Sugar plantations, Chemical Plants, COVID-19
The chemical plants in Cancer Alley are built where there once were sugar plantations. Descendants of enslaved communities still live nearby.
The chemical plants in Cancer Alley are built where there once were sugar plantations. Descendants of enslaved communities still live nearby.
Join us for the Disaster STS Network’s Fall 2021 virtual tour of Louisiana's Cancer Alley, a corridor of chemical plants along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans with shockin
The article spends a portion of its time looking at the effects on those who were first responders to the scene who were the most severely affected, many receiving over the lethal dose of radiation.
Emergency response is discussed in the following quote:
"One such intervention, psychological debriefing or critical incident stress debriefing, was developed in the 1980s for emergency responders and has been used with other victims of trauma (46). The technique is applied within 48 h of the traumatic event, during which victims are asked to describe the event and their emotional responses to it in detail. They are also given suggestions of methods to relieve stress (12). Intervention studies, however, have found that this method does not prevent psychopathology and, by strengthening memories of the traumatic event, may impair the natural recovery process and even worsen symptoms (44). Therefore, it is no longer recommended in the immediate aftermath of traumatic event exposure (12, 49)."
This quote shows that the psychological needs of first responders are also considered, not just those of the people who were victims. It shows a weakness in the abilities to heal people afterwards, as this method is no longer recommended. Other methods are being pursued, as the first responders of the world need support and healing too.
This article has been referenced and discussed by Vital Source and “Nuclear power after 3/11: Looking back and thinking ahead” (University of York) as well as Zotero and Disaster-sts.
The author addresses public health by making the case that “evidence based medicine” is not always there for every type of case nor is it always infallible. This effects emergency response where there are so many variables and there are no datasets, protocols, or studies for some cases.
The authors used a lot of quotes, from survivors, politicians, scientists, and other important figures with the situation. Based on these quotes, they did research to provide the reader with additional background information or facts regarding whatever the individual was speaking about.
The article: “Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine” is about the social structures that play into “violence” (anything that causes harm physically, socially, or otherwise). The research seeks to establish the importance of biosocial understanding in the medical field when trying to understand medical problems.