Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T17:14:53.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Population Evacuations in Industrial Accidents: A Review of the Literature about Four Major Events

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2017

Yechiel Soffer ,
Dagan Schwartz ,
Avishay Goldberg ,
Maxim Henenfeld  and
Yaron Bar-Dayan
Yechiel Soffer
Affiliation:
Home Front Command, Israel
Dagan Schwartz
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Avishay Goldberg
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Maxim Henenfeld
Affiliation:
Home Front Command, Israel
Yaron Bar-Dayan*
Affiliation:
Home Front Command, Israel Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
*
Col. Dr. Y. Bar-Dayan MD MHA, Chief Medical Officer (ret), IDF Home Front Command, 16 Dolev St. Neve Savion, Or-Yehuda, Israel, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article reviews the literature describing four chemical and nuclear accidents and the lessons learned from each regarding the evacuation of civilian populations. Evacuation may save lives however, if poorly orchestrated, it may cause serious problems. For example, an inaccurate assessment of danger may lead to the evacuation of the same population twice, as the area requiring evacuation becomes larger than originally expected. Evacuation programs should focus on the vulnerable components of the populations, such as the elderly, children, and the disabled, and also should include plans for the care of pets and other animals. Training programs for civilians living near industrial centers and other high-risk areas should be considered. Finally, pre-event planning and preparation can improve the evacuation process and prevent panic behavior, and thus result in fewer casualties.

Keywords

civilian populationsevacuationsindustrial accidentsmajor events
Type
Comprehensive Review
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , June 2008 , pp. 276 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Mitchell, JK (ed.): The Long Road to Recovery: Community Responses to Industrial Disaster. Tokyo-New York-Paris: United Nations University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
2. Zelinsky, W, Kosinski, LA: The Emergency Evacuation of Cities. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc, 1991.Google Scholar
3. Lagadec, P: Major Technological Risk: An Assessment of Industrial Disasters. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1982.Google Scholar
4. Burton, I, Victor, P, White, A, et al. : The Mississauga Evacuation. Final Report to the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General. Toronto: University of Toronto, Institute of Environmental Studies, 1981.Google Scholar
5. Liverman, D, Wilson, J: The Mississauga train derailment and evacuation, 10–16 November, 1979. Canadian Geographer 1981;25:75–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Bogard, WP: The Bhopal Tragedy: Language, Logic, and Politics in the Production of a Hazard. Boulder: Westview Press, 1989.Google Scholar
7. de Grazia, A: A Cloud Over Bhopal: Causes, Consequences and Constructiv Solutions. Bombay: Kalos Foundation, 1985 Google Scholar
8. Morehouse, W, Subramaniam, A: The Bhopal Tragedy. New York: Council on International and Public Affairs, 1986.Google Scholar
9. Shrivastava, P: Bhopal, : Anatomy of a Crisis. 2nd ed. London: Paul Chapman, 1992.Google Scholar
10. Shrivastava, P. Crisis theory/practice: Towards sustainable development. Industrial and Environmental Crisis Quarterly 1993;7:23–42.Google Scholar
11. Prasad, R, Pandey, RK: Methyl isocyanate (MIC) hazard to the vegetation in Bhopal. Journal of Tropical Forestry 1985;1:40–50.Google Scholar
12. Bowonder, B, Kasperson, JX, Kasperson, R: Avoiding future Bhopals. Environment 1985;27: 6–13, 31–37.Google Scholar
13. Jasanoff, S (ed.): Learning from Disaster: Risk Management after Bhopal. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.Google Scholar
14. Diamond, S: “The Bhopal disaster: How it happened,” New York Times 28 January 1985.Google Scholar
15. Shelton, RE: Emergencies and rationality: The case of TMI. Mass Emergencies and Disasters 1984;2:41–60.Google Scholar
16. Uranium Information Centre: Three Mile Island: 1979—Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 48. March 2001. Available at http://www.uic.com.au. Accessed 10 April 2007.Google Scholar
17. Ziegler, DJ, Stanley, D, Brunn, , et al. : Evacuation from a nuclear technological disaster. Geographical Review 1981;71:1–16.Google Scholar
18. Flynn, Bullock C: Three Mile Island Telephone Survey: Preliminary Report on Procedures and Findings. Washington, DC: US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 1979.Google Scholar
19. Dynes, Russell R: The Accident at Three Mile Island: Report of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Task Force. Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President, 1979.Google Scholar
20. Mitchell, JK, Barnes, K: Human Responses by Impacted Populations to the Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactor Accident: An Initial Assessment Discussion Paper No. 13, Graduate Program in Geography, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1979.Google Scholar
21. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation: The Chernobyl Accident. Available at http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html. Accessed 10 April 2007.Google Scholar
22. Uranium Information Centre: Chernobyl Accident—Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 22, May 2007. Available at http://www.uic.com.au. Accessed 10 April 2007.Google Scholar
23. Thornton, J: Chernobyl and Soviet energy. Problems of Communism 1986;35:1–16.Google Scholar
24. Hamman, H, Parrott, S: Mayday at Chernobyl: One Year On, the Fact Revealed. UK: New English Library, 1987.Google Scholar
25. Shabad, T: Geographic aspects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Soviet Geography 1986;27.Google Scholar
26. Marples, DR: The Chernobyl disasters Its effect on Belarus and Ukraine, 1988. Available at http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu21le/uu21le0h.htm. Accessed 10 April 2007.Google Scholar
27. Chernobyl Children's Project International. Available at http://www.chernobyl-international.com. Accessed 10 April 2007.Google Scholar