Complications with hot, cold and altitude environments in disaster management

Disaster management is the process of preparing, responding and recovering to an emergency whether that be natural or man-made. It is a time-consuming, resource-heavy process with the aim of reducing the risk of certain events and, where not possible, reducing the impact of said disaster, ensuring that the risks have been identified and appropriate rescue and recovery plan is in place.

We carried out a thorough literature search on the complications of hot, cold and altitude environments in disaster management and distilled the learnings into this article.

The incidence of disasters of natural, man-made and complex origin is likely to continue increasing as global temperatures continue to rise.

Disaster management in the extreme environments of hot, cold and high altitude is fraught with unique challenges, especially around the physiological response of rescuers, resource constraints and logistics. Recognising these challenges is an important aspect of planning and preparation for disaster management in these environments.