1.0 INTRODUCTION Disasters are worldwide events that have defied man from time immemorial. The frequency at which they occur has been on the increase with the year 2010 now regarded as one of the years of extremes of natural disasters in history; the worst of which was the Haiti Earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0, killing 220,000 people and rendering 1.5 million people homeless. 1 Two million people were living in the affected area, 5,000 schools were destroyed or damaged, 180,000 homes destroyed or damaged, 1.5 million people living in camps and 100,000 at critical risk from flooding and storms. 1 In 2011, a tsunami and resultant flood in Japan lead to a nuclear spill when it affected a nuclear plant, leading to loss of lives and properties. In January through parts of February 2011, extreme weather conditions have killed hundreds of people in Europe. Two bomb blasts have occurred in Jos recently, The first (in February 2012 at Church Of Christ In Nigeria (COCIN) Headquarters compound) incident led to the death of four people, several injured and damages to parts of a church building while the second (in March 2012 at St. Finbars Catholic Church) incident has at the time of writing this led to the death of 11 people with many people injured and damage also to parts of a church building. Reprisal attacks have led to unconfirmed casualties with the security situation in the town now delicate. It becomes vital then that knowledge on how to prepare for and respond to disasters is now of paramount importance especially as public health physicians if we are to adequately prevent and control them when they occur. 1.1 Definion of terms Public health is defined as the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency, through organized community efforts, for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections and the education of the individual in the principle of personal hygiene. It organizes medical and nursing service for the early detection and preventive treatment of disease and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health. 2 Disasters are occurrences that cause damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life or deterioration of health and health services on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary 1