Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Relief

Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Relief

Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Relief Second Edition By S. William A. Gunn MD, MS, FRCSC, FRCSI (Hon), DSc (Hon), Dr h c President, International Association for Humanitarian Medicine President, International Federation of Surgical Colleges President Emeritus, World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine Consultant to the United Nations Formerly Head of Emergency Humanitarian Operations World Health Organization Foreword by the Director-General Emeritus, World Health Organization

S. William A. Gunn International Association for Humanitarian Medicine La Panetière Bogis-Bossey Switzerland swagunn@bluewin.ch ISBN 978-1-4614-4444-2 ISBN 978-1-4614-4445-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-4445-9 Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012941618 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, speci fi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on micro fi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied speci fi cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speci fi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

This book is dedicated to William H. Barton, OC, LLD Canada s Ambassador to the United Nations, distinguished diplomat, humanist and, above all, friend and to all those who suffer from disasters and those who bring relief in disasters

Foreword If the Tower of Babel was a language disaster, disasters and humanitarian relief have their own language. Whether act of nature, act of man or folly of mankind, disasters are increasing alarmingly in frequency and magnitude, requiring an ever-growing complicated response from governments, organizations, specialists and humanitarian workers worldwide. Such major interventions are most often multidisciplinary, multilingual and of varied degrees of expertise, resulting in complications and unequal ef fi ciency, with errors of communication, cooperation and action. In what is usually a dif fi cult multisectoral fi eld operation, the doctor must understand the engineer, the meteorologist must converse with the journalist, the nurse with the administrator, the ambulance man with the anaesthetist, the priest with the family, the WHO representative with the government and the coordinator with many NGOs from different cultures and countries. If such understanding is essential on the terrain, it is equally necessary away from the heat of action, at administrative tables, UN boardrooms, ministries, planning sessions, training courses, medical schools and philanthropic organizations, whence the need for a tool of common understanding, an essential standardized terminology as here presented. I have known William Gunn over several decades and have particularly appreciated his productive work at the World Health Organization, where he was for many years head of Emergency Humanitarian Operations. Internationally acknowledged as a pioneer and innovator in disaster management, it may come as a surprise to many that he was also the Organization s chief of scienti fi c terminology surely an exceptional combination that has assured this remarkable book of special terminology, its authority and indispensable position. Indeed, its worth has been tested in numerous emergency interventions, operational tasks, organizational missions and editorial brie fi ngs within WHO, the UN, the Red Cross and many other national and international organizations since 1990, and this new expanded edition comes as a timely essential aid against the growing threats of inhuman violence and destructive disasters. Director-General Emeritus World Health Organization, Geneva Halfdan Mahler, M.D. vii

History of this Book Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Relief Second Edition Springer Science, New York, 2013 Multilingual Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and International Relief English, French, Spanish, Arabic Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London, 1990 (Reprinted five times) German edition: Wörterbuch der Katastrophenmedizin und der Internazionalen Hilfe (with B. Domres, E. R. Steiner) Stumpf and Kossendey, Edewecht, 1996 Japanese edition: Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and International Relief (with M. Aono, T. Ukai, Y. Yamamoto) Herusu Publishers, Tokyo, 1992 Civil Protection Multilingual Lexicon (Commission of European Communities) Eurodicautom Electronic Database, Brussels, 1991 Dictionnaire des Secours d Urgence en cas de Catastrophe (with C. Murcia, F. Parakatil) CILF, Paris, 1984 Vocabulaire de l Environnement (with J. A. Ternisien, M. R. Amavis, et al.) Hachette, Paris, 1976 ix

About the Author S. Wlliam A. Gunn, MD, MS, FRCSC, FRCSI (Hon), DSc (Hon), Dr.h.c., is a Canadian surgeon and senior international health scientist involved in emergency disaster management and humanitarian medicine. For many years he was director of the Emergency Humanitarian Operations of the World Health Organization, where he conducted numerous field missions, advised governments, the United Nations and the European Commission, organized high-level national programmes, lectured at universities and led training courses for disaster managers and humanitarian organizations, services that have been recognized by Honorary Doctorates and other high distinctions. Member of many surgical, emergency and humanitarian institutions, Dr. Gunn was a founder, now President Emeritus, of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine, founder of the WHO Medical Society and the International Association for Humanitarian Medicine, and life member of the Société Académique. He has been associated with many international bodies in a variety of senior capacities, inter alia as scientific coordinator of the European Centre for Disaster Medicine (Cross and ribbon of St. Agatha), honorary chair of the Asia-Pacific Conferences on Disaster Medicine, programme director of the International Civil Defence Organization, science terminologist to the Conseil International de la Langue Française, president of the International Federation of Surgical Colleges, foreign affairs advisor to the Red Cross Federation, consultant to the United Nations and medico-surgical expert to the Chair of the UN Fund for Torture Victims. Teacher and prolific writer, Professor Gunn is editor of several disaster and humanitarian journals and author of nineteen books. He has also been chief of WHO s scientific terminology, which further explains the high standard-setting lexicographic authority of his many specialized Dictionaries. xi

Introductory Note This book is divided into two parts: Part I : Dictionary, and Part II : Acronyms and Abbreviations. The Dictionary constitutes the main body of the work, each entry being de fi ned in detail, with synonyms and cross-references to other relevant terms. Part II de fi nes an extensive list of acronyms and abbreviations that are commonly used in disaster medicine and international humanitarian relief. The following abbreviations are used in the text: Cf. compare with or see the term mentioned Sn: this term has a synonym, which is also defined Sm: symbol e.g. for example * this abbreviation is further defined in Part I xiii