Introduction — This topic includes links to guidelines related to health concerns following a disaster. We will update these guideline links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website.

The recommendations in the guidelines in this section may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Relevant UpToDate topic reviews, society guideline links topics, and patient education topics can be found below or by using the UpToDate search box. (See 'Related UpToDate topics' below.)

Guidelines

International

●World Health Organization (WHO): Environmental health

•Biological weapons

•Chemical incidents

•Deliberate events

•Earthquakes

•Floods

•Heatwaves

•Landslides

•Radiation emergencies

•Tropical cyclones

•Tsunamis

•Volcanic eruptions

•Wildfires

●Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

•[In Spanish] Technical guide for mental health in emergency and disaster situations (2016)

●Best practice guidelines on surgical response in disasters and humanitarian emergencies – Report of the Humanitarian Action Summit working group on surgical issues within the humanitarian space (2011)

Australia-New Zealand

●Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP): Managing emergencies in general practice – A guide for preparation, response and recovery (2017)

Canada

●Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP): Position paper on disaster preparedness

United States

●Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP): Vaccine guidelines and recommendations for emergency situations

●American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP): Disaster and trauma resources for clinicians

●American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

•Disaster relief/disaster preparedness

•Treating patients in or recently returned from hurricane-affected areas

●American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Children & disasters – Policy and publications

•Resources by topic

-Anthrax

-Biological terrorism and agents

-Blast terrorism and explosions

-Chemical terrorism and agents

-Decontamination

-Disaster phases

-Earthquakes

-Extreme temperatures – Heat and cold

-Family separation and reunification in disasters

-Feelings need checkups too

-Financial crisis

-Flash floods/flood recovery

-Hurricane preparedness

-Hurricane response and recovery

-Influenza/pandemics

•Resources by audience

●American Burn Association (ABA): Disaster response – Guidelines for care in austere conditions

●American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST): Care of the critically ill and injured during disasters and pandemics (2014)

●American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)

•Disaster guidance and planning documents

•Disaster medicine

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)

•Committee opinion on hospital disaster preparedness for obstetricians and facilities providing maternity care (2017, reaffirmed 2019)

•Committee opinion on preparing for disasters – Perspectives on women (2010, reaffirmed 2016)

●American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM): Practice resources on emergency preparedness and management center

●American College of Radiology (ACR): Disaster preparedness and response

●American College of Surgeons (ACS): Disaster response

●American Diabetes Association (ADA): Disaster relief

●American Thoracic Society (ATS): Disaster related resources

●American Trauma Society (ATS): Blast injury information

•Essential facts

•Prehospital care

•Blast lung injury – An overview for prehospital care providers

•Radiological diagnosis

•Crush injury and crush syndrome

•Post exposure prophylaxis for bloodborne pathogens

•Abdominal blast injuries

•Traumatic brain injuries

•Blast extremity injuries

•Ear blast injuries

•Eye blast injuries

•Thermal injuries

•Pediatrics

•Treatment of older adults

•Bombings and mental health

•Radiological dispersal devices and radiation injury

●Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

•Natural disasters and severe weather

•Explosions and blast injuries: A primer for clinicians

•Prevent illness and injury after a disaster

-Animals and insects

-Asthma

-Carbon monoxide poisoning after a disaster

-Chemicals

-Cleanup

-Diarrhea

-Disaster evacuation centers

-Emergency wound care

-Environmental concerns

-Explosions and blast injuries

-Food and water

-Hand hygiene

-Heat exposure

-Immunizations

-Infection control

-Infectious diseases

-Information for specific groups

-Mental health

-Mold

-Tetanus

-Trench foot or immersion foot

-Vibrio vulnificus and wounds

-Wound management for healthcare professionals

•Response and cleanup workers

-Emergency responders – Tips for taking care of yourself

-Hurricane season public health preparedness, response, and recovery guidance for health care providers, response and recovery workers, and affected communities (2017)

-Immunization recommendations for responders

-Response worker health and safety

●National Kidney Foundation (NKF): Emergency resources

●Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM): Disaster and emergency resources

●Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Preventing and Managing Stress – Tips for disaster responders (2014)

●Wilderness Medicine Society (WMS): Practice guidelines

Related UpToDate topics

Acinetobacter infection

● Acinetobacter infection: Epidemiology, microbiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, and diagnosis

● Acinetobacter infection: Treatment and prevention

Acute stress disorder

● Acute stress disorder in adults: Epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, course, and diagnosis

● Treatment of acute stress disorder in adults

● Society guideline links: Trauma-related psychiatric disorders in adults

● Patient education: Post-traumatic stress disorder (The Basics)

Anxiety

● Society guideline links: Anxiety and anxiety disorders in adults

● Society guideline links: Anxiety disorders and trauma-related and obsessive-compulsive-related disorders in children

Burns

● Assessment and classification of burn injury

● Overview of the management of the severely burned patient

● Topical agents and dressings for local burn wound care

● Treatment of deep burns

● Treatment of minor thermal burns

● Treatment of superficial burns requiring hospital admission

● Society guideline links: Care of the patient with burn injury

● Patient education: Electrical burns (The Basics)

Carbon monoxide poisoning

● Carbon monoxide poisoning

● Society guideline links: Treatment of acute poisoning caused by specific agents other than drugs of abuse

● Patient education: Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning (The Basics)

Cholera

● Cholera: Clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention

Compartment syndrome

● Acute compartment syndrome of the extremities

● Society guideline links: Extremity compartment syndrome

● Patient education: Acute compartment syndrome (The Basics)

Crush-related injury

● Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis

● Crush-related acute kidney injury

● Severe crush injury in adults

● Society guideline links: Acute kidney injury in adults

● Patient education: Acute kidney injury (The Basics)

● Patient education: Rhabdomyolysis (The Basics)

Depression

● Unipolar depression in adults: Assessment and diagnosis

● Unipolar depression in adults: Choosing treatment for resistant depression

● Unipolar major depression in adults: Choosing initial treatment

● Society guideline links: Depressive disorders

● Patient education: Depression (The Basics)

● Patient education: Medicines for depression (The Basics)

● Patient education: Depression in adults (Beyond the Basics)

● Patient education: Depression in children and adolescents (Beyond the Basics)

● Patient education: Depression treatment options for adults (Beyond the Basics)

● Patient education: Depression treatment options for children and adolescents (Beyond the Basics)

Diarrheal illness

● Approach to diarrhea in children in resource-rich countries

● Approach to the adult with acute diarrhea in resource-limited countries

● Approach to the adult with acute diarrhea in resource-rich settings

● Approach to the child with acute diarrhea in resource-limited countries

● Society guideline links: Acute diarrhea in adults

● Society guideline links: Acute diarrhea in children

● Patient education: Diarrhea in adolescents and adults (The Basics)

● Patient education: Diarrhea in children (The Basics)

● Patient education: Acute diarrhea in adults (Beyond the Basics)

● Patient education: Acute diarrhea in children (Beyond the Basics)

Drowning

● Drowning (submersion injuries)

Electrical injuries

● Environmental and weapon-related electrical injuries

Gynecologic problems

● Disaster settings: Care of gynecologic problems

Heat-related illness

● Exertional heat illness in adolescents and adults: Epidemiology, thermoregulation, risk factors, and diagnosis

● Exertional heat illness in adolescents and adults: Management and prevention

● Heat stroke in children

● Patient education: Heat stroke (The Basics)

Hepatitis

● Hepatitis A virus infection in adults: Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis

● Hepatitis A virus infection: Treatment and prevention

● Overview of hepatitis A virus infection in children

● Hepatitis E virus infection

● Patient education: Hepatitis A (The Basics)

Hypothermia

● Accidental hypothermia in adults

● Patient education: Hypothermia (The Basics)

Immersion injuries

● Nonfreezing cold water (trench foot) and warm water immersion injuries

Inhalational injury

● Inhalation injury from heat, smoke, or chemical irritants

Insects

● Society guideline links: Stinging insect allergy

Leptospirosis

● Leptospirosis: Epidemiology, microbiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis

● Leptospirosis: Treatment and prevention

● Patient education: Leptospirosis (The Basics)

Molds

● Assessment of mold in the indoor environment

● Mucormycosis (zygomycosis)

● Society guideline links: Mucormycosis

Occupational and environmental health

● Overview of occupational and environmental health

● Society guideline links: Management of environmental emergencies

Post-traumatic stress disorder

● Approach to treating posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents

● Pharmacotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in adults

● Pharmacotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents

● Posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, course, assessment, and diagnosis

● Posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: Epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, course, assessment, and diagnosis

● Psychosocial interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents

● Psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder in adults

Pregnancy

● Disaster settings: Care of pregnant patients

Severe extremity injuries

● Severe lower extremity injury in the adult patient

● Severe upper extremity injury in the adult patient

● Surgical management of severe lower extremity injury

● Surgical management of severe upper extremity injury

Soft tissue infections following water exposure

● Aeromonas infections

● Soft tissue infections following water exposure

● Vibrio vulnificus infections

● Society guideline links: Skin and soft tissue infections

Tetanus

● Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis immunization in children 6 weeks through 6 years of age

● Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis immunization in children 7 through 18 years of age

● Tetanus

● Tetanus-diphtheria toxoid vaccination in adults

● Society guideline links: Tetanus infection

● Patient education: Tetanus (The Basics)

Trauma

● Initial management of trauma in adults

● Trauma management: Approach to the unstable child

● Society guideline links: General issues of trauma management in adults

Vaccination

● Society guideline links: Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccination

● Society guideline links: Immunizations in adults

● Society guideline links: Immunizations in children and adolescents

● Society guideline links: Travel medicine

Wounds

● Closure of minor skin wounds with staples

● Skin laceration repair with sutures

● Minor wound evaluation and preparation for closure

● Society guideline links: Minor wound management

● Patient education: Stitches and staples (The Basics)

● Patient education: Taking care of cuts and scrapes (The Basics)