Open AccessDisaster management: lessons from immediate responses to the tsunami
Author(s) -
Diyanath Samarasinghe
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
ceylon medical journal/the ceylon medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2386-1274
pISSN - 0009-0875
DOI - 10.4038/cmj.v50i1.1587
Subject(s) - ceylon , medicine , medical journal , sri lanka , relevance (law) , public health , disaster medicine , library science , family medicine , poison control , suicide prevention , environmental health , law , nursing , political science , socioeconomics , sociology , computer science , tanzania , programming language
There are many lessons learnt from the immediate reactions of people in the aftermath of the vast destruction from the giant waves that hit Sri Lanka. Reactions of victims fell between extremes of resilience and helplessness. Responses of those not directly harmed illustrated the two extremes--selflessness and depravity. These responses offer insight into how we live and how we react to situations, and also to an extent how we should be reacting. Among these is that helpers should respect and involve, from the inception, the resources within the group or community affected by the disaster. Control of the relief effort to the maximum feasible extent, should be in the hands of those at whom it is directed.