur when eating contaminated food and water, using the same dishes.
• Respiratory tract infections. The cause of infection is direct communication with a sick person.
• Infection through external skin. Occurs because of the bites of insects, animals, rodents, mites, when wounded with fragments containing the causative agents of the virus.

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

Stages of development

Environmental, natural and man-made emergencies almost always go through the same scheme, which includes the following phases:

1. The stage of origin, the accumulation of deviations from the norm of a particular process, the emergence of conditions and prerequisites for the emergence of emergencies. Depending on the type of origin, this phase can last for minutes, hours, years and centuries. Examples: fire dangerous situation in the forest, weakening of immunity, insufficient control of the epidemiological situation in the region, etc.
2. Start of emergency. The stage at which the process is initiated. In technogenic catastrophes, this is most often a human factor, in biological - infection of the body.
3. The culmination, the very process of an extraordinary event. There is a maximum adverse effect on the population (for example, the spread of the influenza virus).
4. The fourth stage, the period of attenuation, when special services eliminate the consequences of emergencies, or they themselves go for objective reasons.

Liquidation begins at the third stage and, depending on the category of emergencies, can take months, years and even decades. Particularly difficult is the situation with biological emergencies. In some cases, it takes years to develop, test and implement the necessary drugs.

Elimination procedure

Emergencies of a biological nature are dangerous because infectious diseases spread very quickly and, failing to take timely measures, can cause great damage to human health, up to a lethal outcome. Therefore, a special program of action was developed to eliminate one of the three links in the spread of diseases:

1. Influence on the source of infection, its disinfection.
2. Finding and breaking the ways of transmission of the disease.
3. Development of methods for increasing the immunity of organisms to infectious diseases.

If properly carried out, these measures contribute to the localization of the source of infection, and then the emergency consequences are eliminated.

Possible outcomes

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

The cause of the emergency can be any. Domestic animals and agricultural plants are also susceptible to various infections and, in turn, can also be a source of infection. In the media, there is often information about swine or bird flu, which killed or killed a large number of animals, and the industry suffered significant damage.

Measures to prevent emergencies

Prevention of emergencies has its own specifics, much depends on the development of medical services in the country, the availability of government programs. In Russia, due to the harsh climate, there is a problem of the spread of the influenza virus, especially among children, every year.

The best way to prevent an epidemic or to make the disease cause minimal damage is active prophylaxis. If the measures taken did not help, you should follow the rules of behavior in emergency situations.

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

• Preventive measures. They are undertaken constantly, even in the absence of diseases. Recently, vaccination against influenza has been carried out in Russia, universal work with the population is carried out, doctors call upon patients to refrain from visiting events with a large number of people and observe personal hygiene rules.
• Anti-epidemiological actions conducted during a mass infection in an emergency in a given region.

State measures are mandatory for all organizations and structures, while each person is responsible for his own health.

Examples in Russia

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

In addition to the Ministry of Health, the liquidation of the consequences of a biological emergency in Russia deals with such a structure as Disaster Medicine. This organization not only monitors the morbidity in the country, controls the elimination of the consequences of mass infections, but also promotes the rules of behavior in emergencies among the population, predicts and develops new methods for combating biological problems.

At the moment, especially dangerous infectious diseases are plague, cholera, HIV, yellow fever, viral hepatitis A, dysentery, typhoid and flu.