Myth 1: Disasters are truly exceptional events.
Reality: They are a normal part of daily life and in very many
cases are repetitive events.
Myth 2: Natural disasters are an inevitable result
of Mother Nature's fury.
Reality: The triggering phenomena are natural, and virtually
nothing can be done to stop earthquakes, floods or tropical storms, for
example. However, the disaster is
almost always the result of people and communities putting themselves at
risk—and there is nothing very natural or inevitable about that. We take risks
(for example, by living in seismic zones or floodable areas), either because we
see distinct advantages in doing so and we don't think the risks outweigh them,
or because we don't perceive any alternatives (perhaps we feel we can't afford
to live in a safer place).
Myth 3: Disasters cause a great deal of chaos and
cannot possibly be managed systematically.
Reality: There are excellent theoretical models of how disasters
function and how to manage them. After more than 75 years of research in the
field the general elements of disaster are extremely well known, and they tend
to repeat themselves from one disaster to the next.
Myth 4: Disasters kill people
without respect for social class or economic status.
Reality: The poor and marginalised are much more at risk of death
than are rich people or the middle classes.
Myth 5: Earthquakes are commonly
responsible for very high death tolls.
Reality: Collapsing buildings are responsible for the majority of
deaths in seismic disasters. Whereas it is not possible to stop earthquakes, it
is possible to construct anti-seismic
buildings and to organize human activities in such a way as to minimize the
risk of death. In addition, the majority of earthquakes do not cause high death
tolls.
Myth 6: Significant numbers of people survive for
many days when trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Reality: The vast majority of people brought out alive from the
rubble are saved within 24, or perhaps even 12, hours of the impact.
Myth 7: When disaster strikes panic is a common
reaction.
Reality: Most people behave rationally in disaster. While panic is
not to be ruled out entirely, it is of such limited importance that some
leading disaster sociologists regard it as insignificant or unlikely.
Myth 8: People will flee in large numbers from a
disaster area.
Reality: Usually there is a "convergence reaction" and
the area fills up with people. Few of the survivors will leave and even
obligatory evacuations will be short-lived.
Myth 9: After disaster has struck survivors tend to
be dazed and apathetic.
Reality: Survivors rapidly get to work on the clear-up. Activism is
much more common than fatalism (this is the so-called "therapeutic
community"). In the worst possible cases only 15-30 per cent of victims
show passive and dazed reactions.
Myth 10: After disaster people will not make rational
decisions and will therefore inevitably tend to do the wrong thing unless
authority guides them.
Reality: People make decisions on the basis of the information that
they are able to obtain and their ability to interpret it. Within this compass,
most decision-making can be judged rational.
Myth 11: Disasters usually give rise to widespread,
spontaneous manifestations of antisocial behaviour.
Reality: Generally, they are characterized by great social
solidarity, generosity and self-sacrifice.
Myth 12: Looting is a common and serious problem
after disasters.
Reality: The phenomenon of looting is rare and limited in scope. It
mainly occurs when there are strong preconditions (i.e. a disaster is hardly
necessary to start it off), as when a community is already deeply divided.
Myth 13: In disaster, people resort to violence to
protect their own interests.
Reality: The 'therapeutic community' is common: people have a
greater tendency to help each other than in normal times.
Myth 14: Martial law must be imposed after disaster
in order to stop society from breaking down altogether.
Reality: The imposition of martial law after disaster is extremely
rare and implies that normal mechanisms of government were never effective in
any way.
Myth 15: A strong military presence is required in
areas affected by disaster in order to discourage law-breakers.
Reality: Emergency response should have made a transition from a
military activity to a fully civilian one. As increases in lawlessness are
seldom a serious problem as a result of disaster, the police are usually able
to deal with public order problems without the need to call for military
assistance.
Myth 16: The mass media create an accurate picture of
the disasters on which they report.
Reality: There is a pervasive tendency for the media to exaggerate
and distort disaster-related information. Very rarely are journalists ever
expert on disasters and crises. Their lack of expertise is often easily
identifiable in the quality of their reporting. They must also provide the sort
of information which viewers, listeners or readers want to have, which may add
further bias to the content of their reports.
Myth 17: Unburied dead bodies constitute a health
hazard.
Reality: Not even advanced decomposition causes a significant
health hazard. Hasty burial demoralizes survivors and upsets arrangements for
death certification, funeral rites, and, where needed, autopsy.
Myth 18: Disease epidemics are an almost inevitable
result of the disruption and poor health caused by major disasters.
Reality: Generally, the level of epidemiological surveillance and
health care in the disaster area is sufficient to stop any possible disease
epidemic from occurring. However, the rate of diagnosis of diseases may
increase as a result of improved health care.
Myth 19: Great quantities and assortments of
medicines should be sent to disaster areas.
Reality: The only medicines that are needed are those used to treat
specific pathologies, have not reached their sell-by date, can be properly
conserved in the disaster area, and can be properly identified in terms of
their pharmacological constituents. Any other medicines are, not only useless,
but potentially dangerous.
Myth 20: Field hospitals are particularly useful for
treating people injured by sudden impact disasters.
Reality: Field hospitals are usually set up too late to treat the
injured and end up providing general medicine and continuity of care. As the
transport and operation of field hospitals tends to be expensive and
logistically challenging, in some cases it may be more efficient to attempt to
restore or augment existing hospitals in the area, even if they are
significantly damaged.
Myth 21: In the aftermath of disaster mass
vaccination is an excellent way of stopping the spread of diseases.
Reality: Whereas the carefully targeted vaccination of specific
groups (e.g. children, doctors and nurses) may be effective, indiscriminate
mass vaccination is wasteful, as records cannot be kept properly, follow-up
vaccination is difficult to administer and people move around too much for the
initiative to work properly.
Myth 22: Sanitary cordons should be
set up around disaster areas to stop the spread of disease.
Reality: Sanitary cordons rarely work. The movement of people and
goods are too complex and chaotic to be able to control the entrance to and
exit from the area in such a way as to disinfect people, which in any case may
be a misguided approach. In most cases sanitary cordons do nothing for health
but significantly inhibit relief efforts. The better alternative is to set up
an epidemiological observatory and practise specific measures exactly where
anomalous or dangerous conditions are identified.
Myth 23: Dead bodies, survivors, streets, rubble and
other things should be sprayed with disinfectant to stop the spread of disease.
Reality: This common and popular measure wastes large quantities of
disinfectant and does nothing whatsoever for public health.
Myth 24: There is usually a shortage of resources
when disaster occurs and this prevents them from being managed effectively.
Reality: The shortage, if it occurs, is almost always very
temporary. There is more of a problem in deploying resources well and using
them efficiently than in acquiring them. Often there is also a problem of
coping with a superabundance of certain types of resource.
Myth 25: In a disaster aftermath the prices of
essential goods always rise steeply.
Reality: Profiteering does occur in disaster aftermaths, but it is
far from being the norm. Black market surpluses of goods may drive prices down.
Myth 26: Any kind of aid and relief is useful after
disaster providing it is supplied quickly enough.
Reality: Hasty and ill-considered relief initiatives tend to create
chaos. Only certain types of technical assistance, goods and services will be
required. Not all useful resources that existed in the area before the disaster
will be destroyed. Donation of unusable materials or manpower consumes
resources of organization and accommodation that could more profitably be used
to reduce the toll of the disaster.
Myth 27: In order to manage a disaster well it is
necessary to accept all forms of aid that are offered.
Reality: It is much better to limit acceptance of donations to
goods and services that are actually needed in the disaster area.
Myth 28: One should donate used clothes to the survivors
of disasters.
Reality: This often leads to accumulations of huge quantities of
useless garments that victims cannot or will not wear.
Myth 29: Companies, corporations, associations and
governments are always very generous when invited to send aid and relief to
disaster areas.
Reality: They may be, but in the past disaster areas have been used
as dumping grounds for outdated medicines, obsolete equipment, and unsaleable
goods, all under the cloak of apparent generosity.
Myth 30: Technology will save the world from
disaster.
Reality: The problem of disasters is largely a social one. We
already have considerable technological resources, but they are poorly
distributed and often ineffectively used. In addition, technology is a
potential source of vulnerability as
well as a means of reducing it.
Myth 31: Tsunamis are tidal waves.
Reality: Tsunamis are seismic, volcanic or landslide-induced sea
waves with a completely different form and mode of propagation to bores or
other waves caused by tides. Their coastal impact may be slightly influenced by
tides, but not their causes.
Myth 32: Earthquake magnitude is measured on the
Richter scale.
Reality: 'Local magnitude' ML, Charles F. Richter's
scale, is inaccurate at high values and so has been replaced by body wave
magnitude, moment magnitude and other more robust scales.
Myth 33: There is such a thing as "earthquake
weather".
Reality: The popular credence that earthquakes occur when there is
close, muggy weather has no basis of fact. Numerous scientific studies have
sought to identify atmospheric conditions as earthquake precursors, but the
only substantial success has been achieved regarding the release of halogens
into the atmosphere, which causes light to be filtered and refracted.
Myth 34: The behaviour of animals can predict earthquakes.
Reality: Unusual behaviour
by all sorts of animals, from frogs and snakes to pigs and horses, does occur
before earthquakes, but despite numerous scientific studies, it is definitely
not a reliable way of knowing whether an earthquake is about to happen. Perhaps
we don't understand animal psychology well enough.
Myth 35: We are well organised to face a pandemic or
CBRN attack.
Reality: In most countries, including the richer and larger ones,
preparedness is at best patchy and at worst seriously lacking.
Myth 36: In a biological terrorism attack or pandemic
prophylaxis will be effective and efficient.
Reality: Stockpiles of antidotes and vaccines are insufficient, and
so are isolation wards, field response units, decontamination units, and
training for responders and physicians. It may also be difficult to achieve
timely identification of the pathogen or toxin involved.
Myth 37: CBRN decontamination is a solved problem.
Reality: Many questions remain about the protocols and procedures
for decontamination, including reagents and cleansers to be used, number of
people who could be decontaminated per unit time, and whether to remove all
clothes before being decontaminated.
Myth 38: The main effects of a CBRN attack or
pandemic would necessarily be medical.
Reality: Disruption of daily life could potentially have even
greater consequences (in logistical, social, psychological and monetary terms)
than the medical effects of the crisis.
Myth 39: In a CBRN attack or pandemic it will be easy
to avoid contamination of hospitals and other medical centres.
Reality: For certain virulent pathogens or toxins,
cross-contamination would be extremely hard to avoid without absolute order and
very elaborate measures which are not likely to be forthcoming.
Myth 40: It will be easy to identify the pathogen,
chemical agent or isotope involved in a CBRN attack.
Reality: There are so many potential pathogens, agents and isotopes
that high-level laboratory analysis way be needed, which would cause problems
of transportation of samples and rapidity of analyses.
Myth 41: Anthrax is a white powder.
Reality: Bacillus anthracis
is a colourless, almost invisible substance. Weaponised spores are likely to be
even less easy to see than naturally grown ones.
Myth 42: Panic and irrational behaviour are
inevitable consequences of a CBRN terrorism attack.
Reality: In disasters of all kinds most people make an effort to
behave rationally and make rational decisions. This is antithetical to panic.
However, if people do not have adequate information, their decision making may
defy rational analysis.
Myth 43: Trends in terrorism are highly irregular but
show a very substantial increase in recent times.
Reality: Although the locus of terrorist activity tends to shift
from one place to another, the sum total of attacks and their effects, has
remained stable for several decades and shows only a modest increase, if any.
Myth 44: Emergency responders will not report to work
in a disaster, they will protect their families instead.
Reality: It is not common for there to be mass absenteeism among
key workers during the aftermath of disasters. On the contrary, people tend to
have an enhanced sense of duty.
Myth 45: Emergency responders will not know what to
do during a disaster or crisis.
Reality: It is to be hoped that training and experience have turned
emergency responders and disaster managers into highly capable professionals.
Myth 46: Disasters always happen to someone else.
Reality: The 'syndrome of personal invulnerability' tends to
mislead people into believing that they are in some way immune from disasters.
It is not so.
Myth 47: Business continuity management only applies
to the private sector.
Reality: The public sector (municipal, regional and national
governments and associated agencies) must be able to weather disaster and
continue its activities just as any private company should. There is thus no
reason why BCM should not apply to public bodies.
Myth 48: In disasters there are heroes and villains.
Reality: There may indeed be villains, although the 'therapeutic
community' that prevails in the aftermath tends to mitigate their effect, but
most people who act selflessly and in favour of others are not strictly heroes
but are just doing their jobs as best they can. When people try to be heroes
the results tend to destroy the teamwork on which disaster response depends.
Myth 49: Disaster is always a negative experience.
Reality: While it is true that the majority of people affected by
disaster suffer, in some cases terribly, there are those who profit by disaster
(either legitimately or illicitly), for example by selling prefabricated
dwellings. The fact that disaster happens can be used in a positive way to
increase resilience against future impacts. In the best instances,
reconstruction can produce a better, safer, more attractive environment than
existed before the disaster. Finally, people may find the enhanced sense of
community and strengthened community roles that happen in disaster aftermaths
some of the best experiences of their lives.
Myth 50: Heavy rains can cause mudslides.
Reality: It may be partially true that mud slides, but it mostly
flows. In strict terms the mass movements in question are flow-slides, not
quite the 'mudslides' beloved of the mass media.
Myth 51: Blood supplies and blood products should be
sent to foreign disasters.
Reality: There are pathological and logistical reasons why it is
better to acquire blood and blood products in the country in question.
Myth 52: When disasters occur, able-bodied adults
should volunteer their services.
Reality: The age of spontaneous volunteerism is over. Unorganised
volunteers are more trouble than they are worth. The answer is to have fully
constituted organisations of trained and equipped volunteers, who are
integrated into the civil protection system by law or according to well-defined
rules which set out their duties and responsibilities.
Myth 53: Aid always benefits the recipients, not the
donors.
Reality: There are many cases in which the beneficiaries include
the donors. Goods and services imported into a country with foreign funding
tend to benefit the manufacturers and suppliers. If the aid is ill-conceived,
it may only benefit the foreign
suppliers.
Myth 54: Donations in kind are safer and better than
cash grants.
Reality: Although there is a risk that cash grants may end up in
the pockets of corrupt administrators or local mafias, cash is generally more
flexible than donations in kind. It can be used to by goods and supplies
locally and thus will stimulate local markets.
Myth 55: Famine victims usually die of starvation.
Reality: They most
often succumb to famine-related diseases such as malnutrition, diarrhea,
typhus, or cholera.
Myth
56: Modern famines are the result of food
shortages.
Reality: They
are almost invariably the result of denial of food, market imbalance or failure
to distribute food.
Myth 57: Knowledge alone leads to action.
Reality: Producing the
means to reduce disaster risk (a warning system, a hazard map, an advancement
of anti-seismic building techniques, an updated building code, etc.) does not
mean that it will necessarily be used. Lack of leadership, bad intentions,
political paralysis, lack of funds and official indifference are some possible
reasons why this is so.
Myth 58: For every dollar [pound, euro, shekel] spent
on disaster risk reduction, between four and 11 dollars are saved in damage and
losses avoided.
Reality: Cost-benefit
ratios are largely a form of "urban myth". The statement relies on
hypothetical assumptions that are almost entirely untested. It is quite
probable that prudent investment in risk reduction is less expensive than are
losses, but no one has the slightest idea how much cheaper.
Myth 59: Cost-benefit data will convince decision
makers to invest in disaster risk reduction.
Reality: In reality, political incentives are far more powerful
than economic ones.
Myth 60: Disaster prevention is a good investment.
Reality: It might be, but there is no guarantee that it will be.
Most other viable forms of investment yield benefits that are more tangible,
realised more quickly and more visible to those who invest or support
investment decisions, including voters.
Myth 61: In disasters, crises and emergencies, people
with disabilities tend to be passive and unable to react.
Reality: People with severe cognitive disabilities may be
passive and unable to react, but there is a vast range of disabilities, and
between one in seven and one in five members of the general population is
affected by them. Many people with disabilities live relatively autonomous
lives and in so doing are very resourceful. With the right kind of help they
can react very effectively to disasters.
Myth 62: Pandemic influenza is almost exclusively a
medical problem.
Reality: Although influenza is obviously a medical problem, many of
the most serious issues associated with a pandemic would be socio-economic.
Myth 63: Tsunamis never catch fire.
Reality: Ruptured fuel tanks can spill petroleum onto the water and it can blaze away. This is a common effect of the landfall of major tsunamis on industrialised coasts.
Myth 64: Volcanoes produce smoke.
Reality: Smoke largely comes from burning organic materials. Volcanoes emit magma (lava), phreatic steam (from groundwater), particulates (e.g. silica) and gases (HF, HS, CO, CO2, etc.). Smoke may come from burning buildings or forests struck by lava flows, but volcanoes do not produce smoke directly.
Myth 65: Children and young people are too vulnerable to be exposed to the effects of disaster.
Reality: While we would not want to cause psychological harm to children, they tend to be adaptable and usually want to participate in what is going on during the aftermath of a disaster.
Myth 66: Stress from the disaster makes breastmilk 'dry up' in disasters.
Reality: Although, due to stress, there may be a temporary dip in milk supply while breastfeeding, continued breastfeeding is possible with proper support. Women who experience difficulties in breastfeeding during evacuation or sheltering indicate that they need space and support. (i.e. a space designated for breastfeeding). [With thanks to Sarah DeYoung]
Myth 67: Infant formula is helpful and life-saving after disasters.
Reality: Mass untargeted donations of infant formula are associated with increases in diarrhoeal illness, malnutrition, and infant death. [With thanks to Sarah DeYoung]
Myth 68: Women are not good
disaster managers. Men are better.
Reality: It is probably the other way around. Women are often better
than men at multitasking and they can sometimes have a deeper appreciation of
the essence of problems that need solving.
Myth 69: When given a warning,
people flee from an area.
Reality: They may evacuate, but 'flee' is too emotive and inaccurate
term for the rational decision to put themselves out of harm's way.
Myth 70: A good emergency plan always
ensures a good response to crises.
Reality: It might, but much depends on the activation of the plan,
including dissemination, awareness, training, the availability of resources, and
familiarity with emergency procedures.
Myth 71: The absence of a plan is
no barrier to managing a disaster well.
Reality: Large amounts of improvisation are usually grossly
inefficient and can be lethal.
Myth 72: More electronic hardware
and software are needed in order to manage a crisis or disaster well.
Reality: Dependency on electronic algorithms and means of
communication, mapping, recording, and so on, can be dangerous. Many aids to
management are counter-intuitive and, for very good reasons, field commanders
are reluctant to depend on them.
See: Alexander, D.E. 2007. Misconception as a barrier to teaching about disasters. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 22(2): 95-103. DOI: 10.1017/S1049023X00004441
