a Task-Driven Disaster Data Link Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, L. Y.; Zhu, Q.; Gu, J. Y.; Du, Z. Q.

2015-08-01

With the rapid development of sensor networks and Earth observation technology, a large quantity of disaster-related data is available, such as remotely sensed data, historic data, cases data, simulation data, disaster products and so on. However, the efficiency of current data management and service systems has become increasingly serious due to the task variety and heterogeneous data. For emergency task-oriented applications, data searching mainly relies on artificial experience based on simple metadata index, whose high time-consuming and low accuracy cannot satisfy the requirements of disaster products on velocity and veracity. In this paper, a task-oriented linking method is proposed for efficient disaster data management and intelligent service, with the objectives of 1) putting forward ontologies of disaster task and data to unify the different semantics of multi-source information, 2) identifying the semantic mapping from emergency tasks to multiple sources on the basis of uniform description in 1), 3) linking task-related data automatically and calculating the degree of correlation between each data and a target task. The method breaks through traditional static management of disaster data and establishes a base for intelligent retrieval and active push of disaster information. The case study presented in this paper illustrates the use of the method with a flood emergency relief task.

a Task-Oriented Disaster Information Correlation Method

Science.gov (United States)

Linyao, Q.; Zhiqiang, D.; Qing, Z.

2015-07-01

With the rapid development of sensor networks and Earth observation technology, a large quantity of disaster-related data is available, such as remotely sensed data, historic data, case data, simulated data, and disaster products. However, the efficiency of current data management and service systems has become increasingly difficult due to the task variety and heterogeneous data. For emergency task-oriented applications, the data searches primarily rely on artificial experience based on simple metadata indices, the high time consumption and low accuracy of which cannot satisfy the speed and veracity requirements for disaster products. In this paper, a task-oriented correlation method is proposed for efficient disaster data management and intelligent service with the objectives of 1) putting forward disaster task ontology and data ontology to unify the different semantics of multi-source information, 2) identifying the semantic mapping from emergency tasks to multiple data sources on the basis of uniform description in 1), and 3) linking task-related data automatically and calculating the correlation between each data set and a certain task. The method goes beyond traditional static management of disaster data and establishes a basis for intelligent retrieval and active dissemination of disaster information. The case study presented in this paper illustrates the use of the method on an example flood emergency relief task.

Planning cultural heritage protection is easier than managing an actual disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdena Rosická

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Efficient preparedness is easier to carry out comparing to dealing with consequences of disasters, anthropogenic incidents and other emergencies. Most disasters are water related, i.e. the result of flooding due to high water, water used to extinguish the fire, etc. Cultural heritage as a whole is exposed to attack from natural weathering processes, pollutants as well as water-origin disasters, fires, arson, theft, landslides or extreme weather events. In case of a disaster or any other emergency, unfortunately, no one can afford to wait for all the data and information to be entirely completed in order to make conclusions and survive a disastrous attack. When a disaster occurs and a historical object is affected, decisions must me made fast about rescue priorities, which items to save and which to sacrifice; there must be available priority lists, working guides for salvage teams as well as a disaster plan, updated lists of human resources, suppliers and service providers, lists of types and number of vehicles including passable roads available in case the movable cultural heritage evacuation becomes urgent. Emergency-response officials must be trained in measures to ensure relevant handling, conservation and care.

THE PREVENTION PROGRAMS OF PHYSICAL REHABILITATION FOR CHERNOBYL DISASTER SURVIVORS

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G.V. Korobeynikov

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study: approbation of the prevention program of physical rehabilitation for Chernobyl disaster survivors in lifestyle aspects. Sixty persons who were disaster survivors and workers of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant aged 32-60 have rehabilitation during 21 days. The complex of training prevention programs of physical and psycho-emotional rehabilitation methods was elaborated. The study of efficacy of training prevention programs among Chernobyl disaster survivors. The results showed the improvement of psycho-emotional status and normalization of cardiovascular vegetative regulation after training prevention programs in Chernobyl disasters survivors. The studies show that the preventive programs for Chernobyl disaster survivors in lifestyle aspects had the high effect. This displays the decrease of tempo of aging and the improving of physical and psychological health status of Chernobyl disaster survivors during preventive course.

Disaster mitigation: initial response.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, George; Richards, Michael; Chicarelli, Michael; Ernst, Amy; Harrell, Andrew; Stites, Danniel

2013-01-01

The objective of this review is to stimulate the reader's considerations for developing community disaster mitigation. Disaster mitigation begins long before impact and is defined as the actions taken by a community to eliminate or minimize the impact of a disaster. The assessment of vulnerabilities, the development of infrastructure, memoranda of understanding, and planning for a sustainable response and recovery are parts of the process. Empowering leadership and citizens with knowledge of available resources through the planning and development of a disaster response can strengthen a community's resilience, which can only add to the viability and quality of life enjoyed by the entire community.

Disaster Reintegration Model: A Qualitative Analysis on Developing Korean Disaster Mental Health Support Model

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Yun-Jung Choi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This study sought to describe the mental health problems experienced by Korean disaster survivors, using a qualitative research method to provide empirical resources for effective disaster mental health support in Korea. Participants were 16 adults or elderly adults who experienced one or more disasters at least 12 months ago recruited via theoretical sampling. Participants underwent in-depth individual interviews on their disaster experiences, which were recorded and transcribed for qualitative analysis, which followed Strauss and Corbin’s (1998 Grounded theory. After open coding, participants’ experiences were categorized into 130 codes, 43 sub-categories and 17 categories. The categories were further analyzed in a paradigm model, conditional model and the Disaster Reintegration Model, which proposed potentially effective mental health recovery strategies for disaster survivors, health providers and administrators. To provide effective assistance for mental health recovery of disaster survivors, both personal and public resilience should be promoted while considering both cultural and spiritual elements.

Effectiveness of microinsurance during and after a disaster

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Arshad Ali

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This research looks at the effectiveness of microinsurance services during and after a disaster and at disaster management as an effective tool for community betterment. A detailed review has been done on available research and case studies. Unfortunately, underdeveloped countries suffer due to a lack of finances during and after a disaster. Developed countries are usually not ready for any disaster at government and public levels. A disaster affected country will also be keen for financial help from donor agencies and other counties. Microinsurance would be very helpful during any disaster to overcome the financial needs at the community level. Microinsurance is a practice that can share the financial liability with the affected population during a disaster. There is no trend in Pakistan for community based microinsurance for certain reasons, although there are very good examples available for review in the region. These include microinsurance services based on community microinsurance models such as SEWA (Gujarat, Weather-Index-based insurance (Ethiopia and Crop insurance against typhoons (Philippine. These have played a vital role in disaster risk transfer during and after disasters. This study will identify the implementation and outcome of microinsurance in Pakistan during a disaster and understand how much beneficial microinsurance would be for the betterment and recovery of affective community on an urgent basis.

Development of a Meteorological Risk Map for Disaster Mitigation and Management in the Chishan Basin, Taiwan

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Tai-Li Lee

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study involved developing a natural disaster risk assessment framework based on the consideration of three phases: a pre-disaster phase, disaster impact phase, and post-disaster recovery phase. The exposure of natural disasters exhibits unique characteristics. The interactions of numerous factors should be considered in risk assessment as well as in monitoring environment to provide natural disaster warnings. In each phase, specific factors indicate the relative status in the area subjected to risk assessment. Three types of natural disaster were assessed, namely debris flows, floods, and droughts. The Chishan basin in Taiwan was used as a case study and the adequacy of the relocation of Xiaolin village was evaluated. Incorporating resilience into the assessment revealed that the higher the exposure is, the higher the resilience becomes. This is because highly populated areas are typically allocated enough resources to respond to disasters. In addition, highly populated areas typically exhibit high resilience. The application of this analysis in the policy of relocation of damaged village after disaster provides valuable information for decision makers to achieve the sustainability of land use planning.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE – A THEORETICAL APPROACH

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Himayatullah KHAN

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The present study explains the various concepts used in disastermanagement. The concepts explained include: Disaster, Hazard,Vulnerability, Capacity, Risk and Disaster Management Cycle. In addition tothe terminologies, the study also seeks to explain various types of disasters.

Post-Disaster Supply Chain Interdependent Critical Infrastructure System Restoration: A Review of Data Necessary and Available for Modeling

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Varun Ramachandran

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The majority of restoration strategies in the wake of large-scale disasters have focused on short-term emergency response solutions. Few consider medium- to long-term restoration strategies to reconnect urban areas to national 'supply chain interdependent critical infrastructure systems' (SCICI. These SCICI promote the effective flow of goods, services, and information vital to the economic vitality of an urban environment. To re-establish the connectivity that has been broken during a disaster between the different SCICI, relationships between these systems must be identified, formulated, and added to a common framework to form a system-level restoration plan. To accomplish this goal, a considerable collection of SCICI data is necessary. The aim of this paper is to review what data are required for model construction, the accessibility of these data, and their integration with each other. While a review of publically available data reveals a dearth of real-time data to assist modeling long-term recovery following an extreme event, a significant amount of static data does exist and these data can be used to model the complex interdependencies needed. For the sake of illustration, a particular SCICI (transportation is used to highlight the challenges of determining the interdependencies and creating models capable of describing the complexity of an urban environment with the data publically available. Integration of such data as is derived from public domain sources is readily achieved in a geospatial environment, after all geospatial infrastructure data are the most abundant data source and while significant quantities of data can be acquired through public sources, a significant effort is still required to gather, develop, and integrate these data from multiple sources to build a complete model. Therefore, while continued availability of high quality, public information is essential for modeling efforts in academic as well as government

Historical and projected costs of natural disasters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engi, D.

1995-04-01

Natural disasters cause billions of dollars of damage and thousands Of deaths globally each year. While the magnitude is clear, the exact costs (in damage and fatalities) are difficult to clearly identify. This document reports on the results of a survey of data on the costs associated with significant natural disasters. There is an impressive amount of work and effort going into natural disaster research, mitigation, and relief. However, despite this effort, there are surprisingly few consistent and reliable data available regarding the effects of natural disasters. Even lacking consistent and complete data, it is clear that the damage and fatalities from natural disasters are increasing, both in the United States, and globally. Projections using the available data suggest that, in the United States alone, the costs of natural disasters between 1995 and 2010 will be in the range of $90 billion (94$) and 5000 lives.

HAZARD ASSESSMENT OF LANDSLIDE DISASTER IN FUJIAN PROVINCE BASED ON FUZZY MATHEMATICS

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J. M. Wang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Landslide disasters are the most frequent geological disasters in Fujian Province. They are also the type of geological disasters that cause the most serious economic and population losses each year. This study uses the fuzzy mathematics method to carry on the hazard assessment of landslide disaster in Fujian Province, in order to explore the mechanism of the landslide disaster, and provides the reference for the construction land expansion in Fujian Province. The calculation results show that landslide disasters in Fujian Province have a high correlation with external forces, that is, long-term precipitation and short-term strong precipitation are likely to trigger landslide disasters. Among the internal stress factors, the correlation between the occurrence of landslides and slopes is the highest, and the probability of landslides occurs in areas with steep slopes. The evaluation results show that the areas with high landslide hazards are mainly distributed in the central region of Fujian Province. From the remote sensing images, it can be seen that most of the dangerous areas are in rapidly developing cities, and their vegetation coverage is relatively low, and the environment is greatly affected by humans.

Disaster Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Given the tendency of books on disasters to predominantly focus on strong geophysical or descriptive perspectives and in-depth accounts of particular catastrophes, Disaster Research provides a much-needed multidisciplinary perspective of the area. This book is is structured thematically around key...... approaches to disaster research from a range of different, but often complementary academic disciplines. Each chapter presents distinct approaches to disaster research that is anchored in a particular discipline; ranging from the law of disasters and disaster historiography to disaster politics...... and anthropology of disaster. The methodological and theoretical contributions underlining a specific approach to disasters are discussed and illustrative empirical cases are examined that support and further inform the proposed approach to disaster research. The book thus provides unique insights into fourteen...

Construction and Optimization of Three-Dimensional Disaster Scenes within Mobile Virtual Reality

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Ya Hu

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Because mobile virtual reality (VR is both mobile and immersive, three-dimensional (3D visualizations of disaster scenes based in mobile VR enable users to perceive and recognize disaster environments faster and better than is possible with other methods. To achieve immersion and prevent users from feeling dizzy, such visualizations require a high scene-rendering frame rate. However, the existing related visualization work cannot provide a sufficient solution for this purpose. This study focuses on the construction and optimization of a 3D disaster scene in order to satisfy the high frame-rate requirements for the rendering of 3D disaster scenes in mobile VR. First, the design of a plugin-free browser/server (B/S architecture for 3D disaster scene construction and visualization based in mobile VR is presented. Second, certain key technologies for scene optimization are discussed, including diverse modes of scene data representation, representation optimization of mobile scenes, and adaptive scheduling of mobile scenes. By means of these technologies, smartphones with various performance levels can achieve higher scene-rendering frame rates and improved visual quality. Finally, using a flood disaster as an example, a plugin-free prototype system was developed, and experiments were conducted. The experimental results demonstrate that a 3D disaster scene constructed via the methods addressed in this study has a sufficiently high scene-rendering frame rate to satisfy the requirements for rendering a 3D disaster scene in mobile VR.

Literature Review: Herbal Medicine Treatment after Large-Scale Disasters.

Science.gov (United States)

Takayama, Shin; Kaneko, Soichiro; Numata, Takehiro; Kamiya, Tetsuharu; Arita, Ryutaro; Saito, Natsumi; Kikuchi, Akiko; Ohsawa, Minoru; Kohayagawa, Yoshitaka; Ishii, Tadashi

2017-01-01

Large-scale natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and typhoons, occur worldwide. After the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, our medical support operation's experiences suggested that traditional medicine might be useful for treating the various symptoms of the survivors. However, little information is available regarding herbal medicine treatment in such situations. Considering that further disasters will occur, we performed a literature review and summarized the traditional medicine approaches for treatment after large-scale disasters. We searched PubMed and Cochrane Library for articles written in English, and Ichushi for those written in Japanese. Articles published before 31 March 2016 were included. Keywords "disaster" and "herbal medicine" were used in our search. Among studies involving herbal medicine after a disaster, we found two randomized controlled trials investigating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), three retrospective investigations of trauma or common diseases, and seven case series or case reports of dizziness, pain, and psychosomatic symptoms. In conclusion, herbal medicine has been used to treat trauma, PTSD, and other symptoms after disasters. However, few articles have been published, likely due to the difficulty in designing high quality studies in such situations. Further study will be needed to clarify the usefulness of herbal medicine after disasters.

Disaster Metrics: A Comprehensive Framework for Disaster Evaluation Typologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Diana F; Spencer, Caroline; Boyd, Lee; Burkle, Frederick M; Archer, Frank

2017-10-01

Introduction The frequency of disasters is increasing around the world with more people being at risk. There is a moral imperative to improve the way in which disaster evaluations are undertaken and reported with the aim of reducing preventable mortality and morbidity in future events. Disasters are complex events and undertaking disaster evaluations is a specialized area of study at an international level. Hypothesis/Problem While some frameworks have been developed to support consistent disaster research and evaluation, they lack validation, consistent terminology, and standards for reporting across the different phases of a disaster. There is yet to be an agreed, comprehensive framework to structure disaster evaluation typologies. The aim of this paper is to outline an evolving comprehensive framework for disaster evaluation typologies. It is anticipated that this new framework will facilitate an agreement on identifying, structuring, and relating the various evaluations found in the disaster setting with a view to better understand the process, outcomes, and impacts of the effectiveness and efficiency of interventions. Research was undertaken in two phases: (1) a scoping literature review (peer-reviewed and "grey literature") was undertaken to identify current evaluation frameworks and typologies used in the disaster setting; and (2) a structure was developed that included the range of typologies identified in Phase One and suggests possible relationships in the disaster setting. No core, unifying framework to structure disaster evaluation and research was identified in the literature. The authors propose a "Comprehensive Framework for Disaster Evaluation Typologies" that identifies, structures, and suggests relationships for the various typologies detected. The proposed Comprehensive Framework for Disaster Evaluation Typologies outlines the different typologies of disaster evaluations that were identified in this study and brings them together into a single

Post-disaster supply chain interdependent critical infrastructure system restoration: A review of data necessary and available for modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Ramachandran, Varun; Long, Suzanna K.; Shoberg, Thomas G.; Corns, Steven; Carlo, Hector J.

2016-01-01

The majority of restoration strategies in the wake of large-scale disasters have focused on short-term emergency response solutions. Few consider medium- to long-term restoration strategies to reconnect urban areas to national supply chain interdependent critical infrastructure systems (SCICI). These SCICI promote the effective flow of goods, services, and information vital to the economic vitality of an urban environment. To re-establish the connectivity that has been broken during a disaster between the different SCICI, relationships between these systems must be identified, formulated, and added to a common framework to form a system-level restoration plan. To accomplish this goal, a considerable collection of SCICI data is necessary. The aim of this paper is to review what data are required for model construction, the accessibility of these data, and their integration with each other. While a review of publically available data reveals a dearth of real-time data to assist modeling long-term recovery following an extreme event, a significant amount of static data does exist and these data can be used to model the complex interdependencies needed. For the sake of illustration, a particular SCICI (transportation) is used to highlight the challenges of determining the interdependencies and creating models capable of describing the complexity of an urban environment with the data publically available. Integration of such data as is derived from public domain sources is readily achieved in a geospatial environment, after all geospatial infrastructure data are the most abundant data source and while significant quantities of data can be acquired through public sources, a significant effort is still required to gather, develop, and integrate these data from multiple sources to build a complete model. Therefore, while continued availability of high quality, public information is essential for modeling efforts in academic as well as government communities, a more

High Altitude Platforms for Disaster Recovery: Capabilities, Strategies, and Techniques for Emergency Telecommunications

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Juan D. Deaton

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Natural disasters and terrorist acts have significant potential to disrupt emergency communication systems. These emergency communication networks include first-responder, cellular, landline, and emergency answering services such as 911, 112, or 999. Without these essential emergency communications capabilities, search, rescue, and recovery operations during a catastrophic event will be severely debilitated. High altitude platforms could be fitted with telecommunications equipment and used to support these critical communications missions once the catastrophic event occurs. With the ability to be continuously on station, HAPs provide excellent options for providing emergency coverage over high-risk areas before catastrophic incidents occur. HAPs could also provide enhanced 911 capabilities using either GPS or reference stations. This paper proposes potential emergency communications architecture and presents a method for estimating emergency communications systems traffic patterns for a catastrophic event.

Multiobjective Location Routing Problem considering Uncertain Data after Disasters

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Keliang Chang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The relief distributions after large disasters play an important role for rescue works. After disasters there is a high degree of uncertainty, such as the demands of disaster points and the damage of paths. The demands of affected points and the velocities between two points on the paths are uncertain in this article, and the robust optimization method is applied to deal with the uncertain parameters. This paper proposes a nonlinear location routing problem with half-time windows and with three objectives. The affected points can be visited more than one time. The goals are the total costs of the transportation, the satisfaction rates of disaster nodes, and the path transport capacities which are denoted by vehicle velocities. Finally, the genetic algorithm is applied to solve a number of numerical examples, and the results show that the genetic algorithm is very stable and effective for this problem.

The Integrated Information System for Natural Disaster Mitigation

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Junxiu Wu

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Supported by the World Bank, the Integrated Information System for Natural Disaster Mitigation (ISNDM, including the operational service system and network telecommunication system, has been in development for three years in the Center of Disaster Reduction, Chinese Academy of Sciences, based on the platform of the GIS software Arcview. It has five main modules: disaster background information, socio- economic information, disaster-induced factors database, disaster scenarios database, and disaster assessment. ISNDM has several significant functions, which include information collection, information processing, data storage, and information distribution. It is a simple but comprehensive demonstration system for our national center for natural disaster reduction.

Natural Disaster Induced Losses at Household Level: A Study on the Disaster Affected Migrants

Science.gov (United States)

Ishtiaque, A.; Nazem, N. I.; Jerin, T.

2015-12-01

Given its geographical location Bangladesh frequently confronts natural disasters. Disaster induced losses often obligate socio-economic dislocation from rural areas to large urban centers. After incurring what type/amount of losses people migrate is still unknown. In this paper we focus on migrants who migrated due to natural disasters. Thus, the objectives of this paper are, first, ascertaining the proportion of disaster migrants in Dhaka city; second, determining types of natural disasters which compel rural out-migration; third, assessing the resource and economic losses stem from these disasters at household level. Using the slum database (N = 4966), we select eight slums randomly with a purpose to include migrants from maximum districts available. In order to identify the proportion of disaster affected migrants a census is conducted in 407 households of those 8 slums and the result demonstrates that 18.43% of the migrants are disaster affected, which was only 5% in 1993. Out of all hydro-meteorological disasters, river bank erosion (RBE), followed by flood, drives most people out of their abode. However, unlike RBE migrants, migrants affected by flood usually return to their origin after certain period. In-depth interviews on the disaster migrants reveal that RBE claims total loss of homestead land & agricultural land while flood causes 20% and 23% loss respectively. Agricultural income decreases 96% because of RBE whereas flood victims encounter 98% decrease. People also incur 79% & 69% loss in livestock owing to RBE and flood severally. These disasters cause more than eighty percent reduction in total monthly income. Albeit RBE appears more vigorous but total economic loss is greater in flood- on average each household experiences a loss of BDT 350,555 due to flood and BDT 300,000 on account of RBE. Receiving no substantial support from community or government the affected people are compelled to migrate.

Disaster Governance for Community Resilience in Coastal Towns: Chilean Case Studies

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Paula Villagra

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to further our understanding of a characteristic of Community Resilience known as Disaster Governance. Three attributes of Disaster Governance—redundancy, diversity, and overlap—were studied in four coastal towns in southern Chile that are at risk of tsunamis. Overall, we explored how different spatial structures of human settlements influence Disaster Governance. Using the Projective Mapping Technique, the distribution of emergency institutions (N = 32 and uses given to specific sites (e.g., for refuge, sanitary purposes and medical attention were mapped. Content and GIS analyses (Directional Distribution and Kernel Density Index were used to explore the dispersion and concentration of institutions and uses in each town. Disaster Governance was found to be highly influenced by decisions taken during regional, urban, and emergency planning. Governance is better in towns of higher order in the communal hierarchical structure. Most of the emergency institutions were found to be located in central and urban areas, which, in turn, assures more redundancy, overlap, and diversity in governance in the event of a tsunami. Lack of flexibility of emergency plans also limits governance in rural and indigenous areas. While the spatial relationships found in this study indicate that urban sectors have better Disaster Governance than rural and indigenous sectors, the influence of resource availability after tsunamis, the role and responsibility of different levels of governments, and the politics of disaster also play an important role in Disaster Governance for determining Community Resilience. These findings shed light on emergency planning and aspects of the Disaster Management cycle.

Living with disasters: social capital for disaster governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Melo Zurita, Maria de Lourdes; Cook, Brian; Thomsen, Dana C; Munro, Paul G; Smith, Timothy F; Gallina, John

2017-10-24

This paper explores how social networks and bonds within and across organisations shape disaster operations and strategies. Local government disaster training exercises serve as a window through which to view these relations, and 'social capital' is used as an analytic for making sense of the human relations at the core of disaster management operations. These elements help to expose and substantiate the often intangible relations that compose the culture that exists, and that is shaped by preparations for disasters. The study reveals how this social capital has been generated through personal interactions, which are shared among disaster managers across different organisations and across 'levels' within those organisations. Recognition of these 'group resources' has significant implications for disaster management in which conducive social relations have become paramount. The paper concludes that socio-cultural relations, as well as a people-centred approach to preparations, appear to be effective means of readying for, and ultimately responding to, disasters. © 2017 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2017.

dLOGIS: Disaster Logistics Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Koesuma, Sorja; Riantana, Rio; Siswanto, Budi; Aji Purnomo, Fendi; Lelono, Sarjoko

2017-11-01

There are three timing of disaster mitigation which is pre-disaster, emergency response and post-disaster. All of those is important in disaster mitigation, but emergency response is important when we are talking about time. Emergency response has limited time when we should give help. Rapid assessment of kind of logistic, the number of survivors, number children and old people, their gender and also for difable person. It should be done in emergency response time. Therefore we make a mobile application for logistics management system. The name of application is dLOGIS, i.e. Disaster Logistics Information System. The application is based on Android system for mobile phone. Otherwise there is also website version. The website version is for maintenance, data input and registration. So the people or government can use it directly when there is a disaster. After login in dLOGIS, there is five main menus. The first main menu shows disaster information, refugees conditions, logistics needed, available logistics stock and already accepted logistics. In the second menu is used for entering survivors data. The field coordinator can enter survivors data based on the rapid assessment in disaster location. The third menu is used for entering kind of logistic. Number and kind of logistics are based on the BNPB needed standard for the survivor. The fourth menu displays the logistics stock available in field coordinator. And the last menu displays the logistics help that already accepted and sent by donation. By using this application when a disaster happened, field coordinator or local government can use maintenance distribution of logistics base on their needs. Also for donor people who will give help to survivor, they can give logistics with the corresponding of survivor needs.

Imagery for Disaster Response and Recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Bethel, G. R.

2011-12-01

Exposing the remotely sensed imagery for disaster response and recovery can provide the basis for an unbiased understanding of current conditions. Having created consolidated remotely sensed and geospatial data sources documents for US and Foreign disasters over the past six years, availability and usability are continuing to evolve. By documenting all existing sources of imagery and value added products, the disaster response and recovery community can develop actionable information. The past two years have provided unique situations to use imagery including a major humanitarian disaster and response effort in Haiti, a major environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, a killer tornado in Joplin Missouri and long-term flooding in the Midwest. Each disaster presents different challenges and requires different spatial resolutions, spectral properties and/or multi-temporal collections. The community of data providers continues to expand with organized actives such as the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters and acquisitions by the private sector for the public good rather than for profit. However, data licensing, the lack of cross-calibration and inconsistent georeferencing hinder optimal use. Recent pre-event imagery is a critial component to any disaster response.

Disaster waste management: A review article

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, Charlotte; Milke, Mark; Seville, Erica

2011-01-01

Depending on their nature and severity, disasters can create large volumes of debris and waste. The waste can overwhelm existing solid waste management facilities and impact on other emergency response and recovery activities. If poorly managed, the waste can have significant environmental and public health impacts and can affect the overall recovery process. This paper presents a system overview of disaster waste management based on existing literature. The main literature available to date comprises disaster waste management plans or guidelines and isolated case studies. There is ample discussion on technical management options such as temporary storage sites, recycling, disposal, etc.; however, there is little or no guidance on how these various management options are selected post-disaster. The literature does not specifically address the impact or appropriateness of existing legislation, organisational structures and funding mechanisms on disaster waste management programmes, nor does it satisfactorily cover the social impact of disaster waste management programmes. It is envisaged that the discussion presented in this paper, and the literature gaps identified, will form a basis for future comprehensive and cohesive research on disaster waste management. In turn, research will lead to better preparedness and response to disaster waste management problems.

HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE IN RESPONSE TO NATURAL DISASTERS

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Eny Sulistyaningrum

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Natural disasters have increased in their frequency, and the intensity of their destruction over the last ten years in Indonesia. Households usually respond to these difficulties by cutting their consump-tion, especially for non-essential goods. Arguably natural disasters are exogenous events, so this paper uses the exogenous variation from natural disasters as a natural experiment design to estimate the effect of disasters on household expenditure. When a certain group is exposed to the causal variable of interest, such as a disaster, and other groups are not, the Difference In Difference model (DID can be used for estimation. Using a micro level survey data set from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS which covers approximately 83 percent of the Indonesian population within the survey area, this paper examines the effects of natural disasters on household expenditure. This paper also examines whether there are any different impacts from different types of disasters. The finding is there are no significant effects of disasters on total household expenditure for households living in disaster regions, whether they are affected directly or not by the disaster.

Managing anaesthetic provision for global disasters.

Science.gov (United States)

Craven, R M

2017-12-01

The numbers of people affected by large-scale disasters has increased in recent decades. Disasters produce a huge burden of surgical morbidity at a time when the affected country is least able to respond. For this reason an international disaster response is often required. For many years this disaster response was not coordinated. The response consisted of what was available not what was needed and standards of care varied widely producing a healthcare lottery for the affected population. In recent years the World Health organisation has initiated the Emergency Medical Team programme to coordinate the response to disasters and set minimum standards for responding teams. Anaesthetists have a key role to play in Level 2 Surgical Field Hospitals. The disaster context produces a number of logistical challenges that directly impact on the anaesthetist requiring adaptation of anaesthetic techniques from their everyday practice. The context in which they will be working and the wider scope of practice that will be expected from them in the field mandates that deploying anaesthetists should be trained for disaster response. There have been significant improvements in recent years in the speed of response, equipment availability, coordination and training for disasters. Future challenges include increasing local disaster response capacity, agreeing international standards for training and improving data collection to allow for future research and improvement in disaster response. The goal of this review article is to provide an understanding of the disaster context and what logistical challenges it provides. There has been a move during the last decade from a globally uncoordinated, unregulated response, with no consensus on standards, to a globally coordinated response through the World Health Organisation (WHO). A classification system for responding Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) and a set of agreed minimum standards has been defined. This review outlines the scope of

High Altitude Platforms for Disaster Recovery: Capabilities, Strategies, and Techniques for Emergency Telecommunications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deaton JuanD

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Natural disasters and terrorist acts have significant potential to disrupt emergency communication systems. These emergency communication networks include first-responder, cellular, landline, and emergency answering services such as 911, 112, or 999. Without these essential emergency communications capabilities, search, rescue, and recovery operations during a catastrophic event will be severely debilitated. High altitude platforms could be fitted with telecommunications equipment and used to support these critical communications missions once the catastrophic event occurs. With the ability to be continuously on station, HAPs provide excellent options for providing emergency coverage over high-risk areas before catastrophic incidents occur. HAPs could also provide enhanced 911 capabilities using either GPS or reference stations. This paper proposes potential emergency communications architecture and presents a method for estimating emergency communications systems traffic patterns for a catastrophic event.

Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation-Based Disaster Risk Assessment of Desertification in Horqin Sand Land, China

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Yongfang Wang

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Desertification is a typical disaster risk event in which human settlements and living environments are destroyed. Desertification Disaster Risk Assessment can control and prevent the occurrence and development of desertification disasters and reduce their adverse influence on human society. This study presents the methodology and procedure for risk assessment and zoning of desertification disasters in Horqin Sand Land. Based on natural disaster risk theory and the desertification disaster formation mechanism, the Desertification Disaster Risk Index (DDRI combined hazard, exposure, vulnerability and restorability factors and was developed mainly by using multi-source data and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. The results showed that high risk and middle risk areas account for 28% and 23% of the study area, respectively. They are distributed with an “S” type in the study area. Low risk and very low risk areas account for 21% and 10% of the study area, respectively. They are distributed in the west-central and southwestern parts. Very high risk areas account for 18% of the study area and are distributed in the northeastern parts. The results can be used to know the desertification disaster risk level. It has important theoretical and practical significance to prevention and control of desertification in Horqin Sand Land and even in Northern China.

DISASTER REGIME CHARACTER: A STUDY OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AT MERAPI VOLCANO ERUPTION IN SLEMAN DISTRICT

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Nurlia Dian Paramita

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This research analyses how the existence of the character occurred in one of disaster management phases which is an emergency response. In addition, it aims to discuss and see the relationship between authority institutions in the disaster management which are Kesbanglinmas & PB Kab. Sleman, Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Centre (MDMC, and Merapi Circle Information Network (JALIN MERAPI. This research uses qualitative method. The data about the policy and survivor handling are got through interviews with representatives from Pakem, Turi, and Cangkringan. They are head of sub districts, head of villages, and head of country-sides. The findings of this research show that the disaster regime character is fatalist-individualist and the authority relation is substitution (acts as a substitute. Therefore, humanity-based point of view is important to see the risk. It will empower the capacity of government institutions. The last, involving civil society (CSO is also significant to streamline the role of disaster management regime guide. Therefore, the synergy between government and CSO will easily be achieved to implement Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM. CSO is the government’s partner to reduce disaster.

Organizing the health sector for response to disasters

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Kimberley Shoaf

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Each year millions of people around the world are affected by natural and manmade disasters. The consequences of natural disasters in terms of health are complex. Disasters directly impact the health of the population resulting in physical trauma, acute disease, and emotional trauma. Furthermore, disasters may increase the morbidity and mortality associated with chronic and infectious diseases due to the impact on the health system. The health sector must be organized for adequate preparedness, mitigation, response and recuperation from a plethora of potential disasters. This paper examines the various potential impacts of disasters on health, the components of the health sector and their roles in emergency medical care and disaster situations, as well as the coordination and organization necessary within the system to best meet the health needs of a population in the aftermath of a disaster.

Atmospheric natural disasters in Serbia: Management experience and economic effects

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Nikolić Jugoslav

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Natural disasters occur as a result of an action of natural forces and represent limitations in spatial planning and efficient spatial development, with different consequences in terms of scope on humans, living things and tangible property. Consequences can be ecological, economic, in terms of health, demographic, social, psychological, etc. Weather modification management involves policies, methods, techniques and technologies that affect atmospheric features in order to make atmospheric water useful for humans, while eliminating its negative effects. Highly significant risk of natural disasters in Serbia is related to hailstorm disasters and droughts as atmospheric elementary disasters. The goal of this paper is to present certain methodologies and experience in Serbia in the weather modification management, mainly in the hailstorm processes. This paper provides analysis and critical review of the methodology of an action, with the analysis of the economic benefits. Cost-benefit analysis of a hail suppression project in Serbia was performed. The results point to the economic justification of some aspects of artificial influence on weather disasters.

Multi-Disaster Risk Analysis of Klaten Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

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Candra Dian Lukita Tauhid

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Klaten Regency is located in Central Java Province, Indonesia, ranked as 19th most susceptible area in Indonesia. Among of many disasters those take place in Klaten are floods, landslides, and earthquake, which cause damages and loss of lives. Unfortunately, some areas in Klaten Regency are also very vulnerable to the disasters that often contribute severe damage and loss. This paper presents result of risk analysis due to floods, landslides and earthquake disaster at Klaten Regency. Several parameters or criteria are utilized to describe the level of the disaster intensities. The flood susceptibility parameters are the Topographic Wet Index (TWI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI, permeability and roughness, as proposed by Kafira, et al. (2015. The landslide susceptibility are the geology, slope, elevation, distance from fault, distance from rivers, rainfall and land use, as suggested by Thearith (2009 whereas the earthquake susceptibility was referred to FEMA P-154 by using the Ss and S1. The vulnerability and risk analysis are carried out by referring to the parameters as stipulated by the Chief Regulation of the National Board of Disaster Management No.2 Year 2012 (Perka Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana- BNPB, concerning the parameters being used for the vulnerability analysis, i.e. population density, poverty ratio, land use, and level of Gross Regional Domestic Product. Further spatial analysis of the risk performs the multi-disaster risk map as a combination between the floods, landslides and earthquake disaster risk in Klaten Regency. The established multi-disaster risk map shows the risk level in the Klaten Regency, i.e., 16.31% at very low risk, 33.01% at low risk, 34.49% at medium risk, at 14.22% high risk and 1.97% at very high risk.

Methodology identification in mass disasters

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Ampudia García, Omar

2014-01-01

Major disasters in Perul ack from a treatment plan and adapt to the current reality. Were rare and limited to natural disasters such as major earthquakes, floods, torrential rains, erupting volcanoes, and so on.At first these disasters were limited to certain geographic areas ingeneral,but with the advancement of science and technology these events have soared alarming lyas rail crashes, plane crashes, car crashes going at high speed,and if we add the attacks by fundamentalist groups with car...

Mental Health Services Required after Disasters: Learning from the Lasting Effects of Disasters

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A. C. McFarlane

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Disasters test civil administrations’ and health services’ capacity to act in a flexible but well-coordinated manner because each disaster is unique and poses unusual challenges. The health services required differ markedly according to the nature of the disaster and the geographical spread of those affected. Epidemiology has shown that services need to be equipped to deal with major depressive disorder and grief, not just posttraumatic stress disorder, and not only for victims of the disaster itself but also the emergency service workers. The challenge is for specialist advisers to respect and understand the existing health care and support networks of those affected while also recognizing their limitations. In the initial aftermath of these events, a great deal of effort goes into the development of early support systems but the longer term needs of these populations are often underestimated. These services need to be structured, taking into account the pre-existing psychiatric morbidity within the community. Disasters are an opportunity for improving services for patients with posttraumatic psychopathology in general but can later be utilized for improving services for victims of more common traumas in modern society, such as accidents and interpersonal violence.

Disaster Governance and Vulnerability: The Case of Chile

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Vicente Sandoval

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This exploratory work seeks to shed light on disaster governance by looking into potential linkages between the production of vulnerability and disaster governance in Chile. Our point of investigation is the case of post-disaster Chaitén and the Chilean model of Disaster Risk Management. The work begins by situating disaster governance and the production of vulnerability in a broader context of existing governance system that includes a multiplicity of actors and socio-economic, socio-ecological, and political processes. Coming from a multi-scalar perspective, we use the disaster Pressure and Release (PAR model to enable a differentiated analysis of the multiplicity of actors, rules, and processes related to DRM that participate in the production of disaster vulnerability in the current Chaitén. With this we address the questions as to ‘why’ the Chilean model of DRM is prominently centralised and ‘what’ are the effects on the production of disaster vulnerability for the case of post-disaster Chaitén.

Proceedings of the international conference on disaster management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murthy, D.S. Ramachandra; Partheeban, P.; Asha, P.; Raju, H. Prasad

2014-01-01

Disasters disrupt progress and destroy the hard-earned fruits of painstaking developmental efforts, often pushing nations, in quest for progress, back by several decades. Efficient management of disasters, rather than mere response to their occurrence has, in recent times, received increased attention both within India and abroad. This is as much a result of the recognition of the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters as it is an acknowledgement that good governance, in a caring and civilized society, needs to deal effectively with the devastating impact of disasters. India is vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of natural as well as man-made disasters. 58.6 per cent of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of moderate to very high intensity; over 40 million hectares (12 per cent of lend) is prone to floods and river erosion; of the 7,516 km long coastline, close to 5,700 km is prone to cyclones and tsunamis; 68 per cent of the cultivable area is vulnerable to drought and hilly areas are at risk from landslides and avalanches. 'Vulnerability to disasters/ emergencies of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) origin also exists. Heightened vulnerabilities to disaster risks can be related to expanding population, urbanization and industrialization, development within high-risk zones, environmental degradation and climate change. The National Policy on disaster management enacted as Disaster Management Act in 2005, envisages capacity building on various aspects of disaster management at various levels. Disaster management includes measures for disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, disaster preparation, response and reconstruction. The present status and gaps in knowledge on the above topics are discussed during the conference. Papers relevant to INIS are indexed separately

Disaster waste management: a review article.

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Brown, Charlotte; Milke, Mark; Seville, Erica

2011-06-01

Depending on their nature and severity, disasters can create large volumes of debris and waste. The waste can overwhelm existing solid waste management facilities and impact on other emergency response and recovery activities. If poorly managed, the waste can have significant environmental and public health impacts and can affect the overall recovery process. This paper presents a system overview of disaster waste management based on existing literature. The main literature available to date comprises disaster waste management plans or guidelines and isolated case studies. There is ample discussion on technical management options such as temporary storage sites, recycling, disposal, etc.; however, there is little or no guidance on how these various management options are selected post-disaster. The literature does not specifically address the impact or appropriateness of existing legislation, organisational structures and funding mechanisms on disaster waste management programmes, nor does it satisfactorily cover the social impact of disaster waste management programmes. It is envisaged that the discussion presented in this paper, and the literature gaps identified, will form a basis for future comprehensive and cohesive research on disaster waste management. In turn, research will lead to better preparedness and response to disaster waste management problems. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Field Organization and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams

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Ibrahim ARZIMAN

2015-10-01

Full Text Available SUMMARY: Disasters cause an acute deterioration in all stages of life. An area affected by the disaster in which the normal activities of life are disrupted is described as a “Field” in disaster terminology. Although it is not easy to define the borders of this zone, the area where there is normally functioning society is accepted as the boundary. Disaster management is the responsibility of the local government. However, in many large disaster responses many non-governmental and international organizations play a role. A Disaster Medical Team is a trained, mobile, self-contained, self-sufficient, multidisciplinary medical team that can act in the acute phase of a sudden-onset disaster (48 to 72 hours after its occurrence to provide medical treatment in the affected area. The medical team can include physicians, nurses, paramedics and EMTS, technicians, personnel to manage logistics, security and others. Various models of Disaster Medical Teams can be observed around the world. There is paucity of evidence based literature regarding DMTs. There is a need for epidemiological studies with rigorous designs and sampling. In this section of the special edition of the journal, field organizations in health management during disasters will be summarized, with emphasis on preparedness and response phases, and disaster medical teams will be discussed. Keywords: Field organization, disaster, medical team, DMAT

Community Disaster and Sustainability Teams for Civil Protection

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Kelman, I.; Cordonnier, B.

2009-04-01

Many examples of community-based teams for civil protection and disaster risk reduction exist. Turkey has a Community Disaster Volunteer Training Program while the USA has Community Emergency Response Teams which have been extended into secondary schools as Teen School Emergency Response Training. The principles and practices of these teams further apply directly to other development and sustainability endeavours, all of which are intricately linked to disaster risk reduction and civil protection. An example is keeping local water courses and storm drains clear from rubbish. That improves community health and cleanliness while assisting rainfall drainage to reduce flood risk. The "community teams" concept, as implemented for civil protection and disaster risk reduction, therefore connects with day-to-day living, such as ensuring that all community members have adequate access to water, food, waste management, shelter, health care, education, and energy. Community teams should be based on the best science and pedagogy available to ensure that concepts, training, skills, and implementation are effective and are maintained over the long-term. That entails going beyond the interest that is commonly generated by highlighting high-profile events, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, or high-profile concerns, such as climate change or terrorism. When community teams are focused on high-profile challenges, maintaining interest can be difficult without specific manifestations of the perceived "number one threat". Incorporating day-to-day concerns into civil protection can overcome that. For example, the community teams' talents and energy could be used for picking up rubbish, for educating about health and waste disposal, and for conducting vulnerability assessments in order to inspire action for continual vulnerability reduction. In addition to the examples given above, Japan's Jishu-bosai-soshiki community activities and Asia's "Townwatch" initiative adopt wider and deeper

[Disaster nursing and primary school teachers' disaster-related healthcare knowledge and skills].

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Lai, Fu-Chih; Lei, Hsin-Min; Fang, Chao-Ming; Chen, Jiun-Jung; Chen, Bor-An

2012-06-01

The World Bank has ranked Taiwan as the 5th highest risk country in the world in terms of full-spectrum disaster risk. With volatile social, economic, and geologic environments and the real threat of typhoons, earthquakes, and nuclear disasters, the government has made a public appeal to raise awareness and reduce the impact of disasters. Disasters not only devastate property and the ecology, but also cause striking and long-lasting impacts on life and health. Thus, healthcare preparation and capabilities are critical to reducing their impact. Relevant disaster studies indicate children as a particularly vulnerable group during a disaster due to elevated risks of physical injury, infectious disease, malnutrition, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Primary school teachers are frontline educators, responders, and rehabilitators, respectively, prior to, during, and after disasters. The disaster prevention project implemented by the Taiwan Ministry of Education provides national guidelines for disaster prevention and education. However, within these guidelines, the focus of elementary school disaster prevention education is on disaster prevention and mitigation. Little guidance or focus has been given to disaster nursing response protocols necessary to handle issues such as post-disaster infectious diseases, chronic disease management, and psychological health and rehabilitation. Disaster nursing can strengthen the disaster healthcare response capabilities of school teachers, school nurses, and children as well as facilitate effective cooperation among communities, disaster relief institutes, and schools. Disaster nursing can also provide healthcare knowledge essential to increase disaster awareness, preparation, response, and rehabilitation. Implementing proper disaster nursing response protocols in Taiwan's education system is critical to enhancing disaster preparedness in Taiwan.

Disaster medicine. Mental care

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haginoya, Masato; Shimoda, Kazutaka

2012-01-01

Described are 5 essential comments of view concerning the post-disaster psychiatric care through authors' experience at the aid of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami including Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident. Firstly, at the acute phase of disaster, the ensured safe place, sleep and rest are necessary as a direct aid of sufferers and their family. Insomnia is seen in many of them and can partly be a prodrome of disorders like post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). US Psychological First Aid (PFA) is useful for a guide of the initial aid for disaster, and translated Japanese version is available free. Public anxiety as a psychological effect can be caused even out of the disaster-stricken area by such factors as on-site news reports (inducing identification), internet information, economical and social confusion, forecasted radiation hazard, etc. Cool-headed understanding is required for them and particularly for complicated radiological information. The system for psychiatric treatment is needed as exemplified by its temporary lack due to the radiation disaster near the Plant and consequent prompt dispatch of psychiatrists from Dokkyo Medical University. Survived sufferers' grief and bereavement are said to tend to last long, to be complicated and deteriorated, indicating the necessity of management of continuous mental health. Alcoholism as a result to avoid those feelings should be noted. Finally, pointed out is the mental care for supporters working for recovery from the disaster, like policeman, Self-Defense Force member, fireman, doctor, nurse, officer, volunteer and many others concerned, because PTSD prevalence is reported to amount to 12.4% of rescue and recovery workers of US World Trade Center Disaster (9.11) even 2-3 years after. (T.T.)

Disaster waste management in Italy: Analysis of recent case studies.

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Gabrielli, Francesco; Amato, Alessia; Balducci, Susanna; Magi Galluzzi, Lorenzo; Beolchini, Francesca

2018-01-01

The geomorphology of the Italian territory causes the incidence of many disasters like earthquakes and floods, with the consequent production of large volumes of waste. The management of such huge flows, produced in a very short time, may have a high impact on the whole emergency response. Moreover, historical data related to disaster waste management are often not easily accessible; on the other hand, the availability of data concerning previous events could support the emergency managers, that have to take a decision in a very short time. In this context, the present paper analyses four relevant recent case studies in Italy, dealing with disaster waste management after geologic and hydrologic natural events. Significant differences have been observed in the quantity and types of generated wastes, and, also, in the management approach. Such differences are mainly associated with the kind of disaster (i.e. earthquake vs. flood), to the geographical location (i.e. internal vs. coastal area), to the urbanisation level (i.e. industrial vs. urban). The study allowed the identification of both strengths and weaknesses of the applied waste management strategies, that represent "lessons to learn" for future scenarios. Even though it deals with Italian case studies, this manuscript may have a high impact also at international level, making available for the first-time emergency waste management data, that are considered an indispensable support for decision makers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mapping for the masses: using free remote sensing data for disaster management

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Teeuw, R.; McWilliam, N.; Morris, N.; Saunders, C.

2009-04-01

We examine the uses of free satellite imagery and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for disaster management, targeting three data sources: the United Nations Charter on Space and Disasters, Google Earth and internet-based satellite data archives, such as the Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF). The research has assessed SRTM and ASTER DEM data, Landsat TM/ETM+ and ASTER imagery, as well as utilising datasets and basic GIS operations available via Google Earth. As an aid to Disaster Risk Reduction, four sets of maps can be produced from satellite data: (i) Multiple Geohazards: areas prone to slope instability, coastal inundation and fluvial flooding; (ii) Vulnerability: population density, habitation types, land cover types and infrastructure; (iii) Disaster Risk: produced by combining severity scores from (i) and (ii); (iv) Reconstruction: zones of rock/sediment with construction uses; areas of woodland (for fuel/construction) water sources; transport routes; zones suitable for re-settlement. This set of Disaster Risk Reduction maps are ideal for regional (1:50,000 to 1:250,000 scale) planning for in low-income countries: more detailed assessments require relatively expensive high resolution satellite imagery or aerial photography, although Google Earth has a good track record for posting high-res imagery of disaster zones (e.g. the 2008 Burma storm surge). The Disaster Risk maps highlight areas of maximum risk to a region's emergency planners and decision makers, enabling various types of public education and other disaster mitigation measures. The Reconstruction map also helps to save lives, by facilitating disaster recovery. Many problems have been identified. Access to the UN Charter imagery is fine after a disaster, but very difficult if assessing pre-disaster indicators: the data supplied also tends to be pre-processed, when some relief agencies would prefer to have raw data. The limited and expensive internet access in many developing countries limits access to

Real-time Forensic Disaster Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Wenzel, F.; Daniell, J.; Khazai, B.; Mühr, B.; Kunz-Plapp, T.; Markus, M.; Vervaeck, A.

2012-04-01

The Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM, www.cedim.de) - an interdisciplinary research center founded by the German Research Centre for Geoscience (GFZ) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) - has embarked on a new style of disaster research known as Forensic Disaster Analysis. The notion has been coined by the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk initiative (IRDR, www.irdrinternational.org) launched by ICSU in 2010. It has been defined as an approach to studying natural disasters that aims at uncovering the root causes of disasters through in-depth investigations that go beyond the reconnaissance reports and case studies typically conducted after disasters. In adopting this comprehensive understanding of disasters CEDIM adds a real-time component to the assessment and evaluation process. By comprehensive we mean that most if not all relevant aspects of disasters are considered and jointly analysed. This includes the impact (human, economy, and infrastructure), comparisons with recent historic events, social vulnerability, reconstruction and long-term impacts on livelihood issues. The forensic disaster analysis research mode is thus best characterized as "event-based research" through systematic investigation of critical issues arising after a disaster across various inter-related areas. The forensic approach requires (a) availability of global data bases regarding previous earthquake losses, socio-economic parameters, building stock information, etc.; (b) leveraging platforms such as the EERI clearing house, relief-web, and the many sources of local and international sources where information is organized; and (c) rapid access to critical information (e.g., crowd sourcing techniques) to improve our understanding of the complex dynamics of disasters. The main scientific questions being addressed are: What are critical factors that control loss of life, of infrastructure, and for economy? What are the critical interactions

When is exposure to a natural disaster traumatic? Comparison of a trauma questionnaire and disaster exposure inventory.

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Emily W Harville

Full Text Available Few studies have compared the sensitivity of trauma questionnaires to disaster inventories for assessing the prevalence of exposure to natural disaster or associated risk for post-disaster psychopathology. The objective of this analysis was to compare reporting of disaster exposure on a trauma questionnaire (Brief Trauma Questionnaire [BTQ] to an inventory of disaster experience. Between 2011 and 2014, a sample of 841 reproductive-aged southern Louisiana women were interviewed using the BTQ and completed a detailed inventory about exposure to hurricanes and flooding. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD symptomology was measured with the Post-Traumatic Stress Checklist, and depression with the Edinburgh Depression Scale. The single question addressing disaster exposure on the BTQ had a sensitivity of between 65% and 70% relative to the more detailed questions. Reporting disaster exposure on the BTQ was more likely for those who reported illness/injury due to a hurricane or flood (74%-77% or danger (77-79%, compared to those who reported damage (69-71% or evacuation (64-68%. Reporting disaster exposure on the BTQ was associated with depression (odds ratio [OR] 2.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43-3.68. A single question is unlikely to be useful for assessing the degree of exposure to disaster across a broad population, and varies in utility depending on the mental health outcome of interest: the single trauma question is useful for assessing depression risk.

Long-term monitoring on environmental disasters using multi-source remote sensing technique

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Kuo, Y. C.; Chen, C. F.

2017-12-01

Environmental disasters are extreme events within the earth's system that cause deaths and injuries to humans, as well as causing damages and losses of valuable assets, such as buildings, communication systems, farmlands, forest and etc. In disaster management, a large amount of multi-temporal spatial data is required. Multi-source remote sensing data with different spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions is widely applied on environmental disaster monitoring. With multi-source and multi-temporal high resolution images, we conduct rapid, systematic and seriate observations regarding to economic damages and environmental disasters on earth. It is based on three monitoring platforms: remote sensing, UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) and ground investigation. The advantages of using UAS technology include great mobility and availability in real-time rapid and more flexible weather conditions. The system can produce long-term spatial distribution information from environmental disasters, obtaining high-resolution remote sensing data and field verification data in key monitoring areas. It also supports the prevention and control on ocean pollutions, illegally disposed wastes and pine pests in different scales. Meanwhile, digital photogrammetry can be applied on the camera inside and outside the position parameters to produce Digital Surface Model (DSM) data. The latest terrain environment information is simulated by using DSM data, and can be used as references in disaster recovery in the future.

Natural disasters and suicide: evidence from Japan.

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Matsubayashi, Tetsuya; Sawada, Yasuyuki; Ueda, Michiko

2013-04-01

Previous research shows no consensus as to whether and how natural disasters affect suicide rates in their aftermath. Using prefecture-level panel data of natural disasters and suicide in Japan between 1982 and 2010, we estimate both contemporaneous and lagged effects of natural disasters on the suicide rates of various demographic groups. We find that when the damage caused by natural disasters is extremely large, as in the case of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, suicide rates tend to increase in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and several years later. However, when the damage by natural disasters is less severe, suicide rates tend to decrease after the disasters, especially one or two years later. Thus, natural disasters affect the suicide rates of affected populations in a complicated way, depending on the severity of damages as well as on how many years have passed since the disaster. We also find that the effects of natural disasters on suicide rates vary considerably across demographic groups, which suggests that some population subgroups are more vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters than others. We then test the possibility that natural disasters enhance people's willingness to help others in society, an effect that may work as a protective factor against disaster victims' suicidal risks. We find that natural disasters increase the level of social ties in affected communities, which may mitigate some of the adverse consequence of natural disasters, resulting in a decline in suicide rates. Our findings also indicate that when natural disasters are highly destructive and disruptive, such protective features of social connectedness are unlikely to be enough to compensate for the severe negative impact of disasters on health outcomes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Himalayan/Karakoram Disaster After Disaster: The Pain Will Not Be Ending Anytime Soon

Science.gov (United States)

Kargel, J. S.; Leonard, G. J.

2013-12-01

Are recent natural disasters in the Himalaya/Karakoram partly human-caused? Will disasters diminish or increase in frequency? Natural disasters in this region are nothing new. Earthquakes, floods, landslides, avalanches, and debris flows have occurred in the Himalaya/Karakoram since the mountains first grew from the sea. Simply put, the Himalaya/Karakoram, being South Asia's 'water tower' and an active plate tectonic collision zone, must shed water and debris to the lowlands and the sea. When this activity occurs swiftly and with high intensity at or near human settlements, the results are often deadly. Remote sensing analysis of recent disasters coupled with demography, news accounts, and field studies indicate that there is a component of human responsibility. Two overarching human elements include (1) settlement and infrastructure encroachment into hazardous mountain areas and (2) aggravation of climate change. Both are substantially responsible--separately or together--for most of the recent tragedies. These conclusions provide the answer to when the disasters will end: not soon. Unfortunately, disasters will almost surely increase. Whether natural disasters have increased in frequency over the region's long historical record may be debated and must be researched. This expected link is a challenge to assess due to the stochastic nature of disasters and their triggering events (e.g., earthquakes and extreme weather events). While Himalayan tectonism, rock mechanics, glaciation, and climate are fundamental causes of the disasters, so are human land uses. Encroaching development into ever-hazardous zones is a paramount cause of much human tragedy. Climate change is harder to pin down specifically as a cause of some of these disasters, because some disasters are linked to rare extreme weather events and mass movements, which may be statistically but not individually attributable in part to climate change. Nevertheless, evidence supports a major role of climate

The Challenge of Timely, Responsive and Rigorous Ethics Review of Disaster Research: Views of Research Ethics Committee Members.

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Matthew Hunt

Full Text Available Research conducted following natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods or hurricanes is crucial for improving relief interventions. Such research, however, poses ethical, methodological and logistical challenges for researchers. Oversight of disaster research also poses challenges for research ethics committees (RECs, in part due to the rapid turnaround needed to initiate research after a disaster. Currently, there is limited knowledge available about how RECs respond to and appraise disaster research. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the experiences of REC members who had reviewed disaster research conducted in low- or middle-income countries.We used interpretive description methodology and conducted in-depth interviews with 15 respondents. Respondents were chairs, members, advisors, or coordinators from 13 RECs, including RECs affiliated with universities, governments, international organizations, a for-profit REC, and an ad hoc committee established during a disaster. Interviews were analyzed inductively using constant comparative techniques.Through this process, three elements were identified as characterizing effective and high-quality review: timeliness, responsiveness and rigorousness. To ensure timeliness, many RECs rely on adaptations of review procedures for urgent protocols. Respondents emphasized that responsive review requires awareness of and sensitivity to the particularities of disaster settings and disaster research. Rigorous review was linked with providing careful assessment of ethical considerations related to the research, as well as ensuring independence of the review process.Both the frequency of disasters and the conduct of disaster research are on the rise. Ensuring effective and high quality review of disaster research is crucial, yet challenges, including time pressures for urgent protocols, exist for achieving this goal. Adapting standard REC procedures may be necessary. However, steps should be

Natural disasters and gender dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Roder, Giulia; Tarolli, Paolo

2016-04-01

Worldwide statistics reveal that the increasing number of risks and disaster impacts within the last decades have caused highly severe damages, with high death toll and huge economic damages (World Bank, 2010). As a consequence people's vulnerabilities have increased disproportionally in recent years. Individuals' ability to anticipate, prepare, cope, respond and recover from disasters differs according to some socio-economic attributes present in each community. The research on natural disasters in a gendered perspective is fairly limited compared to other variables. In fact, the need to track social vulnerabilities and investigate gender dynamics into all levels of the disaster life cycle has been recognized only recently, during the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (March 2015). For this purpose, we propose a review of the literature regarding the ways men and women conceptualise natural disasters, prepare and react, both physically and psychologically, to catastrophic events. This work tries to give some interpretation to these subjects analysing the social context in which sex discrepancies are developed, in different countries, cultures and in various socio-economic backgrounds. Findings highlighted that women perceived more the risk, and they have developed personal strategies to better react and withstand the impacts of negative occurrences. Being at home, working in the house and caring the children have been always placed them at a higher exposure to disasters. However, these circumstances, they gave them the means to organize the family for evacuations thanks to their deep knowledge of the territory they live and the neighbourhood networks they create. Women seem to be not sole victims, but valuable resources able to take leading roles in building disaster resilience. Some case studies, however, continue to demonstrate a female's higher fear and powerless face hazardous events than their counterparts, showing various mental health disorders

Disaster risk assessment pattern in higher education centers

OpenAIRE

M. Omidvari; J. Nouri; M. Mapar

2015-01-01

Disasters are one of the most important challenges which must be considered by every management system. Higher education centers have high disaster risk because of their risk factors (existence of historical and scientific documents and resources and expensive laboratory equipment in these centers emphasizes the importance of disaster management). Moreover, the existence of young volunteers of human resources in universities urges the necessity of making these people familiar with disaster ma...

Why a disaster is not just normal business ramped up: Disaster response among ED nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammad, Karen S; Arbon, Paul; Gebbie, Kristine; Hutton, Alison

2017-11-15

The emergency department (ED) is a familiar place for the emergency nurse who spends their working days inside it. A disaster threatens that familiarity and creates changes that make working in the ED during a disaster response different from the everyday experience of working in the ED. This research reports on an aspect of the findings from a larger study about the experience of working as a nurse in the ED during a disaster response. Thirteen nurses from 8 different countries were interviewed about their experience. The findings from this research demonstrate that a disaster event leads to a chain reaction of changes in process, space and practice. Nurses' respond to the news of a disaster event with shock and disbelief. The ED may change as a result of the event requiring nurses to work in an altered environment or a completely different setting. These changes provoke nurses to alter their behaviour and practice and reflect on the experience after the response. Emergency nurses have a high likelihood of participating in disaster response and as such should be adequately prepared. This highlights how disaster response is different and leads to recommendations to enhance training for emergency nurses which will better prepare them Disasterresponse is not normal business ramped up. There are a number of challenges and changes that should be considered when preparing emergency nurses for the realities of disaster response. Copyright © 2017 College of Emergency Nursing Australasia. All rights reserved.

Mobile satellite services for public safety, disaster mitigation and disaster medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Freibaum, Jerry

1990-01-01

Between 1967 and 1987 nearly three million lives were lost and property damage of $25 to $100 billion resulted form natural disasters that adversely affected more than 829 million people. The social and economic impacts have been staggering and are expected to grow more serious as a result of changing demographic factors. The role that the Mobile Satellite Service can play in the International Decade is discussed. MSS was not available for disaster relief operations during the recent Loma Prieta/San Francisco earthquake. However, the results of a review of the performance of seven other communication services with respect to public sector operations during and shortly after the earthquake are described. The services surveyed were: public and private telephone, mobile radio telephone, noncellular mobile radio, broadcast media, CB radio, ham radio, and government and nongovernment satellite systems. The application of MSS to disaster medicine, particularly with respect to the Armenian earthquake is also discussed.

Disaster Risk Education of Final Year High School Students Requires a Partnership with Families and Charity Organizations: An International Cross-sectional Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Codreanu, Tudor A; Celenza, Antonio; Ngo, Hanh

2016-06-01

Introduction The aim of disaster reduction education (DRE) is to achieve behavioral change. Over the past two decades, many efforts have been directed towards this goal, but educational activities have been developed based on unverified assumptions. Further, the literature has not identified any significant change towards disaster preparedness at the individual level. In addition, previous research suggests that change is dependent on multiple independent predictors. It is difficult to determine what specific actions DRE might result in; therefore, the preamble of such an action, which is to have discussions about it, has been chosen as the surrogate outcome measure for DRE success. This study describes the relationship of the perceived entity responsible for disaster education, disaster education per se, sex, and country-specific characteristics, with students discussing disasters with friends and family as a measure of proactive behavioral change in disaster preparedness. A total of 3,829 final year high school students participated in an international, multi-center prospective, cross-sectional study using a validated questionnaire. Nine countries with different levels of disaster exposure risk and economic development were surveyed. Regression analyses examined the relationship between the likelihood of discussing disasters with friends and family (dependent variable) and a series of independent variables. There was no statistically significant relationship between a single entity responsible for disaster education and discussions about potential hazards and risks with friends and/or family. While several independent predictors showed a significant main effect, DRE through school lessons in interaction with Family & Charity Organizations had the highest predictive value. Disaster reduction education might require different delivery channels and methods and should engage with the entities with which the teenagers are more likely to collaborate. Codreanu TA

The Effect of Urban Green Infrastructure on Disaster Mitigation in Korea

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So Yoon Kim

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Increasing precipitation by climate change and the growing number of impervious areas present greater risk of disaster damage in urban areas. Urban green infrastructure can be an effective mitigation alternative in highly developed and concentrated area. This study investigates the effect of various types of urban green infrastructure on mitigating disaster damage in Korea. Tobit model is used to analyze the factors that determine disaster damage. Damage variation is predicted with scenarios of RCP 8.5 and urban green spaces. Seventy-four districts and counties in seven metropolitan areas are defined as the unit and the period from 2005 to 2013 is considered in the analysis. The results indicate that higher urban green ratio, sewer length, financial independence rate, and local government’s budget are relating to lower disaster damage. Based on a precipitation level of RCP 8.5 scenario in 2050, an increase in economic damage is expected to range from 262 to 1086%. However, with an increase in urban green ratio by 10%, increased economic damage is only expected to range from 217 to 1013%. The results suggest that green spaces play important role to mitigate precipitation related disasters. Highly concentrated urban areas need to consider various types of urban green infrastructure to prepare for an increase in precipitation due to climate change.

Tsunami-affected Scandinavian tourists: disaster exposure and post-traumatic stress symptoms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heir, Trond; Rosendal, Susanne; Bergh-Johannesson, Kerstin

2011-01-01

Studies of short- and long-term mental effects of natural disasters have reported a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress. Less is known about disaster-exposed tourists repatriated to stable societies.......Studies of short- and long-term mental effects of natural disasters have reported a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress. Less is known about disaster-exposed tourists repatriated to stable societies....

Records and Information Disaster Preparedness in Selected ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study looked at the availability of rules and regulations governing access to and use of records; threats to records management; disaster response plan; extent to which organizations are committed in four major stages of disaster management in organizations in Uganda. In gathering the data, structured questionnaire ...

Spatial and temporal distribution of geophysical disasters

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Cvetković Vladimir

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Natural disasters of all kinds (meteorological, hydrological, geophysical, climatological and biological are increasingly becoming part of everyday life of modern human. The consequences are often devastating, to the life, health and property of people, as well to the security of states and the entire international regions. In this regard, we noted the need for a comprehensive investigation of the phenomenology of natural disasters. In addition, it is particularly important to pay attention to the different factors that might correlate with each other to indicate more dubious and more original facts about their characteristics. However, as the issue of natural disasters is very wide, the subject of this paper will be forms, consequences, temporal and spatial distribution of geophysical natural disasters, while analysis of other disasters will be the subject of our future research. Using an international database on natural disasters of the centre for research on the epidemiology of disasters (CRED based in Brussels, with the support of the statistical analysis (SPSS, we tried to point out the number, trends, consequences, the spatial and temporal distribution of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and dry mass movements in the world, from 1900 to 2013.

Promoting Disaster Science and Disaster Science Communities as Part of Sound Disaster Preparedness

Science.gov (United States)

McNutt, M. K.

2015-12-01

During disasters, effectively engaging the vast expertise of the academic community can help responders make timely and critical decisions. A barrier to such engagement, however, is the cultural gap between reward systems in academia and in the disaster response community. Responders often are focused on ending the emergency quickly with minimal damage. Academic scientists often need to produce peer reviewed publications to justify their use of time and money. Each community is used to speaking to different audiences, and delivering answers on their own time scales. One approach to bridge this divide is to foster a cohesive community of interdisciplinary disaster scientists: researchers who focus on crises that severely and negatively disrupt the environment or threaten human health, and are able to apply scientific methods in a timely manner to understand how to prevent, mitigate, respond to, or recover from such events. Once organized, a disaster science community could develop its own unique culture. It is well known in the disaster response community that all the preparation that takes place before an event ever occurs is what truly makes the difference in reducing response time, improving coordination, and ultimately reducing impacts. In the same vein, disaster scientists would benefit from consistently interacting with the response community. The advantage of building a community for all disasters, rather than for just one type, is that it will help researchers maintain momentum between emergencies, which may be decades or more apart. Every disaster poses similar challenges: Knowing when to speak to the press and what to say; how to get rapid, actionable peer review; how to keep proprietary industry information confidential; how to develop "no regrets" actions; and how to communicate with decision makers and the public. During the Deepwater Horizonspill, I personally worked with members of the academic research community who cared not whether they got a peer

International Space Station Instmments Collect Imagery of Natural Disasters

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Evans, C. A.; Stefanov, W. L.

2013-01-01

A new focus for utilization of the International Space Station (ISS) is conducting basic and applied research that directly benefits Earth's citizenry. In the Earth Sciences, one such activity is collecting remotely sensed imagery of disaster areas and making those data immediately available through the USGS Hazards Data Distribution System, especially in response to activations of the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters (known informally as the "International Disaster Charter", or IDC). The ISS, together with other NASA orbital sensor assets, responds to IDC activations following notification by the USGS. Most of the activations are due to natural hazard events, including large floods, impacts of tropical systems, major fires, and volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Through the ISS Program Science Office, we coordinate with ISS instrument teams for image acquisition using several imaging systems. As of 1 August 2013, we have successfully contributed imagery data in support of 14 Disaster Charter Activations, including regions in both Haiti and the east coast of the US impacted by Hurricane Sandy; flooding events in Russia, Mozambique, India, Germany and western Africa; and forest fires in Algeria and Ecuador. ISS-based sensors contributing data include the Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO), the ISERV (ISS SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System) Pathfinder camera mounted in the US Window Observational Research Facility (WORF), the ISS Agricultural Camera (ISSAC), formerly operating from the WORF, and high resolution handheld camera photography collected by crew members (Crew Earth Observations). When orbital parameters and operations support data collection, ISS-based imagery adds to the resources available to disaster response teams and contributes to the publicdomain record of these events for later analyses.

Towards a politics of disaster response: presidential disaster instructions in China, 1998-2012.

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Tao, Peng; Chen, Chunliang

2018-04-01

China's disaster management system contains no law-based presidential disaster declarations; however, the national leader's instructions (pishi in Chinese) play a similar role to disaster declarations, which increase the intensity of disaster relief. This raises the question of what affects presidential disaster instructions within an authoritarian regime. This research shows that China's disaster politics depend on a crisis threshold system for operation and that the public and social features of disasters are at the core of this system. China's political cycle has no significant impact on disaster politics. A change in the emergency management system has a significant bearing on presidential disaster instructions, reflecting the strong influence of the concept of rule of law and benefiting the sustainable development of the emergency management system. In terms of disaster politics research, unlocking the black box of China's disaster politics and increasing the number of comparative political studies will benefit the development of empirical and theoretical study. © 2018 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2018.

Research and Evaluations of the Health Aspects of Disasters, Part II: The Disaster Health Conceptual Framework Revisited.

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Birnbaum, Marvin L; Daily, Elaine K; O'Rourke, Ann P; Loretti, Alessandro

2015-10-01

A Conceptual Framework upon which the study of disasters can be organized is essential for understanding the epidemiology of disasters, as well as the interventions/responses undertaken. Application of the structure provided by the Conceptual Framework should facilitate the development of the science of Disaster Health. This Framework is based on deconstructions of the commonly used Disaster Management Cycle. The Conceptual Framework incorporates the steps that occur as a hazard progresses to a disaster. It describes an event that results from the changes in the release of energy from a hazard that may cause Structural Damages that in turn, may result in Functional Damages (decreases in levels of function) that produce needs (goods and services required). These needs can be met by the goods and services that are available during normal, day-to-day operations of the community, or the resources that are contained within the community's Response Capacity (ie, an Emergency), or by goods and services provided from outside of the affected area (outside response capacities). Whenever the Local Response Capacity is unable to meet the needs, and the Response Capacities from areas outside of the affected community are required, a disaster occurs. All responses, whether in the Relief or Recovery phases of a disaster, are interventions that use the goods, services, and resources contained in the Response Capacity (local or outside). Responses may be directed at preventing/mitigating further deterioration in levels of functions (damage control, deaths, injuries, diseases, morbidity, and secondary events) in the affected population and filling the gaps in available services created by Structural Damages (compromise in available goods, services, and/or resources; ie, Relief Responses), or may be directed toward returning the affected community and its components to the pre-event functional state (ie, Recovery Responses). Hazard Mitigation includes interventions designed to

Using the RE-AIM Framework to Evaluate Disaster Recovery Videos

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Sarah Cronin

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Natural disasters both increase and cause financial challenges for survivors. Crisis support reduces negative outcomes such as financial stress, yet survivors are often unaware or unable to access available services. Aiming to innovatively improve access to quality financial education and to support financial recovery post-disaster, a video series was developed with a community advisory board. The RE-AIM framework informed a developmental evaluation measuring the videos’ influence. Results indicated majority of participants have used or intend to use the videos in their disaster work. This indicates the video series may be a helpful tool for disaster responders when providing financial recovery support.

Disaster forensics understanding root cause and complex causality

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

This book aims to uncover the root causes of natural and man-made disasters by going beyond the typical reports and case studies conducted post-disaster. It opens the black box of disasters by presenting ‘forensic analysis approaches’ to disasters, thereby revealing the complex causality that characterizes them and explaining how and why hazards do, or do not, become disasters. This yields ‘systemic’ strategies for managing disasters. Recently the global threat landscape has seen the emergence of high impact, low probability events. Events like Hurricane Katrina, the Great Japan Earthquake and tsunami, Hurricane Sandy, Super Typhoon Haiyan, global terrorist activities have become the new norm. Extreme events challenge our understanding regarding the interdependencies and complexity of the disaster aetiology and are often referred to as Black Swans. Between 2002 and 2011, there were 4130 disasters recorded that resulted from natural hazards around the world. In these, 1,117,527 people perished and a mi...

Disaster management and risk reduction in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Bruwer, A

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction concludes that the mortality and economic loss associated with extensive risks (minor but recurrent disaster risks) in low- and middle-income countries are trending up. In the last decade...

The NASA Applied Science Program Disasters Area: Disaster Applications Research and Response

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, J. J.; Lindsay, F. E.; Stough, T.; Jones, C. E.

2014-12-01

The goal of the Natural Disaster Application Area is to use NASA's capabilities in spaceborne, airborne, surface observations, higher-level derived data products, and modeling and data analysis to improve natural disaster forecasting, mitigation, and response. The Natural Disaster Application Area applies its remote sensing observations, modeling and analysis capabilities to provide hazard and disaster information where and when it is needed. Our application research activities specifically contribute to 1) Understanding the natural processes that produce hazards, 2)Developing hazard mitigation technologies, and 3)Recognizing vulnerability of interdependent critical infrastructure. The Natural Disasters Application area selects research projects through a rigorous, impartial peer-review process that address a broad spectrum of disasters which afflict populations within the United States, regionally and globally. Currently there are 19 active projects in the research portfolio which address the detection, characterization, forecasting and response to a broad range of natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and ash dispersion, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, tornado damage assessment, oil spills and disaster data mining. The Disasters team works with federal agencies to aid the government in meeting the challenges associated with natural disaster response and to transfer technologies to agencies as they become operational. Internationally, the Disasters Area also supports the Committee on Earth Observations Working Group on Disasters, and the International Charter on Space and Disasters to increase, strengthen, and coordinate contributions of NASA Earth-observing satellites and applications products to disaster risk management. The CEOS group will lead pilot efforts focused on identifying key systems to support flooding, earthquake, and volcanic events.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN LOCAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT: A PANACEA TO ALL LOCAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT ILLS?

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Angela van der Berg

2015-11-01

Full Text Available It is anticipated that the occurrence and intensity of disasters will increase globally and in South Africa where typical disasters include droughts, floods, extreme hailstorms, gales, fires and earthquakes, as well as sinkholes arising from mining activity in dolomitic areas. Disasters such as these result in human suffering and damage to the resources and infrastructure on which South Africans rely for their survival and the maintenance of their quality of life. Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 affords to everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to his or her health and well-being. It may be argued that a person's sense of environmental security in relation to the potential risks and dangers of disaster falls within the scope of the protection provided by section 24. The responsibility to intervene for the protection of the interests inherent in the constitutional environmental right lies with the government of South Africa. Disaster management specifically is a functional area of competence of national and provincial government, but practice has shown that the actual implementation of and planning for disaster management happens in the local government sphere. Against the backdrop of these introductory discussions and, given the fact that several municipalities in South Africa are under-resourced, this article very specifically aims to critically discuss and describe from a legal perspective the potential and function of public-private partnerships (PPPs between local government (municipalities and the private sector (such as industries in fulfilling the legally entrenched disaster management mandate of municipalities. Through a critical evaluation of some existing PPPs, this article illustrates that the private sector has a key role to play in assisting municipalities to fulfil their legally entrenched disaster management mandate.

Disaster Governance for Community Resilience in Coastal Towns: Chilean Case Studies.

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Villagra, Paula; Quintana, Carolina

2017-09-14

This study aimed to further our understanding of a characteristic of Community Resilience known as Disaster Governance. Three attributes of Disaster Governance-redundancy, diversity, and overlap-were studied in four coastal towns in southern Chile that are at risk of tsunamis. Overall, we explored how different spatial structures of human settlements influence Disaster Governance. Using the Projective Mapping Technique, the distribution of emergency institutions (N = 32) and uses given to specific sites (e.g., for refuge, sanitary purposes and medical attention) were mapped. Content and GIS analyses (Directional Distribution and Kernel Density Index) were used to explore the dispersion and concentration of institutions and uses in each town. Disaster Governance was found to be highly influenced by decisions taken during regional, urban, and emergency planning. Governance is better in towns of higher order in the communal hierarchical structure. Most of the emergency institutions were found to be located in central and urban areas, which, in turn, assures more redundancy, overlap, and diversity in governance in the event of a tsunami. Lack of flexibility of emergency plans also limits governance in rural and indigenous areas. While the spatial relationships found in this study indicate that urban sectors have better Disaster Governance than rural and indigenous sectors, the influence of resource availability after tsunamis, the role and responsibility of different levels of governments, and the politics of disaster also play an important role in Disaster Governance for determining Community Resilience. These findings shed light on emergency planning and aspects of the Disaster Management cycle.

A new approach to quantify safety benefits of disaster robots

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Inn Seock Kim

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Remote response technology has advanced to the extent that a robot system, if properly designed and deployed, may greatly help respond to beyond-design-basis accidents at nuclear power plants. Particularly in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, there is increasing interest in developing disaster robots that can be deployed in lieu of a human operator to the field to perform mitigating actions in the harsh environment caused by extreme natural hazards. The nuclear robotics team of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI is also endeavoring to construct disaster robots and, first of all, is interested in finding out to what extent safety benefits can be achieved by such a disaster robotic system. This paper discusses a new approach based on the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA technique, which can be used to quantify safety benefits associated with disaster robots, along with a case study for seismic-induced station blackout condition. The results indicate that to avoid core damage in this special case a robot system with reliability > 0.65 is needed because otherwise core damage is inevitable. Therefore, considerable efforts are needed to improve the reliability of disaster robots, because without assurance of high reliability, remote response techniques will not be practically used.

Disaster Risk Reduction through school learners’ awareness and preparedness

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Takalani S. Rambau

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In 2006, the ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (2007 initiated a campaign called Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School to encourage the integration of disaster risk education into school curricula in countries vulnerable to disasters. A study was initiated to determine how education, in particular curriculum development and teaching, contributes to South African learners’ hazard awareness and disaster preparedness. Mixed method research (consisting of questionnaires, interviews and document reviews was done to collect data. 150 educators from Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and the Eastern Cape completed questionnaires. Five curriculum coordinators, three disaster specialists and two disaster lecturers were interviewed to record their perspectives. The first finding of the study was that the majority of educators, disaster specialists and curriculum coordinators identified floods, fire, droughts, epidemics, road accidents and storms as the most prevalent disasters in the country. The second finding from the literature and empirical data collection revealed that South African communities, particularly people residing in informal settlements and other poor areas, are more vulnerable to disasters than their counterparts in more affluent areas. The third finding of the study was that teaching learners about hazards and disasters is vital and must be expanded.

Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management for Finance: Application of Real Options Method for Disaster Risk Sensitive Project

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KUSDHIANTO SETIAWAN

Full Text Available This paper discusses the application of real options analysis for a project that is in the process of construction and was affected by a natural disaster. The use of the analytical method has become a way of thinking in making decisions that should be taught to business school students. The case in this paper is based on an MBA thesis at the University of Gadjah Mada that was intended as a showcase for application of real options to address real business problems. It shows one of the strategies in mainstreaming disaster risk management in the business school that also answers the needs of businesses in the disaster-prone country.

The system was blinking red: Awareness Contexts and Disasters

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Vivian B. Martin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The awareness context has been a source of inspiration for grounded theories for more than 50 years; yet little has been done to extend the theory beyond nursing and the medical field, and a few works on identity. This paper extends the awareness context by examining its role in several high-profile disasters, natural and man-made, where gaining a clear sense of what was going on was often blocked by poor information flow and general communication failures, interpersonal and technological. Selective coding and the introduction of new concepts after analyzing hundreds of pages of documents issued by special commissions in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf, and the Sago Mine Disaster not only explain various processes around awareness in the midst of crisis, but also illuminate pre-crisis patterns that, if attended, could have mitigated the impact of the disasters.

Natural disasters impacting a macroeconomic model with endogenous dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hallegatte, Stephane; Ghil, Michael

2008-01-01

We investigate the macroeconomic response to natural disasters by using an endogenous business cycle (EnBC) model in which cyclical behavior arises from the investment-profit instability. Our model exhibits a larger response to natural disasters during expansions than during recessions. This apparently paradoxical result can be traced to the disasters amplifying pre-existing disequilibria during expansions, while the existence of unused resources during recessions damps the exogenous shocks. It thus appears that high-growth periods are also highly vulnerable to supply-side shocks. In our EnBC model, the average production loss due to a set of disasters distributed at random in time is highly sensitive to the dynamical characteristics of the impacted economy. Larger economic flexibility allows for a more efficient and rapid response to supply-side shocks and reduces production losses. On the other hand, too high a flexibility can lead to vulnerability phases that cause average production losses to soar. These results raise questions about the assessment of climate change damages or natural disaster losses that are based purely on long-term growth models. (author)

Conceptualizing Cold Disasters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauta, Kristian Cedervall; Dahlberg, Rasmus; Vendelø, Morten Thanning

2017-01-01

In the present article, we explore in more depth the particular circumstances and characteristics of governing what we call ‘cold disasters’, and thereby, the paper sets out to investigate how disasters in cold contexts distinguish themselves from other disasters, and what the implications hereof...... are for the conceptualization and governance of cold disasters. Hence, the paper can also be viewed as a response to Alexander’s (2012a) recent call for new theory in the field of disaster risk reduction. The article is structured in four overall parts. The first part, Cold Context, provides an overview of the specific...... conditions in a cold context, exemplified by the Arctic, and zooms in on Greenland to provide more specific background for the paper. The second part, Disasters in Cold Contexts, discusses “cold disasters” in relation to disaster theory, in order to, elucidate how cold disasters challenge existing...

Disaster in Crisis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Illner, Peer

initiatives and bottom-up organising as the preferred method to combat disaster. Once construed as strictly a responsibility of the state, the mitigation and management of disasters has shifted since the 1970s into a matter for civil society: a shift which has been heralded as progressive, democratic...... the banner of disaster. Focussing on the modifications to disaster management in the United States between 1970 and 2012, I show how the inclusion of civil society in the provision of aid services was accompanied by a structural withdrawal of the state from disaster relief and other welfare services. I...... contextualise this withdrawal in the US government’s general turn to austerity in response to the economic crisis of the 1970s. My account couples the notion of disaster with that of economic crisis on the one hand and structural violence on the other to examine disasters as a specific problem for social...

Post-disaster health impact of natural hazards in the Philippines in 2013

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Miguel Antonio Salazar

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: In 2011, the Health Emergency Management Bureau (HEMB created the Surveillance for Post Extreme Emergencies and Disasters (SPEED, a real-time syndromic surveillance system that allows the early detection and monitoring of post-disaster disease trends. SPEED can assist health leaders in making informed decisions on health systems affected by disasters. There is a need for further validation of current concepts in post-disaster disease patterns in respect to actual field data. This study aims to evaluate the temporal post-disaster patterns of selected diseases after a flood, an earthquake, and a typhoon in the Philippines in 2013. Methodology: We analyzed the 21 syndromes provided by SPEED both separately and grouped into injuries, communicable diseases, and non-communicable diseases (NCDs by calculating daily post-disaster consultation rates for up to 150 days post-disaster. These were compared over time and juxtaposed according to the type of disaster. Results: Communicable diseases were found to be the predominant syndrome group in all three disaster types. The top six syndromes found were: acute respiratory infections, open wounds, bruises and burns, high blood pressure, skin disease, fever, and acute watery diarrhea. Discussion: Overall, the results aligned with the country's morbidity profile. Within 2 months, the clear gradation of increasing syndrome rates reflected the severity (flooddisasters. After 2 months, rates dropped, suggesting the beginning of the recovery phase. The most common syndromes can be addressed by measures such as providing for shelter, water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, and common health services. Conclusions: Most post-disaster syndromes may be addressed by prevention, early diagnosis, and early treatment. Health needs differ in response and recovery phases.

Administrative issues involved in disaster management in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Jagdish

2006-12-01

India as a country is vulnerable to a number of disasters, from earthquakes to floods. Poor and weaker members of the society have always been more vulnerable to various types of disasters. Disasters result in unacceptably high morbidity and mortality amongst the affected population. Damage to infrastructure and reduction in revenues from the affected region due to low yield add to the economic losses. Poor co-ordination at the local level, lack of early-warning systems, often very slow responses, paucity of trained dedicated clinicians, lack of search and rescue facilities and poor community empowerment are some of the factors, which have been contributing to poor response following disasters in the past. The first formal step towards development of policies relating to disaster care in India was the formulation of the National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP) which was formulated initially by the Government of India for managing natural disasters only. However, this was subsequently amended to include man-made disasters as well. It sets the scene for formulating state and district level plans in all states to bring cohesiveness and a degree of uniform management in dealing with disasters. A National Disaster Management Authority has been constituted which aims to provide national guidelines and is headed by the Prime Minister of India. It is the highest decision-making body for the management of disasters in the country. The authority has the responsibility for co-ordinating response and post-disaster relief and rehabilitation. Each state is required to set up Disaster Management Authorities and District Disaster Management Committees for co-ordination and close supervision of activities and efforts related to the management of disasters.

Disaster mitigation science for Earthquakes and Tsunamis -For resilience society against natural disasters-

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneda, Y.; Takahashi, N.; Hori, T.; Kawaguchi, K.; Isouchi, C.; Fujisawa, K.

2017-12-01

Destructive natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis have occurred frequently in the world. For instance, 2004 Sumatra Earthquake in Indonesia, 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in China, 2010 Chile Earthquake and 2011 Tohoku Earthquake in Japan etc., these earthquakes generated very severe damages. For the reduction and mitigation of damages by destructive natural disasters, early detection of natural disasters and speedy and proper evacuations are indispensable. And hardware and software developments/preparations for reduction and mitigation of natural disasters are quite important. In Japan, DONET as the real time monitoring system on the ocean floor is developed and deployed around the Nankai trough seismogenic zone southwestern Japan. So, the early detection of earthquakes and tsunamis around the Nankai trough seismogenic zone will be expected by DONET. The integration of the real time data and advanced simulation researches will lead to reduce damages, however, in the resilience society, the resilience methods will be required after disasters. Actually, methods on restorations and revivals are necessary after natural disasters. We would like to propose natural disaster mitigation science for early detections, evacuations and restorations against destructive natural disasters. This means the resilience society. In natural disaster mitigation science, there are lots of research fields such as natural science, engineering, medical treatment, social science and literature/art etc. Especially, natural science, engineering and medical treatment are fundamental research fields for natural disaster mitigation, but social sciences such as sociology, geography and psychology etc. are very important research fields for restorations after natural disasters. Finally, to realize and progress disaster mitigation science, human resource cultivation is indispensable. We already carried out disaster mitigation science under `new disaster mitigation research project on Mega

An introduction to neglected disasters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ben Wisner

2009-04-01

Full Text Available This theme issue of Jàmbá takes up the question of neglected disasters. It is an important topic because the world is changing, disasters are changing, and theory is changing. All these changes call for a re-assessment of why some human suffering and social disruption receive attention from authorities, donors, researchers and the media, while some does not. Recent progress in both development studies and disaster studies provides tools for answering this question. Development and disaster studies date in their current forms to ways of thinking that were current in academic and policy circles in the late 1950s and 1960s. At that time the world was recovering from world war and former colonies of Europe were gaining independence. It was a world in which (with some exceptions conflict was held in check in an uneasy cold war balance. It was also a world where a growing UN system held the promise of meeting humanitarian needs when they arose. That world is no more. ‘Development’ has changed.

Longitudinal course of disaster-related PTSD among a prospective sample of adult Chilean natural disaster survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Cristina A; Vicente, Benjamin; Marshall, Brandon Dl; Koenen, Karestan C; Arheart, Kristopher L; Kohn, Robert; Saldivia, Sandra; Buka, Stephen L

2017-04-01

With an increasing number of individuals surviving natural disasters, it is crucial to understand who is most at risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The objective of this study was to prospectively examine the role that pre-existing psychopathology plays in developing PTSD after a disaster. This study uses data from a prospective 5-wave longitudinal cohort (years 2003-11) of Chilean adults from 10 health centres ( N  = 1708). At baseline, participants completed the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), a comprehensive psychiatric diagnostic instrument. In 2010, the sixth most powerful earthquake on record struck Chile. One year later, a modified version of the PTSD module of the CIDI was administered. Marginal structural logistic regressions with inverse probability censoring weights were constructed to identify pre-disaster psychiatric predictors of post-disaster PTSD. The majority of participants were female (75.9%) and had a high-school/college education (66.9%). After controlling for pre-disaster PTSD, pre-existing dysthymia [odds ratio (OR) = 2.21; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.39-3.52], brief psychotic disorder (OR = 2.67; 95% CI = 1.21-5.90), anxiety disorders (not including PTSD; OR = 1.49; 95% CI = 1.27-1.76), panic disorder (OR = 2.46; 95% CI = 1.37-4.42), agoraphobia (OR = 2.23; 95% CI = 1.22-4.10), social phobia (OR = 1.86; 95% CI = 1.06-3.29), specific phobia (OR = 2.07; 95% CI = 1.50-2.86) and hypochondriasis (OR = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.05-4.18) were predictors of post-disaster PTSD. After controlling for pre-disaster anxiety disorders, dysthymia, and non-affective psychotic disorders, individuals with pre-disaster PTSD (vs those without pre-disaster PTSD) had higher odds of developing post-disaster PTSD (OR = 2.53; 95% CI = 1.37-4.65). This is the first Chilean study to demonstrate prospectively that pre-disaster psychiatric disorders

Disaster management: using Internet-based technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Dimitruk, Paul

2007-01-01

Disasters impose operational challenges and substantial financial burdens on hospitals. Internet-based disaster management technology can help. This technology should: Capture, analyze, and track relevant data. Be available 24/7. Guide decision makers in setting up an incident command center and monitor the completion of jobs by ICC role. Provide assistance in areas that hospitals are not used to dealing with, e.g., chemical or bio-terror agents.

The Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnesen, Stacey J; Cid, Victor H; Scott, John C; Perez, Ricardo; Zervaas, Dave

2007-07-01

This paper describes an international outreach program to support rebuilding Central America's health information infrastructure after several natural disasters in the region, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and two major earthquakes in 2001. The National Library of Medicine joined forces with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and the Regional Center of Disaster Information for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID) to strengthen libraries and information centers in Central America and improve the availability of and access to health and disaster information in the region by developing the Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information (CANDHI). Through CRID, the program created ten disaster health information centers in medical libraries and disaster-related organizations in six countries. This project served as a catalyst for the modernization of several medical libraries in Central America. The resulting CANDHI provides much needed electronic access to public health "gray literature" on disasters, as well as access to numerous health information resources. CANDHI members assist their institutions and countries in a variety of disaster preparedness activities through collecting and disseminating information.

Localization of post-disaster psychosocial care in China

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Sujuan Zhang

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Disaster is not independent of society and culture and always happens in specific cultural and social contexts. Cultural and social characteristics influence the responses of people affected by disaster, as well as the process of disaster relief.As one of the countries in the world that suffer most from natural disasters, various ethnic groups in China vary greatly in psychology and behavior characteristics after major disasters due to different geographical environments and economic and political conditions. To launch an effective post-disaster psychosocial care, 1 it is necessary to consider how to satisfy material, health, and other fundamental biological needs of affected people; 2 it is necessary to relieve disaster victims of their mental pain (spiritual in Chinese and help them restore their psychological health; 3 it is necessary to revitalize the seriously unbalanced communities affected by disasters so that these communities would burst with vitality again. In addition, it is necessary to take specific ethnic and regional culture into account when helping people in these areas gradually achieve social adaptation and cultural identification. All these require us to intensify our efforts in the following four aspects: 1 to strengthen legislation and institutional construction in this field; 2 to help citizens master the most fundamental psychological principles and methods of coping with disasters to enable timely self-aid and mutual-aid; 3 to build a national database of the post-disaster psychosocial care teams; 4 to continue the research on disaster psychology, so as to provide a scientific basis as well as techniques and methods for implementing disaster relief efforts in a scientific way.

The impact of disasters on small business disaster planning: a case study.

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Flynn, David T

2007-12-01

A major flood in 1997 forced the evacuation of Grand Forks, North Dakota and caused damage of USD 1 billion. Despite this recent disaster there is only marginal evidence of an increase in disaster recovery planning by businesses that experienced the flood. This finding is consistent with the results of other business-related disaster research. Statistical tests of survey results from 2003 indicate that there is a significantly higher rate of disaster recovery planning in businesses started since the 1997 flood than in businesses started before the flood and still in business. Such an outcome indicates a need for public policy actions emphasizing the importance of disaster planning. Improved disaster planning is an aid to business recovery and the results demonstrate the need for more widespread efforts to improve disaster recovery planning on the part of smaller businesses, even in areas that have recently experienced disasters.

Physical and mental health shortly after a disaster: first results from the Enschede firework disaster study.

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van Kamp, Irene; van der Velden, Peter G; Stellato, Rebecca K; Roorda, Jan; van Loon, Jeanne; Kleber, Rolf J; Gersons, Bertold B R; Lebret, Erik

2006-06-01

Two to three weeks after the explosion of a fireworks storage facility in a residential area (May 2000, Enschede, The Netherlands) we assessed the self-reported physical and mental health among those affected by the disaster. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 3792 residents, passers-by, and rescue workers, who were involved in and/or affected by the disaster and were > or =18 years of age. At least 30% of those affected by the disaster reported serious physical and mental health problems 2-3 weeks after the explosion. Compared with reference values in the general Dutch population, high scores were found for somatic symptoms, sleeping problems, and restrictions in daily functioning due to physical and mental problems, such as anxiety, depression, and feelings of insufficiency. The strength of these differences varied between groups, based on the level of involvement and the level of being affected. Results indicate that the fireworks disaster had a substantial impact on the health of those affected by the disaster. The health impact was most pronounced for residents and passers-by and also for rescue workers living in the affected area, but to a lesser degree. Physical and mental health problems were strongly associated with the shocking experiences during and shortly after the disaster.

The Rapid Disaster Evaluation System (RaDES): A Plan to Improve Global Disaster Response by Privatizing the Assessment Component.

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Iserson, Kenneth V

2017-09-01

Emergency medicine personnel frequently respond to major disasters. They expect to have an effective and efficient management system to elegantly allocate available resources. Despite claims to the contrary, experience demonstrates this rarely occurs. This article describes privatizing disaster assessment using a single-purposed, accountable, and well-trained organization. The goal is to achieve elegant disaster assessment, rather than repeatedly exhorting existing groups to do it. The Rapid Disaster Evaluation System (RaDES) would quickly and efficiently assess a postdisaster population's needs. It would use an accountable nongovernmental agency's teams with maximal training, mobility, and flexibility. Designed to augment the Inter-Agency Standing Committee's 2015 Emergency Response Preparedness Plan, RaDES would provide the initial information needed to avoid haphazard and overlapping disaster responses. Rapidly deployed teams would gather information from multiple sources and continually communicate those findings to their base, which would then disseminate them to disaster coordinators in a concise, coherent, and transparent way. The RaDES concept represents an elegant, minimally bureaucratic, and effective rapid response to major disasters. However, its implementation faces logistical, funding, and political obstacles. Developing and maintaining RaDES would require significant funding and political commitment to coordinate the numerous agencies that claim to be performing the same tasks. Although simulations can demonstrate efficacy and deficiencies, only field tests will demonstrate RaDES' power to improve interagency coordination and decrease the cost of major disaster response. At the least, the RaDES concept should serve as a model for discussing how to practicably improve our current chaotic disaster responses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Familiar ethical issues amplified: how members of research ethics committees describe ethical distinctions between disaster and non-disaster research.

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Tansey, Catherine M; Anderson, James; Boulanger, Renaud F; Eckenwiler, Lisa; Pringle, John; Schwartz, Lisa; Hunt, Matthew

2017-06-28

The conduct of research in settings affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes is challenging, particularly when infrastructures and resources were already limited pre-disaster. However, since post-disaster research is essential to the improvement of the humanitarian response, it is important that adequate research ethics oversight be available. We aim to answer the following questions: 1) what do research ethics committee (REC) members who have reviewed research protocols to be conducted following disasters in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) perceive as the key ethical concerns associated with disaster research?, and 2) in what ways do REC members understand these concerns to be distinct from those arising in research conducted in non-crisis situations? This qualitative study was developed using interpretative description methodology; 15 interviews were conducted with REC members. Four key ethical issues were identified as presenting distinctive considerations for disaster research to be implemented in LMICs, and were described by participants as familiar research ethics issues that were amplified in these contexts. First, REC members viewed disaster research as having strong social value due to its potential for improving disaster response, but also as requiring a higher level of justification compared to other research settings. Second, they identified vulnerability as an overarching concern for disaster research ethics, and a feature that required careful and critical appraisal when assessing protocols. They noted that research participants' vulnerabilities frequently change in the aftermath of a disaster and often in unpredictable ways. Third, they identified concerns related to promoting and maintaining safety, confidentiality and data security in insecure or austere environments. Lastly, though REC members endorsed the need and usefulness of community engagement, they noted that there are significant challenges in a disaster

Households Perceptions on Factors Affecting Resilience towards Natural Disasters in Indonesia

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Viverita Viverita

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE Most areas in Indonesia are prone to natural disasters. Learning the lessons from the Aceh Tsunami in 2004, areas with high risks of natural disasters are in the process of preparing themselves for such an unexpected event, by increasing their resilience. The objective of this study is to shed more lights on factors affecting the resilience from two sources namely, existing literatures and the application of disaster management in four disaster-prone areas in Indonesia -Padang, Sleman, Cilacap, and Palu. To enrich our analysis, we collect data from the field to compare the preparedness and to get insights on people’s perceptions towards the factors of resilience in those areas.We employ IDI and FGD to identify the factors of resilience and the preparedness in the areas investigated. Thereafter, a preliminary survey is conducted to identify people’s perceptions towards the aspects of resilience in the areas. Results from the survey conducted to 800 households in Padang and Cilacap indicates that from the social aspect, community’s value cohesiveness is one of important factor affecting their resilience towards natural disaster. In addition, when disaster occurred, they heavily relied on the help of debt or selling some of their assets, as well as used cash in hand as emergency funds. In general, respondents in all sample cities are able to re-start their economic activities as soon as two weeks after the event of disaster. In addition, the survey found that most of respondents were aware that the government has programs to educate people on the disaster mitigation.

Is previous disaster experience a good predictor for disaster preparedness in extreme poverty households in remote Muslim minority based community in China?

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Chan, Emily Y Y; Kim, Jean H; Lin, Cherry; Cheung, Eliza Y L; Lee, Polly P Y

2014-06-01

Disaster preparedness is an important preventive strategy for protecting health and mitigating adverse health effects of unforeseen disasters. A multi-site based ethnic minority project (2009-2015) is set up to examine health and disaster preparedness related issues in remote, rural, disaster prone communities in China. The primary objective of this reported study is to examine if previous disaster experience significantly increases household disaster preparedness levels in remote villages in China. A cross-sectional, household survey was conducted in January 2011 in Gansu Province, in a predominately Hui minority-based village. Factors related to disaster preparedness were explored using quantitative methods. Two focus groups were also conducted to provide additional contextual explanations to the quantitative findings of this study. The village household response rate was 62.4 % (n = 133). Although previous disaster exposure was significantly associated with perception of living in a high disaster risk area (OR = 6.16), only 10.7 % households possessed a disaster emergency kit. Of note, for households with members who had non-communicable diseases, 9.6 % had prepared extra medications to sustain clinical management of their chronic conditions. This is the first study that examined disaster preparedness in an ethnic minority population in remote communities in rural China. Our results indicate the need of disaster mitigation education to promote preparedness in remote, resource-poor communities.

A Constraint-Based Model for Fast Post-Disaster Emergency Vehicle Routing

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Roberto Amadini

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Disasters like terrorist attacks, earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcano eruptions are usually unpredictable events that affect a high number of people. We propose an approach that could be used as a decision support tool for a post-disaster response that allows the assignment of victims to hospitals and organizes their transportation via emergency vehicles. By exploiting the synergy between Mixed Integer Programming and Constraint Programming techniques, we are able to compute the routing of the vehicles so as to rescue much more victims than both heuristic based and complete approaches in a very reasonable time.

OPERATIONAL SAR DATA PROCESSING IN GIS ENVIRONMENTS FOR RAPID DISASTER MAPPING

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A. Meroni

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Having access to SAR data can be highly important and critical especially for disaster mapping. Updating a GIS with contemporary information from SAR data allows to deliver a reliable set of geospatial information to advance civilian operations, e.g. search and rescue missions. Therefore, we present in this paper the operational processing of SAR data within a GIS environment for rapid disaster mapping. This is exemplified by the November 2010 flash flood in the Veneto region, Italy. A series of COSMO-SkyMed acquisitions was processed in ArcGIS® using a single-sensor, multi-mode, multi-temporal approach. The relevant processing steps were combined using the ArcGIS ModelBuilder to create a new model for rapid disaster mapping in ArcGIS, which can be accessed both via a desktop and a server environment.

Mapping the vulnerability hotspots over Hindu-Kush Himalaya region to flooding disasters

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Shada Elalem

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A disproportionate share of the global economic and human losses caused by environmental shocks is borne by people in the developing nations. The mountain region of Hindu-Kush Himalaya (HKH in South Asia is threatened by numerous flooding events annually. An efficient disaster risk reduction often needs to rest upon location-based synoptic view of vulnerability. Resolving this deficit improves the ability to take risk reduction measures in a cost-effective way, and in doing so, strengthens the resilience of societies to flooding disasters. The central aim of this research is to identify the vulnerable locations across HKH boundary from the perspective of reported history of economic and human impacts due to occurrence of flooding disasters. A detailed analysis indicates a very high spatial heterogeneity in flooding disaster occurrence in the past 6 decades. The most recent decade reported highest number of disasters and greater spatial coverage as compared to the earlier decades. The data indicates that, in general, economic impacts of flooding disasters were notably higher in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal. On the other hand, vulnerability scenarios with respect to human impacts were diverse for different countries. In terms of morbidity and mortality, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan and India were detected to be most susceptible to human impacts. Although Bhutan had seen lesser number of flooding disasters, higher population living within disaster prone region make them vulnerable. In summary, complex interactions between natural and socio-economic conditions play a dominant role to define and characterize the type and magnitude of vulnerability of HKH countries to disaster occurrence and their economic and human impacts.

Not Only Health: Environmental Pollution Disasters and Political Trust

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Xun Gong

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Over the past 30 years, the economy of China has sustained rapid growth. However, the extensive development pattern severely deteriorates the ecological environment, which has been recognized as adverse effects on citizens’ physical and mental health. Simultaneously, the political trust in China has been in decline after staying at a high level for a long time. In this paper, we state that, in addition to health issues, environmental pollution can also lead to important political consequences. Using statistics on the occurrence of environmental pollution disasters and a nationally representative survey database in China, we find that environmental pollution disasters can negatively affect citizens’ trust of the government. This relationship persists after a series of endogenous tests and robustness checks. Path analysis indicates that this relationship can be partially mediated by the increase in citizens’ environmental awareness. The cross-sectional analyses on individual characteristics demonstrate that the negative effect of environmental pollution disasters on political trust is less pronounced for female citizens and citizens who are communist party members. Finally, we report that the government’s positive attitudes and activities in resolving environmental pollution problems can partially offset the negative effect of environmental pollution disasters on political trust.

Democracy, GDP, and the Impact of Natural Disasters

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van der Vink, G.; Brett, A. P.; Burgess, E.; Cecil-Cockwell, D.; Chicoine, A.; Difiore, P.; Harding, J.; Millian, C.; Olivi, E.; Piaskowy, S.; Sproat, J.; van der Hoop, H.; Walsh, P.; Warren, A.; West, L.; Wright, G.

2007-05-01

In 1998 Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize in economics for the observation that there has never been a famine in a nation with a democratic form of government and a free press. We find that a similar relationship can be demonstrated for all natural disasters. Data from the United Nations Food Programme and the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance is used to display strong correlations between the democracy index, GDP, and the humanitarian impact of natural disasters. We find that nations in which disasters have high humanitarian impact, approximated by lives lost, are also nations which are below the median per capita GDP and the median democracy level. While the response to natural disasters varies from country to country, several additional global trends are observed. Since 1964, the number of recorded natural disasters has increased by a factor of five. During this same time period the number of deaths has decreased significantly. In particular, the humanitarian impact of the 'typical' natural disaster has decreased by a factor of five. Post-disaster foreign aid is the common response from the international community when a natural disaster strikes. Our study also compares the history of foreign aid grants distributed by the US Office of Foreign Disaster Aid (OFDA) with the number of deaths worldwide from natural disasters. We find that the amount of aid given is responsive to the degree of global humanitarian impact.

Cloud Computing dan Kaitannya dengan Disaster Recovery Planning

OpenAIRE

Artha, Emilya Ully; Utami, Ema

2011-01-01

Disaster recovery planning if it is associated with contuinity bussiness plan will be a link with data and information held by an organization or company. If interference occurs, it can paralyze business continuity company. It takes data replication to maintain data availability in the event of a disaster at any time

Ecosystem Approach To Flood Disaster Risk Reduction

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RK Kamble

2013-12-01

Full Text Available India is one of the ten worst disaster prone countries of the world. The country is prone to disasters due to number of factors; both natural and anthropogenic, including adverse geo-climatic conditions, topographical features, environmental degradation, population growth, urbanisation, industrlisation, non-scientific development practices etc. The factors either in original or by accelerating the intensity and frequency of disasters are responsible for heavy toll of human lives and disrupting the life support systems in the country. India has 40 million hectares of the flood-prone area, on an average, flood affect an area of around 7.5 million hectares per year. Knowledge of environmental systems and processes are key factors in the management of disasters, particularly the hydro-metrological ones. Management of flood risk and disaster is a multi-dimensional affair that calls for interdisciplinary approach. Ecosystem based disaster risk reduction builds on ecosystem management principles, strategies and tools in order to maximise ecosystem services for risk reduction. This perspective takes into account the integration of social and ecological systems, placing people at the centre of decision making. The present paper has been attempted to demonstrate how ecosystem-based approach can help in flood disaster risk reduction. International Journal of Environment, Volume-2, Issue-1, Sep-Nov 2013, Pages 70-82 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v2i1.9209

Emergency medicine in case of disasters. Guideline for medical care in case of disasters. 4. rev. ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

Medical care in case of disasters means being pressed for time, facing difficult structures and a shortage of resources while trying to attend to many injured at a time. The knowledge required must be immediately available, and this is where this book comes in handy. The guide addresses primarily doctors and medical staff. It answers medical questions, lists contacts, provides information on disaster management, and goes into legal and ethical aspects as well. (orig.)

Disaster risk profile and existing legal framework of Nepal: floods and landslides

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Gaire S

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Surya Gaire, Rafael Castro Delgado, Pedro Arcos González Unit for Research in Emergency and Disaster, Department of Medicine, University of Oviedo, Campus del Cristo, Oviedo, Asturias, SpainAbstract: Nepal has a complicated geophysical structure that is prone to various kinds of disasters. Nepal ranks the most disaster-prone country in the world and has experienced several natural calamities, causing high property and life losses. Disasters are caused by natural processes, but may be increased by human activities. The overall objective of this paper is to analyze the disaster risk profile and existing legal framework of Nepal. The paper is based on secondary data sources. Major causative factors for floods and landslides are heavy and continuous rainfall, outburst floods, infrastructure failure, and deforestation. Historical data of natural disasters in Nepal show that water-induced disasters have killed hundreds of people and affected thousands every year. Likewise, properties worth millions of US dollars have been damaged. There is an increasing trend toward landslides and floods, which will likely continue to rise if proper intervention is not taken. A positive correlation between water-induced disasters and deaths has been observed. Nepal has a poor Index for Risk Management (INFORM. There are fluctuations in the recording of death data caused by flood and landslides. The Government of Nepal focuses more on the response phase than on the preparedness phase of disasters. The existing disaster management act seems to be weak and outdated. There is a gap in current legal procedure, so the country is in dire need of a comprehensive legal framework. The new proposed act seems to take a much broader approach to disaster management. With a long-term vision of managing disaster risk in the country, the Government of Nepal has begun the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC in collaboration with development and humanitarian partners. In order to

The clinical application of mobile technology to disaster medicine.

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Case, Timothy; Morrison, Cecily; Vuylsteke, Alain

2012-10-01

Mobile health care technology (mHealth) has the potential to improve communication and clinical information management in disasters. This study reviews the literature on health care and computing published in the past five years to determine the types and efficacy of mobile applications available to disaster medicine, along with lessons learned. Five types of applications are identified: (1) disaster scene management; (2) remote monitoring of casualties; (3) medical image transmission (teleradiology); (4) decision support applications; and (5) field hospital information technology (IT) systems. Most projects have not yet reached the deployment stage, but evaluation exercises show that mHealth should allow faster processing and transport of patients, improved accuracy of triage and better monitoring of unattended patients at a disaster scene. Deployments of teleradiology and field hospital IT systems to disaster zones suggest that mHealth can improve resource allocation and patient care. The key problems include suitability of equipment for use in disaster zones and providing sufficient training to ensure staff familiarity with complex equipment. Future research should focus on providing unbiased observations of the use of mHealth in disaster medicine.

MISSIONS: The Mobile-Based Disaster Mitigation System in Indonesia

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Passarella, Rossi; Putri Raflesia, Sarifah; Lestarini, Dinda; Rifai, Ahmad; Veny, Harumi

2018-04-01

Disaster mitigation is essential to minimize the effects of disasters. Indonesia is one of the disaster prone areas in Asia and the government explores the usage of Information technology (IT) to aid its mitigation efforts. Currently, there are Indonesian websites which hold information regarding the weather monitoring, climate conditions, and geophysics. But, there is no clear indicator of mitigation efforts or things to do during an emergency. Therefore, this research proposed MISSIONS, a disaster mitigation model using geo-fencing technique to detect the location of the users through their mobile devices. MISSIONS uses mobile-based disaster mitigation system as a way to disseminate critical information to victims during emergency when they are in disaster zones using virtual fences. It aims to help the government to reduce the effects of disaster and aid in the mitigation efforts. The implementation result shows that MISSIONS have a high accuracy in detecting user whereabouts.

Disaster Risk Assessment in Educational Hospitals of Qazvin Based on WHO Pattern in 2015.

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Asefzadeh, Saeed; Varyani, Ali Safari; Gholami, Soheyla

2016-01-01

In addition to damaging communities and infrastructures, unexpected disasters affect service provider centers as well. Structural, non-structural, and functional components of hospitals could be affected when hazards or disasters occur, and they may be unable to admit casualties, have their own personnel and patients killed or injured, have their property destroyed. In such as case, they would increase the burden of death resulting from the disaster. Therefore, in this study, hospital safety was reviewed in two hospitals in Qazvin in 2015. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on two of the Rajaee and Velayat Hospitals in Qazvin. The tools used to assess for the hospitals' risk of experiencing a disaster were observation, interviews, and a checklist of hospital disaster risk assessment provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), including 5 sections and 145 indices for the safety assessment of hospitals. To determine the general weight, three main parts of the questionnaire, i.e., functional safety, non-structural safety, and structural safety, were given weights of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5, respectively, according to the original version of the indices. Each index was scored as 0, 1, and 2 based on the low, medium, and high scores. The safety scores that were obtained were categorized in three groups, i.e., low safety (≤ 34%), medium safety (34-66%), and high safety (> 66%). The data were analyzed using Excel 2007 software. Functional, structural, and non-structural safety scores were evaluated as 60.20% (medium safety), 67.61% (high safety), and 76.16% (high safety), respectively. General preparedness of the hospitals we studied were 71.90%, a high safety level. This high preparedness was related to the indices of availability of medicines, equipment, water supply, and other resources required in emergency conditions (85%), and the lowest preparedness was related to contingency plans of medical operations (19%). The preparedness of the two

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Behavioral Health Disaster Response App.

Science.gov (United States)

Seligman, Jamie; Felder, Stephanie S; Robinson, Maryann E

2015-10-01

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the Department of Health and Human Services offers extensive disaster behavior health resources to assist disaster survivors in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural and manmade disasters. One of SAMHSA's most innovative resources is the SAMHSA Behavioral Health Disaster Response App (SAMHSA Disaster App). The SAMHSA Disaster App prepares behavioral health responders for any type of traumatic event by allowing them to access disaster-related materials and other key resources right on their phone, at the touch of a button. The SAMHSA Disaster App is available on iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry devices.

Maggot Debridement Therapy in Disaster Medicine.

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Stadler, Frank; Shaban, Ramon Z; Tatham, Peter

2016-02-01

When disaster strikes, the number of patients requiring treatment can be overwhelming. In low-income countries, resources to assist the injured in a timely fashion may be limited. As a consequence, necrosis and wound infection in disaster patients is common and frequently leads to adverse health outcomes such as amputations, chronic wounds, and loss of life. In such compromised health care environments, low-tech and cheap wound care options are required that are in ready supply, easy to use, and have multiple therapeutic benefits. Maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is one such wound care option and may prove to be an invaluable tool in the treatment of wounds post-disaster. This report provides an overview of the wound burden experienced in various types of disaster, followed by a discussion of current treatment approaches, and the role MDT may play in the treatment of complex wounds in challenging health care conditions. Maggot debridement therapy removes necrotic and devitalized tissue, controls wound infection, and stimulates wound healing. These properties suggest that medicinal maggots could assist health care professionals in the debridement of disaster wounds, to control or prevent infection, and to prepare the wound bed for reconstructive surgery. Maggot debridement therapy-assisted wound care would be led by health care workers rather than physicians, which would allow the latter to focus on reconstructive and other surgical interventions. Moreover, MDT could provide a larger window for time-critical interventions, such as fasciotomies to treat compartment syndrome and amputations in case of life-threatening wound infection. There are social, medical, and logistic hurdles to overcome before MDT can become widely available in disaster medical aid. Thus, research is needed to further demonstrate the utility of MDT in Disaster Medicine. There is also a need for reliable MDT logistics and supply chain networks. Integration with other disaster management

Translating disaster resilience into spatial planning practice in South Africa: Challenges and champions

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Willemien van Niekerk

2013-03-01

Full Text Available It is highly likely that hazards and extreme climatic events will occur more frequently in the future and will become more severe – increasing the vulnerability and risk of millions of poor urbanites in developing countries. Disaster resilience aims to reduce disaster losses by equipping cities to withstand, absorb, adapt to or recover from external shocks. This paper questions whether disaster resilience is likely to be taken up in spatial planning practices in South Africa, given its immediate developmental priorities and challenges. In South Africa, issues of development take precedence over issues of sustainability, environmental management and disaster reduction. This is illustrated by the priority given to ‘servicing’ settlements compared to the opportunities offered by ‘transforming’ spaces through post-apartheid spatial planning. The City of Durban’s quest in adapting to climate change demonstrates hypothetically that if disaster resilience were to be presented as an issue distinct from what urban planners are already doing, then planners would see it as insignificant as compared to addressing the many developmental backlogs and challenges. If, however, it is regarded as a means to secure a city’s development path whilst simultaneously addressing sustainability, then disaster resilience is more likely to be translated into spatial planning practices in South Africa.

Mainstreaming disaster risk management in higher education

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MARCIA VILLASANA

Full Text Available Universities should actively participate in disseminating and fostering a culture for disaster risk management (DRM among students and the community. Particularly in countries with high levels of risk, education plays a key role in raising awareness on the importance of preventing and implementing conscious risk management. Though the incorporation of DRM into the curricula, education programs become a mechanism to prepare students from a perspective of strengthening of values, citizenship, and social sensibility towards how disaster represents a disruption of the functioning of a community and impairs business activity. This paper presents the proposal for the integration of DRM of a private university in Mexico, one of the countries particularly susceptible to extreme hydrometereological and geological events. The proposal includes a concentration area for undergraduate business students, a mandatory introductory course for all business majors, and for the business community an executive education program for SMEs

Reducing Disaster Risk through Vulnerability Assessment: An Agricultural Perspective

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Koos van Zyl

2006-04-01

Full Text Available A growing population, economic and environmental losses due to natural or human-made disasters, provides the need for a systematic approach to the management of risks. It is generally accepted that a multi-disciplinary understanding of disaster risk management is required.

Computational Psychometrics for Modeling System Dynamics during Stressful Disasters

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Pietro Cipresso

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Disasters can be very stressful events. However, computational models of stress require data that might be very difficult to collect during disasters. Moreover, personal experiences are not repeatable, so it is not possible to collect bottom-up information when building a coherent model. To overcome these problems, we propose the use of computational models and virtual reality integration to recreate disaster situations, while examining possible dynamics in order to understand human behavior and relative consequences. By providing realistic parameters associated with disaster situations, computational scientists can work more closely with emergency responders to improve the quality of interventions in the future.

Evaluation of an International Disaster Relief Team After Participation in an ASEAN Regional Forum Disaster Relief Exercise.

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Lee, Jeong Il; Lee, Kang Hyun; Kim, Oh Hyun; Cha, Yong Sung; Hwang, Sung Oh; Kim, Hyun; Cha, Kyung Chul

2016-10-01

Devastating disasters around the world directly contribute to significant increases in human mortality and economic costs. The objective of this study was to examine the current state of the Korea Disaster Relief Team that participated in an international training module. The whole training period was videotaped in order to observe and evaluate the respondents. The survey was carried out after completion of the 3-day training, and the scores were reported by use of a 5-point Likert scale. A total of 43 respondents were interviewed for the survey, and the results showed that the overall preparedness score for international disasters was 3.4±1.6 (mean±SD). The awareness of the Incident Command System for international disasters was shown to be low (3.5±1.1). Higher scores were given to personnel who took on leadership roles in the team and who answered "I knew my duty" (4.4±0.6) in the survey, as well as to the training participants who answered "I clearly knew my duty" (4.5±0.5). The preparedness level of the Korea Disaster Relief Team was shown to be insufficient, whereas understanding of the roles of leaders and training participants in the rescue team was found to be high. It is assumed that the preparedness level for disaster relief must be improved through continued training. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;1-5).

Bridging international relations and disaster studies: the case of disaster-conflict scholarship.

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Hollis, Simon

2018-01-01

International relations and disaster studies have much to gain by thinking critically about their respective theoretical and epistemological assumptions. Yet, few studies to date have sought to assess the potential value of linking these two disciplines. This paper begins to address this shortfall by examining the relationship between disasters and conflict as a research sphere that intersects international relations and disaster studies. Through an analysis of whether or not disasters contribute to intra-national and international conflict, this paper not only provides a review of the state of the art, but also serves to invite scholars to reflect on related concepts from other fields to strengthen their own approaches to the study of disasters in an international setting. An evaluation of the conceptual and theoretical contributions of each subject area provides useful heuristics for the development of disaster-conflict scholarship and encourages alternative modes of knowledge production through interdisciplinarity. © 2018 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2018.

Three-Dimensional Maps for Disaster Management

Science.gov (United States)

Bandrova, T.; Zlatanova, S.; Konecny, M.

2012-07-01

Geo-information techniques have proven their usefulness for the purposes of early warning and emergency response. These techniques enable us to generate extensive geo-information to make informed decisions in response to natural disasters that lead to better protection of citizens, reduce damage to property, improve the monitoring of these disasters, and facilitate estimates of the damages and losses resulting from them. The maintenance and accessibility of spatial information has improved enormously with the development of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs), especially with second-generation SDIs, in which the original product-based SDI was improved to a process-based SDI. Through the use of SDIs, geo-information is made available to local, national and international organisations in regions affected by natural disasters as well as to volunteers serving in these areas. Volunteer-based systems for information collection (e.g., Ushahidi) have been created worldwide. However, the use of 3D maps is still limited. This paper discusses the applicability of 3D geo-information to disaster management. We discuss some important aspects of maps for disaster management, such as user-centred maps, the necessary components for 3D maps, symbols, and colour schemas. In addition, digital representations are evaluated with respect to their visual controls, i.e., their usefulness for the navigation and exploration of the information. Our recommendations are based on responses from a variety of users of these technologies, including children, geospecialists and disaster managers from different countries.

Preparing for Disaster: Taking the Lead

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Colber, Judith

2008-01-01

In this article, Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness describes disasters in relation to five phases that may serve as a helpful framework for planning disaster response: (1) before the disaster (pre-disaster); (2) during the disaster (intra-disaster); (3) immediately after the disaster (immediate…

Natural disasters and the lung.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Bruce; Alatas, Mohammad Fahmi; Robertson, Andrew; Steer, Henry

2011-04-01

As the world population expands, an increasing number of people are living in areas which may be threatened by natural disasters. Most of these major natural disasters occur in the Asian region. Pulmonary complications are common following natural disasters and can result from direct insults to the lung or may be indirect, secondary to overcrowding and the collapse in infrastructure and health-care systems which often occur in the aftermath of a disaster. Delivery of health care in disaster situations is challenging and anticipation of the types of clinical and public health problems faced in disaster situations is crucial when preparing disaster responses. In this article we review the pulmonary effects of natural disasters in the immediate setting and in the post-disaster aftermath and we discuss how this could inform planning for future disasters. © 2011 The Authors. Respirology © 2011 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

Review: Health Management in Disasters with Focusing on Rehabilitation

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Hamid Reza Khankeh

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Disasters should never be considered as routine. Disasters of any kind—natural or manmade—clearly disrupt the normal functioning of any community and frequently overwhelm both personal and community resources. In the post-disaster context, following the initial shock of the disaster, returning lives and livelihoods to normalcy becomes a primary concern of the affected communities and nations. Traditionally, this has been known as the recovery and rehabilitation phase, where "normalcy" refers to the return of the community to the state it was in prior to the disaster event. Rehabilitation is this process of returning the community to “normal” that may extend for many years and involves the physical, social and economic components of the community. Disasters can take on a life of their own, therefore being prepared is the single most effective way to improve outcomes. Proper pre-event planning and providing mechanisms for resource coordination are critical which will be resulted a successful response. It should focus on increasing the participation of civil authorities in order to reestablish local authorities. In order to develop safer communities with fewer deaths, physical injuries, and psycho-social trauma following disasters, health systems must be capable of providing a coordinated response during disasters and of delivering effective mitigation and preparedness programs before disaster impact. The health sector has a vested interest and a key role in this process. In addition, prior to the occurrence of disasters, national, provincial, and local planning should be blueprinted by managers. The public must be educated regarding the importance of individual and family preparation for disaster

A comparative study in disaster planning in selected countries

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Mahmode M

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Assessment of different strategic in disaster planning in selected countries. According to the international report indicating that IRAN is among the seven countries most susceptible to disaster, experiencing 31 known disasters out of 40 in the world, occurrence of 1536 moderate to severe earthquake, during 1370-80 and 712 other disasters at the same period it seems necessary to design a disaster plan."nMethods: This research is a comparative-descriptive and case based study in which the researcher used random sampling process in selecting the statistical society from both developed and developing countries. In this goal oriented research the necessary information are extracted from valid global reports, articles and many questionnaires which were subjected to scientific analysis."nResults: Studying different countries (which includes: Canada, Japan, India, USA, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran shows that there is a direct relationship between the level of countries development and their success in disaster planning and management (including preventive measures and confrontation. In most of the studied countries, decentralized planning caused many professional planners participate in different levels of disaster management which ultimately led to development of efficient and realistic plans which in turn decreased the catastrophic effects of disasters dramatically. The results of the aforementioned countries showed that a balanced approach to disaster plan with investment in prophylactic area is very important."nConclusion: As our country uses a centralized strategy for disaster management which has proven its ineffectiveness, the researcher suggests that we should change our approach in disaster management and let our planners participate from all levels include: provincial, rural and etc. This will led to a reality based planning and using all potential capacities in disaster management. According to this study it will be possible to use

Disaster Recovery Framework for Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka

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Mueen Uddin

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The banking sector is the backbone of the entire financial economy of a country. In today’s globalized world, most organizations use online transaction processing systems for transferring money and doing business. Natural or man-made disasters can lead to data loss which in turn can cause millions of dollars of money lost. This study focuses on disaster recovery practices in commercial banks in Sri Lanka. From our preliminary findings, it was concluded that commercial banks only have ad-hoc disaster recovery standards and practices, as there is no standard framework available. Fourteen (14 banks were selected for data collection and relevant authorities were interviewed. The results were translated as qualitative observations to understand the best practices. Similarly, international standards, compliance requirements of the central bank, and existing researches were used to develop a disaster recovery practice framework. The proposed framework was then validated for its efficiency and usefulness among commercial banks and found to be acceptable by the banking industry.  

Medical rehabilitation after natural disasters: why, when, and how?

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Rathore, Farooq A; Gosney, James E; Reinhardt, Jan D; Haig, Andrew J; Li, Jianan; DeLisa, Joel A

2012-10-01

Natural disasters can cause significant numbers of severe, disabling injuries, resulting in a public health emergency and requiring foreign assistance. However, since medical rehabilitation services are often poorly developed in disaster-affected regions and not highly prioritized by responding teams, physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) has historically been underemphasized in global disaster planning and response. Recent development of the specialties of "disaster medicine" and "disaster rehabilitation" has raised awareness of the critical importance of rehabilitation intervention during the immediate postdisaster emergency response. The World Health Organization Liaison Sub-Committee on Rehabilitation Disaster Relief of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine has authored this report to assess the role of emergency rehabilitation intervention after natural disasters based on current scientific evidence and subject matter expert accounts. Major disabling injury types are identified, and spinal cord injury, limb amputation, and traumatic brain injury are used as case studies to exemplify the challenges to effective management of disabling injuries after disasters. Evidence on the effectiveness of disaster rehabilitation interventions is presented. The authors then summarize the current state of disaster-related research, as well as lessons learned from PRM emergency rehabilitation response in recent disasters. Resulting recommendations for greater integration of PRM services into the immediate emergency disaster response are provided. This report aims to stimulate development of research and practice in the emerging discipline of disaster rehabilitation within organizations that provide medical rehabilitation services during the postdisaster emergency response. Copyright © 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can Disaster Risk Education Reduce the Impacts of Recurring Disasters on Developing Societies?

Science.gov (United States)

Baytiyeh, Hoda

2018-01-01

The impacts of recurring disasters on vulnerable urban societies have been tragic in terms of destruction and fatalities. However, disaster risk education that promotes risk mitigation and disaster preparedness has been shown to be effective in minimizing the impacts of recurring disasters on urban societies. Although the recent integration of…

FEMA Disaster Declarations Summary

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The FEMA Disaster Declarations Summary is a summarized dataset describing all federally declared disasters, starting with the first disaster declaration in 1953,...

Natural disasters and dialysis care in the Asia-Pacific.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Nicholas A; Wolley, Martin; Liew, Adrian; Nakayama, Masaaki

2015-12-01

The impact of natural disasters on the provision of dialysis services has received increased attention in the last decade following Hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans in 2005. The Asia-Pacific is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunami, typhoons (also known as cyclones and hurricanes) or storms and flooding. These events can seriously interrupt provision of haemodialysis with adverse effects for patients including missed dialysis, increased hospitalization and post-traumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, haemodialysis patients may need to relocate and experience prolonged periods of displacement from family and social supports. In contrast to haemodialysis, most literature suggests peritoneal dialysis in a disaster situation is more easily managed and supported. It has become apparent that dialysis units and patients should be prepared for a disaster event and that appropriate planning will result in reduced confusion and adverse outcomes should a disaster occur. Numerous resources are now available to guide dialysis units, patients and staff in preparation for a possible disaster. This article will examine the disaster experiences of dialysis units in the Asia-Pacific, the impact on patients and staff, methods employed to manage during the disaster and suggested plans for reducing the impact of future disasters. © 2015 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology.

Health Sector Coordination in Disasters: Barriers & Facilitators

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Mohammadkarim Bahadori

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Coordination is a critical factor in successful organization and appropriate response to disasters. In this regard, a centralized coordination mechanism is the first step towards an effective, efficient, and sustainable response in order to be ensured of the short- and long-term recovery. Thus, this study aimed to identify and prioritize the barriers and facilitators of coordination in disasters. Materials and Methods: This research was a descriptive and cross-sectional study, conducted in 2016. The participants comprised 22 experts in field of disaster. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire according to the analytical hierarchy process approach. For data analysis, we used Expert Choice software. Results: Based on the results, “dominance of organizational approach instead of national points of view when addressing the health management during disasters,” took the first priority rank, earning the score of 0.344 among the barriers. Furthermore, among the facilitators, “having a processive and organizational view in health management during disasters,” took the first priority rank, earning the score of 0.374. Conclusion: To increase the effective coordination in health area, we should develop infrastructure and structural measures, which include bolstering authorities’ belief about the health system’s role in the response to disasters, reinforcing the national approach rather than organizational approach in the field of health at disasters, implementing the coordination requirements, attending sufficiently and specifically to public participation, reducing the organizational friction in the health field for sharing resources and information, raising the level of readiness with a focus on people and training programs, and finally creating an evolutionary process in the health field at disasters.

How assessment and evaluation is interlinked with disaster governance? A case of the Tohoku Disaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Mika

2014-01-01

The linkage of governance, disaster management and policy are not well established both in terms of conceptual basis and practices and require more in-depth analysis for better disaster management and governance (disaster governance). The weak linkage may prevent effective disaster management. The 2011 Tohoku Disaster posed many governance-related challenges, including processes or institutions of disaster management or decision-making. Especially, the analysis of the challenges turns out that many of core problems are interlinked with assessment and evaluation. The research problems the paper addresses are two-fold given the existing studies and practices: First, there is few conceptual foundation for linking disaster management and governance especially in light of assessment and evaluation. Second, while assessment or evaluation lends to be taken for panted at practices, few analytical research or discussions exist about how it is interlinked with disaster governance. This paper aims at filling in the above gap and attempts to elucidate analytically the linkage of assessment and evaluation with disaster governance through a case of the 2011 Tohoku Disaster in Japan for better disaster governance and actionable policies. (author)

Students' response to disaster: a lesson for health care professional schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, Humberto

2010-11-16

The response of medical students, young physicians, and other health professionals to the February 2010 earthquake and tsunami in Chile provides important lessons about health care delivery during disasters and about the development of professionalism. Tertiary and secondary care of victims of these disasters was possible because local and national resources were available and field hospitals provided by Chile's armed forces and foreign countries replaced damaged hospitals. However, primary care of persons living on the outskirts of towns and in small villages and coves that were destroyed and isolated by the disaster required the involvement of volunteer groups that were largely composed of students and other young members of the health professions, all of whom were motivated by solidarity, compassion, and social commitment. This experience, similar to previous catastrophes in Chile and elsewhere, reinforces that medical and other health professional schools must instill in graduates an understanding that the privileges of being a health professional come with responsibilities to society. Beyond providing high-quality scientific and technological education, curricula in these schools should include training that enables graduates to meaningfully contribute in the setting of unexpected disasters and that nurtures a sense of responsibility to do so.

Disaster risk reduction in the Omusati and Oshana regions of Namibia

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Elina Amadhila

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Namibia often experiences heavy rains in the north and north-eastern parts of the country, which results in severe flooding. For this reason, the country has endorsed the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA which seeks to develop the resilience of nations and communities to disasters and to assist countries to move away from the approach of emergency response to one of integrated disaster risk reduction. The aim of this article is to assess the resilience of the communities within the identified regions. A quantitative questionnaire was designed to assess people at risk of disaster related impacts. The questionnaire used 20 indicators to measure the level of progress at local level and how local governance plays a role in the mitigation and management of disasters. Analysis of data was done on a limited number of descriptors such as age, gender and local governance involvement, amongst others. There was generally a very high perception of threat (38% in the study regions. Women perceived threat more accurately (mean = 4.09 than men. The community perceived threat more accurately than local government and civil society (mean = 4.08.

An UAV scheduling and planning method for post-disaster survey

Science.gov (United States)

Li, G. Q.; Zhou, X. G.; Yin, J.; Xiao, Q. Y.

2014-11-01

Annually, the extreme climate and special geological environments lead to frequent natural disasters, e.g., earthquakes, floods, etc. The disasters often bring serious casualties and enormous economic losses. Post-disaster surveying is very important for disaster relief and assessment. As the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) remote sensing with the advantage of high efficiency, high precision, high flexibility, and low cost, it is widely used in emergency surveying in recent years. As the UAVs used in emergency surveying cannot stop and wait for the happening of the disaster, when the disaster happens the UAVs usually are working at everywhere. In order to improve the emergency surveying efficiency, it is needed to track the UAVs and assign the emergency surveying task for each selected UAV. Therefore, a UAV tracking and scheduling method for post-disaster survey is presented in this paper. In this method, Global Positioning System (GPS), and GSM network are used to track the UAVs; an emergency tracking UAV information database is built in advance by registration, the database at least includes the following information, e.g., the ID of the UAVs, the communication number of the UAVs; when catastrophe happens, the real time location of all UAVs in the database will be gotten using emergency tracking method at first, then the traffic cost time for all UAVs to the disaster region will be calculated based on the UAVs' the real time location and the road network using the nearest services analysis algorithm; the disaster region is subdivided to several emergency surveying regions based on DEM, area, and the population distribution map; the emergency surveying regions are assigned to the appropriated UAV according to shortest cost time rule. The UAVs tracking and scheduling prototype is implemented using SQLServer2008, ArcEnginge 10.1 SDK, Visual Studio 2010 C#, Android, SMS Modem, and Google Maps API.

Role of Dentists during Mass Disasters: A Review

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Kiran Vallamchetla

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Mass disasters cause damage, ecological disruption, and loss of human life on a massive scale. The reasons for these ranges from natural causes such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes to secondary human causes like wars. Such massive disruption of life demands help from people belonging to various sectors of healthcare, providing pre-identified, structured, and systematic aid to the victims of the disaster. This review article highlights the role of a dentist in such massive disasters. The dentist not only provides first aid to the victims but also aids in the identification of human remains.

Media framing of natural disasters in Kwazulu-Natal province: Impact of contigency plans

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Bethuel Sibongiseni Ngcamu

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This study explores how the media frame disaster contingency plans which include preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery of the KwaZulu-Natal province before, during and in the aftermath of natural disasters. The province has been stricken by natural disasters. Although newspapers report the disasters they fail to give details of disaster contingency plans that should be available to those who are susceptible to, and the victims of disasters. Based on a content analysis of 114 online newspaper articles between 2000 and 2013 to examine how the media framed the KZN government’s disaster contingency plans. This study concludes that the highest occurrence of disasters (71% was from 2011 onwards as compared to previous years, and most of these were associated with areas that are susceptible to floods (34%. The findings of the study highlight that the media placed an emphasis on disaster response (41% over preparedness (24% and mitigation (7%. The outcomes suggest that newspaper organisations need to appoint a designated reporter responsible for disaster management issues. This is relevant because this study conveys findings that have the potential to persuade government and newspaper organisations to collaborate and to ensure that their officials are multi-skilled and able to cover all phases of disaster management in their articles, in order for these to be understood at all levels of society. This study further adds to the growing body of knowledge regarding quality journalism that meets its objectives.

Capturing Real-Time Data in Disaster Response Logistics

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Kezban Yagci Sokat

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The volume, accuracy, accessibility and level of detail of near real-time data emerging from disaster-affected regions continue to significantly improve. Integration of dynamically evolving in-field data is an important, yet often overlooked, component of the humanitarian logistics models. In this paper, we present a framework for real-time humanitarian logistics data focused on use in mathematical modeling along with modeling implications of this framework. We also discuss how one might measure the attributes of the framework and describe the application of the presented framework to a case study of near real-time data collection in the days following the landfall of Typhoon Haiyan. We detail our first-hand experience of capturing data as the post-disaster response unfolds starting on November 10, 2013 until March 31, 2014 and assess the characteristics and evolution of data pertaining to humanitarian logistics modeling using the proposed framework. The presented logistical content analysis examines the availability of data and informs modelers about the current state of near real-time data. This analysis illustrates what data is available, how early it is available, and how data changes after the disaster. The study describes how our humanitarian logistics team approached the emergence of dynamic online data after the disaster and the challenges faced during the collection process, as well as recommendations to address these challenges in the future (when possible from an academic humanitarian logistics perspective.

Planning for chronic disease medications in disaster: perspectives from patients, physicians, pharmacists, and insurers.

Science.gov (United States)

Carameli, Kelley A; Eisenman, David P; Blevins, Joy; d'Angona, Brian; Glik, Deborah C

2013-06-01

Recent US disasters highlight the current imbalance between the high proportion of chronically ill Americans who depend on prescription medications and their lack of medication reserves for disaster preparedness. We examined barriers that Los Angeles County residents with chronic illness experience within the prescription drug procurement system to achieve recommended medication reserves. A mixed methods design included evaluation of insurance pharmacy benefits, focus group interviews with patients, and key informant interviews with physicians, pharmacists, and insurers. Most prescriptions are dispensed as 30-day units through retail pharmacies with refills available after 75% of use, leaving a monthly medication reserve of 7 days. For patients to acquire 14- to 30-day disaster medication reserves, health professionals interviewed supported 60- to 100-day dispensing units. Barriers included restrictive insurance benefits, patients' resistance to mail order, and higher copay-ments. Physicians, pharmacists, and insurers also varied widely in their preparedness planning and collective mutual-aid plans, and most believed pharmacists had the primary responsibility for patients' medication continuity during a disaster. To strengthen prescription drug continuity in disasters, recommendations include the following: (1) creating flexible drug-dispensing policies to help patients build reserves, (2) training professionals to inform patients about disaster planning, and (3) building collaborative partnerships among system stakeholders.

Rural Community Disaster Preparedness and Risk Perception in Trujillo, Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Matthew; Grahmann, Bridget; Fillmore, Ariel; Benson, L Scott

2017-08-01

, vulnerability, and preparedness in LMIC communities. The current study established that selected communities near Trujillo, Peru recognize a high disaster impact from earthquakes and infection, but are not adequately prepared for potential future disasters. By identifying high-risk demographics, targeted public health interventions are needed to prepare vulnerable communities in the following areas: emergency food supplies, emergency water plan, medical supplies at home, and establishing evacuation plans. Stewart M , Grahmann B , Fillmore A , Benson LS . Rural community disaster preparedness and risk perception in Trujillo, Peru. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(4):387-392.

Microcomputer-assisted transmission of disaster data by cellular telephone.

Science.gov (United States)

Wigder, H N; Fligner, D J; Rivers, D; Hotch, D

1989-01-01

Voice communication of information during disasters is often inadequate. In particular, simultaneous transmission by multiple callers on the same frequency can result in blocked transmissions and miscommunications. In contrast, nonvoice transmission of data requires less time than does voice communication of the same data, and may be more accurate. We conducted a pilot study to test the feasibility of a microcomputer assisted communication (MAC) network linking the disaster scene and the command hospital. The radio chosen to transmit data from the field disaster site to the command hospital was a cellular telephone connected to the microcomputer by modem. Typed communications between the microcomputer operators enabled dialogue between the disaster site and the hospitals. A computer program using commercially available software (Symphony by Lotus, Inc.) was written to allow for data entry, data transmission, and reports. Patient data, including age, sex, severity of injury, identification number, major injuries, and hospital destination were successfully transmitted from the disaster site command post to the command hospital. This pilot test demonstrated the potential applicability of MAC for facilitating transmission of patient data during a disaster.

Social media and disasters: a functional framework for social media use in disaster planning, response, and research.

Science.gov (United States)

Houston, J Brian; Hawthorne, Joshua; Perreault, Mildred F; Park, Eun Hae; Goldstein Hode, Marlo; Halliwell, Michael R; Turner McGowen, Sarah E; Davis, Rachel; Vaid, Shivani; McElderry, Jonathan A; Griffith, Stanford A

2015-01-01

A comprehensive review of online, official, and scientific literature was carried out in 2012-13 to develop a framework of disaster social media. This framework can be used to facilitate the creation of disaster social media tools, the formulation of disaster social media implementation processes, and the scientific study of disaster social media effects. Disaster social media users in the framework include communities, government, individuals, organisations, and media outlets. Fifteen distinct disaster social media uses were identified, ranging from preparing and receiving disaster preparedness information and warnings and signalling and detecting disasters prior to an event to (re)connecting community members following a disaster. The framework illustrates that a variety of entities may utilise and produce disaster social media content. Consequently, disaster social media use can be conceptualised as occurring at a number of levels, even within the same disaster. Suggestions are provided on how the proposed framework can inform future disaster social media development and research. © 2014 2014 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2014.

Humanitarism and Disaster Governance in Indonesia: Case Study: Merapi Eruption in 2010

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Annisa Gita Srikandini

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This paper argues that humanitarian action in the aftermath of disaster could be explained with the concept of disaster governance. Humanitarian action has been defined as any action to minimize human suffering wherever it is found without considering any state boundaries. Its goal is to make the affected person to be resilient in the aftermath of disaster. This paper elaborates the principle of disaster governance including the concept of humanitarianism, the development of humanitarian enterprise, and the issue of coordination within the chaotic coordination after disaster. Second, it examines the concept of disaster governance as a model of network. Later, through those both tools, the case of Merapi Eruption in 2010 will be put into context.

Analysing the Effectiveness of Wearable Wireless Sensors in Controlling Crowd Disasters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Teo, Y.H.A.; Viswanathan, V.; Lees, M.; Cai, W.

2014-01-01

The Love Parade disaster in Duisberg, Germany lead to several deaths and injuries. Disasters like this occur due to the existence of high densities in a limited area. We propose a wearable electronic device that helps reduce such disasters by directing people and thus controlling the density of the

International Charter `Space and Major Disasters' Collaborations

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, B. K.

2017-12-01

The International Charter aims at providing a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to national disaster authorities of countries affected by natural or man-made disasters. Each of the sixteen Member Agencies has committed resources to support the objectives of the Charter and thus helping to mitigate the effects of disasters on human life and property, getting critical information into the hands of the disaster responders so that they can make informed decisions in the wake of a disaster. The Charter Member Agencies work together to provide remotely sensed imagery to any requesting country that is experiencing a natural or man-made disaster. The Space Agencies contribute priority satellite taskings, archive retrievals, and map production, as well as imagery of the affected areas. The imagery is provided at no cost to the affected country and is made available for the immediate response phase of the disaster. The Charter also has agreements with Sentinel Asia to submit activation requests on behalf of its 30+ member countries and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UN OOSA) and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)/ United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) to submit activations on behalf of United Nations relief agencies such as UNICEF and UNOCHA. To further expand accessibility to the Charter Member Agency resources, the Charter has implemented the Universal Access initiative, which allows any country's disaster management authority to submit an application, attend a brief training session, and after successful completion, become an Authorized User able to submit activation requests without assistance from Member Agencies. The data provided by the Charter is used for many purposes including damage assessments, reference maps, evacuation route planning, search and rescue operations, decision maker briefings, scientific evaluations, and other response activities.

Rainwater harvesting for drought disaster alleviation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Widodo, B.; Prinzand, D.; Malik, A.H.

2005-01-01

Too little water and too much water can be as devastating as well. Drought usually does not show up instantly like flood, but it creeps slowly. Drought that is less popular than flood has impact more serious than flood. It is difficult to be identified when it comes and when it goes away. However, it is suddenly understood when water becomes scare, or no more water is available in wells, rivers and reservoirs. Managing flood and drought has to be at an integrated basis. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) combined with water conservation methods can be developed to alleviate drought disaster as well as flood disaster in the same time. RWH and water conservation must be an integral part of integrated water resources management. Preventing drought could be automatically reducing the extent of flood that means preventing people and the environment from the disasters. (author)

77 FR 52379 - Disaster Declaration #13239 and #13240; OHIO Disaster # H-00030

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-29

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Disaster Declaration 13239 and 13240; OHIO Disaster H-00030 AGENCY... declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of OHIO (FEMA-4077- DR), dated 08/20..., Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Putnam, Shelby, Van Wert, Washington. The Interest Rates are: Percent For...

Disaster mental health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henderson, Silja; Berliner, Peter; Elsass, Peter

2015-01-01

In this chapter we focus on disaster mental health, particularly theoretical and research-based implications for intervention. The field of disaster mental health research is vast and impossible to cover in a single chapter, but we will visit central research, concepts, and understandings within...... disaster mental health and intervention, and refer to further literature where meaningful. We conclude the chapter with recommendations for further research....

Local communities and health disaster management in the mining sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Freek Cronjé

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Mining activities throughout the Southern African Development Community (SADC have impacted on the health and safety of mining communities for many decades. Despite the economic contribution of mining to surrounding communities, a huge amount of social and environmental harm is associated with the industry. In this regard, mining companies have, on the one hand, contributed toward improved social development by providing jobs, paying taxes and earning foreign exchange. On the other hand, they have been linked publicly to poor labour conditions, corruption, pollution incidents, health and safety failings, as well as disrespect of human rights. The objectives of this study are to give an overview of social and natural factors relating to health disasters in selected communities in the mining environment. Regarding the findings, this paper focuses on the social and natural factors involved in the creation of health disasters. The social factors include poverty, unemployment, poor housing and infrastructure, prostitution and a high influx of unaccompanied migrant labour. Major health issues in this regard, which will be highlighted, are the extraordinary high incidence rate of HIV and STIs (sexually transmitted infections, addiction and mental illness. The environmental (natural threats to health that will be discussed in the study are harmful particles in the air and water, excessive noise and overcrowded and unhygienic living conditions. In conclusion, the paper also finds that communities need to be ‘fenced in’ in terms of health disaster management instead of being excluded. Specific recommendations to mining companies to reduce health and safety disasters will be made to conclude the paper.

Nuclear disasters and their consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bastian, T.

1986-01-01

The book is intended to serve as a source of information and a line of orientation for all people afraid of or angry about the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. The author describes the effects of nuclear disasters that might happen as a result of military or 'peaceful' application of nuclear energy; he explains the situation people will have to cope with, gives advice on protective means and methods and topical information with reference to institutions or authorities where assistance might be available, also including a list of addresses and telephone numbers that has been issued by the governments after the Chernobyl accident. (orig.) [de

Alternative Opportunistic Alert Diffusion to Support Infrastructure Failure during Disasters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farouk Mezghani

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Opportunistic communications present a promising solution for disaster network recovery in emergency situations such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods, where infrastructure might be destroyed. Some recent works in the literature have proposed opportunistic-based disaster recovery solutions, but they have omitted the consideration of mobile devices that come with different network technologies and various initial energy levels. This work presents COPE, an energy-aware Cooperative OPportunistic alErt diffusion scheme for trapped survivors to use during disaster scenarios to report their position and ease their rescue operation. It aims to maintain mobile devices functional for as long as possible for maximum network coverage until reaching proximate rescuers. COPE deals with mobile devices that come with an assortment of networks and aims to perform systematic network interface selection. Furthermore, it considers mobile devices with various energy levels and allows low-energy nodes to hold their charge for longer time with the support of high-energy nodes. A proof-of-concept implementation has been performed to study the doability and efficiency of COPE, and to highlight the lessons learned.

Health care logistics: who has the ball during disaster?

Science.gov (United States)

Vanvactor, Jerry D

2011-05-10

In contemporary organizations, a wide gamut of options is available for sustaining and supporting health care operations. When disaster strikes, despite having tenable plans for routine replenishment and operations, many organizations find themselves ill-prepared, ill-equipped, and without effective mechanisms in place to sustain operations during the immediate aftermath of a crisis. Health care operations can be abruptly halted due to the non-availability of supply. The purpose of this work is to add to a necessary, growing body of works related specifically to health care logistics preparedness and disaster mitigation. Logistics management is a specialized genre of expertise within the health care industry and is largely contributive to the success or failure of health care organizations. Logistics management requires extensive collaboration among multiple stakeholders-internal and external to an organization. Effective processes and procedures can be largely contributive to the success or failure of organizational operations. This article contributes to the closure of an obvious gap in professional and academic literature related to disaster health care logistics management and provides timely insight into a potential problem for leaders industry-wide. One critical aspect of disaster planning is regard for competent logistics management and the effective provision of necessary items when they are needed most. In many communities, there seems to be little evidence available regarding health care logistics involvement in disaster planning; at times, evidence of planning efforts perceptibly end at intra-organizational doors within facilities. Strategic planners are being continually reminded that health care organizations serve a principal role in emergency preparedness planning and must be prepared to fulfill the associated possibilities without notification. The concern is that not enough attention is being paid to repeated lessons being observed in disasters and

3D GEO-INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DISASTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

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E. Demir Ozbek

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A conceptual approach is proposed to define 3D geo-information requirement for different types of disasters. This approach includes components such as Disaster Type-Sector-Actor-Process-Activity-Task-Data. According to disaster types processes, activities, tasks, sectors, and responsible and operational actors are derived. Based on the tasks, the needed level of detail for 3D geo-information model is determined. The levels of detail are compliant with the 3D international standard CityGML. After a brief introduction on the disaster phases and geo-information requirement for actors to perform the tasks, the paper discusses the current situation of disaster and emergency management in Turkey and elaborates on components of conceptual approach. This paper discusses the 3D geo-information requirements for the tasks to be used in the framework of 3D geo-information model for Disaster and Emergency Management System in Turkey. The framework is demonstrated for an industrial fire case in Turkey.

From event analysis to global lessons: disaster forensics for building resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Keating, Adriana; Venkateswaran, Kanmani; Szoenyi, Michael; MacClune, Karen; Mechler, Reinhard

2016-07-01

With unprecedented growth in disaster risk, there is an urgent need for enhanced learning and understanding of disasters, particularly in relation to the trends in drivers of increasing risk. Building on the disaster forensics field, we introduce the post-event review capability (PERC) methodology for systematically and holistically analysing disaster events, and identifying actionable recommendations. PERC responds to a need for learning about the successes and failures in disaster risk management and resilience, and uncovers the underlying drivers of increasing risk. We draw generalisable insights identified from seven applications of the methodology to date, where we find that across the globe policy makers and practitioners in disaster risk management face strikingly similar challenges despite variations in context, indicating encouraging potential for mutual learning. These lessons highlight the importance of integrated risk reduction strategies. We invite others to utilise the freely available PERC approach and contribute to building a repository of learning on disaster risk management and resilience.

Flood Disaster Risk Assessment of Rural Housings — A Case Study of Kouqian Town in China

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Qi Zhang

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Floods are a devastating kind of natural disaster. About half of the population in China lives in rural areas. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the flood disaster risk of rural housings. The results are valuable for guiding the rescue and relief goods layout. In this study, we take the severe flood disaster that happened at Kouqian Town in Jilin, China in 2010 as an example to build an risk assessment system for flood disaster on rural housings. Based on the theory of natural disaster risk formation and “3S” technology (remote sensing, geography information systems and global positioning systems, taking the rural housing as the bearing body, we assess the flood disaster risk from three aspects: hazard, exposure and vulnerability. The hazard presented as the flood submerging range and depth. The exposure presented as the values of the housing and the property in it. The vulnerability presented as the relationship between the losses caused by flood and flood depth. We validate the model by the field survey after the flood disaster. The risk assessment results highly coincide with the field survey losses. This model can be used to assess the risk of other flood events in this area.

Risk of depressive disorder following disasters and military deployment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonde, J. P.; Utzon-Frank, Nicolai; Bertelsen, M.

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies describe the occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder following disasters, but less is known about the risk of major depression. AIMS: To review the risk of depressive disorder in people surviving disasters and in soldiers returning from military deployment. METHOD.......30-3.98), technological disaster OR = 1.44 (95% CI 1.21-1.70), terrorist acts OR = 1.80 (95% CI 1.38-2.34) and military combat OR = 1.60 (95% CI 1.09-2.35). In a subset of ten high-quality studies OR was 1.41 (95% CI 1.06-1.87). CONCLUSIONS: Disasters and combat experience substantially increase the risk of depression...

Academic Responses to Fukushima Disaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Yasui, Kiyotaka; Kimura, Yuko; Kamiya, Kenji; Miyatani, Rie; Tsuyama, Naohiro; Sakai, Akira; Yoshida, Koji; Yamashita, Shunichi; Chhem, Rethy; Abdel-Wahab, May; Ohtsuru, Akira

2017-03-01

Since radiation accidents, particularly nuclear disasters, are rarer than other types of disasters, a comprehensive radiation disaster medical curriculum for them is currently unavailable. The Fukushima compound disaster has urged the establishment of a new medical curriculum in preparation for any future complex disaster. The medical education will aim to aid decision making on various health risks for workers, vulnerable people, and residents addressing each phase in the disaster. Herein, we introduce 3 novel educational programs that have been initiated to provide students, professionals, and leaders with the knowledge of and skills to elude the social consequences of complex nuclear disasters. The first program concentrates on radiation disaster medicine for medical students at the Fukushima Medical University, together with a science, technology, and society module comprising various topics, such as public risk communication, psychosocial consequences of radiation anxiety, and decision making for radiation disaster. The second program is a Phoenix Leader PhD degree at the Hiroshima University, which aims to develop future leaders who can address the associated scientific, environmental, and social issues. The third program is a Joint Graduate School of Master's degree in the Division of Disaster and Radiation Medical Sciences at the Nagasaki University and Fukushima Medical University.

Thyroid monitoring for residents of disaster-affected and neighboring areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Shigeki

2014-01-01

The devastating environmental contamination caused by the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of The Tokyo Electric Power Company is exposing the residents of the disaster-affected areas to health risks attributable to radiation exposure, and fear of the development of 131 I-induced thyroid cancer, which is a stochastic effect of radiation and is particularly high. As part of the response to nuclear disasters by the government of the municipality where the nuclear power station is located and in operation and by the governments of neighboring municipalities, it is necessary to conduct thyroid monitoring for the purpose of alleviating the fears of residents of the disaster-affected areas as well as those living in the contaminated, even if only slightly, neighboring areas (local residents). This health monitoring needs to be implemented without delay in the case of a disaster along with dissemination of a portable type thyroid monitoring system available at evacuation centers, etc. for assessing thyroid exposure doses. The establishment of a system for developing personnel ready to perform monitoring is also essential. Assessing thyroid exposure doses is indispensable as a means of assuring local residents not only of safety but also of security from the risks of radiation. To date, contamination has not been detected in people, except for residents contaminated by a large amount of iodine, by employing the mobile type of thyroid monitoring system. However, when local residents seeking security desire thyroid monitoring, it is preferable that a portable type simplified thyroid monitoring system be used as a means of ensuring security against radiation. (author)

Risk assessment of drought disaster in southern China

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Y.

2015-12-01

Abstract: Drought has become an increasing concern in southern China, but the drought risk has not been adequately studied. This study presents a method for the spatial assessment of drought risk in southern China using a conceptual framework that emphasizes the combined role of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure.A drought hazard map was retrieved with a compound index of meteorological drought method in a GIS environment. Normally, a large variation in the disaster-inducing factor implies a high probability of economic/social losses caused by a drought disaster. The map indicated that areas with a higher risk of drought hazard were mainly distributed in mid-east Yunnan and the basins in eastern Sichuan.The vulnerability indices were based on climate factors as well as land use, geomorphological types, soil properties, and drainage density. The water preserving capability of purple calcareous soil in the basins in Sichuan and mid-east Yunnan, and the lateritic red soil in northeastern Guangdong is relatively weak. The main geomorphological features in Guangxi and Guangdong are hills, which leads to a serious expectation of soil and water losses. Thus, the main areas with a high risk of drought vulnerability are mid-east Yunnan and the basins in eastern Sichuan.The exposure indices were based on population density and agricultural production because population and agriculture experience the main impacts of a drought disaster. Higher exposure indices mean higher economic/social losses due to drought disasters. Areas with high exposure indices were mainly distributed in Guangdong and southern Guangxi.The overall risk was then calculated as the product of the hazard, vulnerability, and exposure. The results indicated a higher risk of drought disaster in the basins in eastern Sichuan,, northeastern Yunnan, and northeastern Guangdong. The main factor influencing the risk of a drought disaster was the hazard, but the vulnerability and exposure also played important roles.

Simulating and Communicating Outcomes in Disaster Management Situations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michal Lichter

2015-09-01

Full Text Available An important, but overlooked component of disaster managment is raising the awareness and preparedness of potential stakeholders. We show how recent advances in agent-based modeling and geo-information analytics can be combined to this effect. Using a dynamic simulation model, we estimate the long run outcomes of two very different urban disasters with severe consequences: an earthquake and a missile attack. These differ in terms of duration, intensity, permanence, and focal points. These hypothetical shocks are simulated for the downtown area of Jerusalem. Outcomes are compared in terms of their potential for disaster mitigation. The spatial and temporal dynamics of the simulation yield rich outputs. Web-based mapping is used to visualize these results and communicate risk to policy makers, planners, and the informed public. The components and design of this application are described. Implications for participatory disaster management and planning are discussed.

Affect, risk perception and future optimism after the tsunami disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Vastfjall

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Environmental events such as natural disasters may influence the public's affective reactions and decisions. Shortly after the 2004 Tsunami disaster we assessed how affect elicited by thinking about this disaster influenced risk perceptions and future time perspective in Swedish undergraduates not directly affected by the disaster. An experimental manipulation was used to increase the salience of affect associated with the disaster. In Study 1 we found that participants reminded about the tsunami had a sense that their life was more finite and included fewer opportunities than participants in the control condition (not reminded about the tsunami. In Study 2 we found similar effects for risk perceptions. In addition, we showed that manipulations of ease-of-thought influenced the extent to which affect influenced these risk perceptions, with greater ease of thoughts being associated with greater perceived risks.

The Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project — A Community-Level, Public Health Initiative to Build Community Disaster Resilience

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David Eisenman

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Public health officials need evidence-based methods for improving community disaster resilience and strategies for measuring results. This methods paper describes how one public health department is addressing this problem. This paper provides a detailed description of the theoretical rationale, intervention design and novel evaluation of the Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project (LACCDR, a public health program for increasing community disaster resilience. The LACCDR Project utilizes a pretest–posttest method with control group design. Sixteen communities in Los Angeles County were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental community resilience group or the comparison group. Community coalitions in the experimental group receive training from a public health nurse trained in community resilience in a toolkit developed for the project. The toolkit is grounded in theory and uses multiple components to address education, community engagement, community and individual self-sufficiency, and partnerships among community organizations and governmental agencies. The comparison communities receive training in traditional disaster preparedness topics of disaster supplies and emergency communication plans. Outcome indicators include longitudinal changes in inter-organizational linkages among community organizations, community member responses in table-top exercises, and changes in household level community resilience behaviors and attitudes. The LACCDR Project is a significant opportunity and effort to operationalize and meaningfully measure factors and strategies to increase community resilience. This paper is intended to provide public health and academic researchers with new tools to conduct their community resilience programs and evaluation research. Results are not yet available and will be presented in future reports.

Social capital and disaster preparedness among low income Mexican Americans in a disaster prone area.

Science.gov (United States)

Reininger, Belinda M; Rahbar, Mohammad H; Lee, Minjae; Chen, Zhongxue; Alam, Sartaj R; Pope, Jennifer; Adams, Barbara

2013-04-01

Examination of social capital and its relationship to disaster preparedness has grown in prominence partially due to world-wide need to effectively respond to terrorist attacks, viral epidemics, or natural disasters. Recent studies suggested that social capital may be related to a community's ability to plan for and respond to such disasters. Few studies, however, have examined social capital constructs among low income populations living in disaster prone areas and accounted for the influence of social capital at the individual and community level. We examined social capital as measured by perceived fairness, perceived civic trust, perceived reciprocity and group membership. We undertook a multistage random cluster survey in three coastal counties in Texas (U.S.) noted for their high levels of poverty. Individuals from 3088 households provided data on social capital, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and self-reported level of preparedness for a hurricane. We used multivariable logistic regression to test potential associations between social capital measures and disaster preparedness. After adjusting for age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, education, employment, household income, acculturation, self-reported health, special needs persons in household, household size, and distance to the shore we found a higher prevalence of preparedness among individuals who reported the highest perception of fairness [AOR = 3.12, 95% CI: (1.86, 5.21)] compared to those individuals who reported lowest perceptions of fairness. We also found a higher prevalence of preparedness [AOR = 2.06; 95% CI: (1.17, 3.62)] among individuals who reported highest perceptions of trust compared to individuals who reported lowest perceptions of trust. Perceived reciprocity and group membership were not associated with preparedness. These results extend previous findings on social capital and disaster preparedness and further characterize social capital's presence among a low

Post-disaster psychosocial services across Europe: The TENTS project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Witteveen, A. B.; Bisson, J. I.; Ajdukovic, D.

2012-01-01

At present post-disaster activities and plans seem to vary widely. An adequate estimation of the availability of post-disaster psychosocial services across Europe is needed in order to compare them with recently developed evidence-informed psychosocial care guidelines. Here we report on the results...... of a cross-sectional web-based survey completed in 2008 by two hundred and eighty-six representatives of organizations involved in psychosocial responses to trauma and disaster from thirty-three different countries across Europe. The survey addressed planning and delivery of psychosocial care after disaster......, methods of screening and diagnosis, types of interventions used, and other aspects of psychosocial care after trauma. The findings showed that planning and delivery of psychosocial care was inconsistent across Europe. Countries in East Europe seemed to have less central coordination of the post...

Waiting for Disasters: A Risk Reduction Assessment of Technological Disasters

Science.gov (United States)

Rovins, Jane; Winningham, Sam

2010-05-01

This session provides a risk reduction/mitigation assessment of natural hazards causation of technological disasters and possible solution. People use technology in an attempt to not only control their environment but nature itself in order to make them feel safe and productive. Most strategies for managing hazards followed a traditional planning model i.e. study the problem, identify and implement a solution, and move on to the next problem. This approach is often viewed as static model and risk reduction is more of an upward, positive, linear trend. However, technological disasters do not allow risk reduction action to neatly fit this upward, positive, linear trend with actual or potential threats to the environment and society. There are different types of technological disasters, including industrial accidents; pipeline ruptures; accidents at power, water and heat supply systems and other lines of communication; sudden collapse of buildings and mines; air crashes; shipwrecks; automobile and railway accidents to name a few. Natural factors can play an essential role in triggering or magnifying technological disasters. They can result from the direct destruction of given technical objects by a hazardous natural process such as the destruction of an atomic power plant or chemical plant due to an earthquake. Other examples would include the destruction of communications or infrastructure systems by heavy snowfalls, strong winds, avalanches. Events in the past ten years clearly demonstrate that natural disasters and the technological disasters that accompany them are not problems that can be solved in isolation and risk reduction can play an important part. Risk reduction was designed to head off the continuing rising financial and structural tolls from disasters. All Hazard Risk Reduction planning was supposed to include not only natural, but technological, and human-made disasters as well. The subsequent disaster risk reduction (DRR) indicators were to provide the

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response: There's An App for That.

Science.gov (United States)

Bachmann, Daniel J; Jamison, Nathan K; Martin, Andrew; Delgado, Jose; Kman, Nicholas E

2015-10-01

Smartphone applications (or apps) are becoming increasingly popular with emergency responders and health care providers, as well as the public as a whole. There are thousands of medical apps available for Smartphones and tablet computers, with more added each day. These include apps to view textbooks, guidelines, medication databases, medical calculators, and radiology images. Hypothesis/Problem With an ever expanding catalog of apps that relate to disaster medicine, it is hard for both the lay public and responders to know where to turn for effective Smartphone apps. A systematic review of these apps was conducted. A search of the Apple iTunes store (Version 12; Apple Inc.; Cupertino, California USA) was performed using the following terms obtained from the PubMed Medical Subject Headings Database: Emergency Preparedness, Emergency Responders, Disaster, Disaster Planning, Disaster Medicine, Bioterrorism, Chemical Terrorism, Hazardous Materials (HazMat), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). After excluding any unrelated apps, a working list of apps was formed and categorized based on topics. Apps were grouped based on applicability to responders, the lay public, or regional preparedness, and were then ranked based on iTunes user reviews, value, relevance to audience, and user interface. This search revealed 683 applications and was narrowed to 219 based on relevance to the field. After grouping the apps as described above, and subsequently ranking them, the highest quality apps were determined from each group. The Community Emergency Response Teams and FEMA had the best apps for National Disaster Medical System responders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had high-quality apps for emergency responders in a variety of fields. The National Library of Medicine's Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER) app was an excellent app for HazMat responders. The American Red Cross had the most useful apps for natural

The Role of Education on Disaster Preparedness: Case Study of 2012 Indian Ocean Earthquakes on Thailand's Andaman Coast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raya Muttarak

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we investigate how well residents of the Andaman coast in Phang Nga province, Thailand, are prepared for earthquakes and tsunami. It is hypothesized that formal education can promote disaster preparedness because education enhances individual cognitive and learning skills, as well as access to information. A survey was conducted of 557 households in the areas that received tsunami warnings following the Indian Ocean earthquakes on 11 April 2012. Interviews were carried out during the period of numerous aftershocks, which put residents in the region on high alert. The respondents were asked what emergency preparedness measures they had taken following the 11 April earthquakes. Using the partial proportional odds model, the paper investigates determinants of personal disaster preparedness measured as the number of preparedness actions taken. Controlling for village effects, we find that formal education, measured at the individual, household, and community levels, has a positive relationship with taking preparedness measures. For the survey group without past disaster experience, the education level of household members is positively related to disaster preparedness. The findings also show that disaster-related training is most effective for individuals with high educational attainment. Furthermore, living in a community with a higher proportion of women who have at least a secondary education increases the likelihood of disaster preparedness. In conclusion, we found that formal education can increase disaster preparedness and reduce vulnerability to natural hazards.

A call to establish a child-centred disaster management framework in Zimbabwe

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Ramphal M. Sillah

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Disasters have increased in intensity and frequency in recent times. However, disasters do not affect all groups in a society in a similar manner. This article, based mainly on qualitative desk research and document analysis, aims to illuminate the specific vulnerability of children to hazards and disasters. The research showed that owing to their special physiological, psychological, emotional and economic stature, children are an inherently vulnerable group. The paper advocates for existing disaster management structures and systems in Zimbabwe to elevate reduction of disaster risk amongst children within the scope of child protection, which aims to create a protective environment that shelters children from any form of harm or abuse. The paper proffers recommendations on how to design disaster management programmes in Zimbabwe with the needs of children in mind.

Public opinion on Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirose, Hirotada

2013-01-01

This article showed trend of public opinion on nuclear power after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, for which the survey had been done five times under the same method and inquiries. Most unreliable source of information at disaster was government ministries and offices, whose unreliability sharply increased from 20% to about 50% after 3 months later and one year later after March 11 and reliability after 2 year and 5 months later (August 2013) was not high and almost comparable with unreliability of 27%. Nuclear disaster was most serious cause of Great East Japan earthquake disaster (60%) and not entirely ended due to such increase of contaminated water. Public opinion survey in August 2013 showed nuclear power stoppage totaled about 80% with immediate of about 30% and phaseout of about 50%, and possibility of occurrence of another nuclear accident comparable with Fukushima disaster was almost 80% with a belief not only earthquakes, tsunamis, terrorism but also human errors might initiate nuclear disaster if nuclear power restarted. Future most serious disaster would be earthquake (50%) and nuclear disaster (35%). Nuclear accident preparedness of government and local government was not enough (58% and 24%) and nothing (33% and 24%). Residents within UPZ (Urgent Protection action Planning Zone) of 30 km radius could not evacuate safely (57%) and entirely (22%). If government and local government encouraged damaged residents to come home with declaration of safety for evacuation area of nuclear accident, damaged residents might not return almost (46%) and entirely (9%). Notwithstanding people's strong feeling against nuclear power, LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) promoting nuclear power won an overwhelming victory at the election of House of Councilors in July 2013. Public opinion survey in August 2013 showed most important issue of voters was party's image (25%), economic measures (20%) and candidate's personality (13%), and nuclear power policy was only 5%. (T

Proxmox high availability

CERN Document Server

Cheng, Simon MC

2014-01-01

If you want to know the secrets of virtualization and how to implement high availability on your services, this is the book for you. For those of you who are already using Proxmox, this book offers you the chance to build a high availability cluster with a distributed filesystem to further protect your system from failure.

Practitioner Perspectives on a Disaster Management Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Moe, K.; Evans, J. D.

2012-12-01

The Committee on Earth Observing Satellites (CEOS) Working Group on Information Systems and Services (WGISS) is constructing a high-level reference model for the use of satellites, sensors, models, and associated data products from many different global data and service providers in disaster response and risk assessment. To help streamline broad, effective access to satellite information, the reference model provides structured, shared, holistic views of distributed systems and services - in effect, a common vocabulary describing the system-of-systems building blocks and how they are composed for disaster management. These views are being inferred from real-world experience, by documenting and analyzing how practitioners have gone about using or providing satellite data to manage real disaster events or to assess or mitigate hazard risks. Crucial findings and insights come from case studies of three kinds of experience: - Disaster response and recovery (such as the 2008 Sichuan/Wenchuan earthquake in China; and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan); - Technology pilot projects (such as NASA's Flood Sensor Web pilot in Namibia, or the interagency Virtual Mission Operation Center); - Information brokers (such as the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters, or the U.K.-based Disaster Management Constellation). Each of these experiences sheds light on the scope and stakeholders of disaster management; the information requirements for various disaster types and phases; and the services needed for effective access to information by a variety of users. They also highlight needs and gaps in the supply of satellite information for disaster management. One need stands out: rapid and effective access to complex data from multiple sources, across inter-organizational boundaries. This is the near-real-time challenge writ large: gaining access to satellite data resources from multiple organizationally distant and geographically disperse sources, to meet an

Building infrastructure to prevent disasters like Hurricane Maria

Science.gov (United States)

Bandaragoda, C.; Phuong, J.; Mooney, S.; Stephens, K.; Istanbulluoglu, E.; Pieper, K.; Rhoads, W.; Edwards, M.; Pruden, A.; Bales, J.; Clark, E.; Brazil, L.; Leon, M.; McDowell, W. G.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Tarboton, D. G.; Jones, A. S.; Hutton, E.; Tucker, G. E.; McCready, L.; Peckham, S. D.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Idaszak, R.

2017-12-01

2000 words Recovery efforts from natural disasters can be more efficient with data-driven information on current needs and future risks. We aim to advance open-source software infrastructure to support scientific investigation and data-driven decision making with a prototype system using a water quality assessment developed to investigate post-Hurricane Maria drinking water contamination in Puerto Rico. The widespread disruption of water treatment processes and uncertain drinking water quality within distribution systems in Puerto Rico poses risk to human health. However, there is no existing digital infrastructure to scientifically determine the impacts of the hurricane. After every natural disaster, it is difficult to answer elementary questions on how to provide high quality water supplies and health services. This project will archive and make accessible data on environmental variables unique to Puerto Rico, damage caused by Hurricane Maria, and will begin to address time sensitive needs of citizens. The initial focus is to work directly with public utilities to collect and archive samples of biological and inorganic drinking water quality. Our goal is to advance understanding of how the severity of a hazard to human health (e.g., no access to safe culinary water) is related to the sophistication, connectivity, and operations of the physical and related digital infrastructure systems. By rapidly collecting data in the early stages of recovery, we will test the design of an integrated cyberinfrastructure system to for usability of environmental and health data to understand the impacts from natural disasters. We will test and stress the CUAHSI HydroShare data publication mechanisms and capabilities to (1) assess the spatial and temporal presence of waterborne pathogens in public water systems impacted by a natural disaster, (2) demonstrate usability of HydroShare as a clearinghouse to centralize selected datasets related to Hurricane Maria, and (3) develop a

From Information to Social Convergence: Discovering Emerging Channels in Major Disasters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pai-Lin Chen

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Disaster communication researchers focused on text reporting and the effects of mass media until the rise of Web 2.0 enabled “emerging channels” to appear during disasters. This study examined alternative channels by analyzing texts reported during Typhoon Morakot in 2009. The result indicated that emerging channels, with limited life cycles, presented comprehensive reporting disasters. Emerging channels provide not only information brokering mechanism but also social convergence. Several research implications are discussed for future research.

Post Disaster Assessment with Decision Support System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

May Florence J. Franco

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The study aimed to develop an online system that would expedite the response of agencies after disaster strikes; generate a list of the kinds and volume of relief aids needed per family affected for a fair, precise and timely distribution; implement community-based ICT by remotely gathering all the necessary data needed for disaster assessment; and adhere to ISO 9126 standards. The system was designed to calculate the effects of disaster in human lives and economy. Integrated into the system were Goggle Maps, Mines and GeoSciences Bureau Hazard Maps, SMS sending features, best passable routes calculations, and decision support on the needs that has to be addressed. The system was made live at pdrrmcguimaras.herokuapp.com to allow remote data entry. The functionality and usability of the system were evaluated by 19 potential users by computing for the arithmetic Mean and Standard Deviation of the survey. The result showed that most of them strongly agreed that the system is acceptable based on these criteria. A group of IT experts also evaluated the system’s conformance to ISO 9126 standards using the same method. The result showed that majority of them strongly agreed that the system conforms to this international standard. The system is seen as a valuable tool for the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC and the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC for it could help expedite the assessment of the effects of disasters and the formulation of response plans and strategies.

Fiji's worst natural disaster: the 1931 hurricane and flood.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeo, Stephen W; Blong, Russell J

2010-07-01

At least 225 people in the Fiji Islands died as a result of the 1931 hurricane and flood, representing the largest loss of life from a natural disaster in Fiji's recent history. This paper explores the causes of disaster and the potential for recurrence. The disaster occurred because a rare event surprised hundreds of people-especially recently settled Indian farmers-occupying highly exposed floodplains in north-west Viti Levu island. The likelihood of a flood disaster of such proportions occurring today has been diminished by changed settlement patterns and building materials; however, a trend towards re-occupancy of floodplains, sometimes in fragile dwellings, is exposing new generations to flood risks. The contribution of this paper to the global hazards literature is set out in three sections: the ethnicity, gender and age of flood fatalities; the naturalness of disasters; and the merit of choice and constraint as explanations for patterns of vulnerability.

Infectious diseases following natural disasters: prevention and control measures.

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Kouadio, Isidore K; Aljunid, Syed; Kamigaki, Taro; Hammad, Karen; Oshitani, Hitoshi

2012-01-01

Natural disasters may lead to infectious disease outbreaks when they result in substantial population displacement and exacerbate synergic risk factors (change in the environment, in human conditions and in the vulnerability to existing pathogens) for disease transmission. We reviewed risk factors and potential infectious diseases resulting from prolonged secondary effects of major natural disasters that occurred from 2000 to 2011. Natural disasters including floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, tropical cyclones (e.g., hurricanes and typhoons) and tornadoes have been secondarily described with the following infectious diseases including diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections, malaria, leptospirosis, measles, dengue fever, viral hepatitis, typhoid fever, meningitis, as well as tetanus and cutaneous mucormycosis. Risk assessment is essential in post-disaster situations and the rapid implementation of control measures through re-establishment and improvement of primary healthcare delivery should be given high priority, especially in the absence of pre-disaster surveillance data.

International Charter "Space and Major Disasters": Typical Examples of Disaster Management Including Asian Tsunami

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Cubero-Castan, Eliane; Bequignon, Jerome; Mahmood, Ahmed; Lauritson, Levin; Soma, P.; Platzeck, Gabriel; Chu, Ishida

2005-03-01

The International Charter 'Space and Major Disaster', now entering its 5th year of operation, has been activated nearly 80 times to provide space-based data and information in response to natural disasters. The disasters ranged from volcanic eruption in Columbia, floods in Europe, Argentina, Sudan to earthquakes in Iran, from landslides in Philippines to the tragic tsunami in Asia, all resulting in major loss of life and property. The Charter provided imagery and the related information were found to be useful in disaster relief and assessment. Since July 1st 2003, a framework cooperation agreement has been allowing United Nations organizations involved in disaster response to request activation of the Charter.The purpose of the Charter is to provide assistance in situations of emergencies caused by natural and technological disasters by pooling together the space and associated ground resources of the Charter participants, which are currently the European (ESA), French (CNES), Canadian (CSA), Indian (ISRO), American (NOAA), Argentinean (CONAE) and Japanese (JAXA) space organizations.This paper will point out some of the best cases of Charter activation for different disasters leading to change detection imagery and damage assessment products which could be used for disaster reduction in close co-ordination with the end users after the crisis period.

Training and post-disaster interventions for the psychological impacts on disaster-exposed employees: a systematic review.

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Brooks, Samantha K; Dunn, Rebecca; Amlôt, Richard; Greenberg, Neil; Rubin, G James

2018-02-15

When organisations are exposed to traumatic situations, such as disasters, often staff are not prepared for the potential psychological impact which can negatively affect their wellbeing. To conduct a systematic review of the literature on psychological interventions aimed at improving staff wellbeing during or after disasters. Four electronic literature databases were searched. Reference lists of relevant articles were hand-searched. Fifteen articles were included. Five studies suggested that pre-disaster skills training and disaster education can improve employee confidence. Ten studies on post-disaster interventions revealed mixed findings on the effectiveness of psychological debriefing and limited evidence for cognitive behavioural therapy, psychoeducation and meditation. Pre-disaster training and education can improve employees' confidence in their ability to cope with disasters. The routine use of post-disaster psychological debriefings is not supported; further research is needed to determine if debriefing interventions could be useful in some circumstances. Further research is needed to provide more evidence on the potential positive effects of cognitive behavioural therapy, psychoeducation and meditation. More experimental studies on psychological disaster interventions are needed.

Governance of disaster risk reduction in Cameroon: The need to empower local government

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Henry N. Bang

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The impact of natural hazards and/or disasters in Cameroon continues to hit local communities hardest, but local government lacks the ability to manage disaster risks adequately. This is partly due to the fact that the necessity to mainstream disaster risk reduction into local governance and development practices is not yet an underlying principle of Cameroon’s disaster management framework. Using empirical and secondary data, this paper analyses the governance of disaster risks in Cameroon with particular focus on the challenges local government faces in implementing disaster risk reduction strategies. The hypothesis is that the governance of disaster risks is too centralised at the national level, with huge implications for the effective governance of disaster risks at the local level. Although Cameroon has reinvigorated efforts to address growing disaster risks in a proactive way, it is argued that the practical actions are more reactive than proactive in nature. The overall aim is to explore the challenges and opportunities that local government has in the governance of disaster risks. Based on the findings from this research, policy recommendations are suggested on ways to mainstream disaster risk reduction strategies into local governance, and advance understanding and practice in the local governance of disaster risks in the country.

The Samarco Disaster in Brazil: challenges for biodiversity conservation

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Haruf Salmen Espindola

2016-12-01

Full Text Available On November 5, 2015, Brazil and the world noticed the environmental disaster caused by the disruption of Fundão dam (Samarco / Vale / BHP Billiton in Mariana, Minas Gerais. The disaster's impact was not restricted to dam’s immediately downstream areas, where caused destruction of human settlements, but also impacted waterways, farmland, economic activities, drinking water supply to cities and biodiversity. The State Park of Rio Doce (PERD, the main remnant of the Atlantic Forest from Minas Gerais state faced a threat not predicted in his management plan. So, this article is dedicated to the history and importance of the PERD, to the Samarco/Vale/BHP disaster and to impacts on this Conservation Unit. Therefore, it discusses disaster impacts to human life and biodiversity, because ecological conditions even imply on opportunities and obstacles to Social Processes.

Hazard Assessment of Landslide Disaster in Fujian Province Based on Fuzzy Mathematics

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Wang, J. M.; Gong, A. D.; Chen, Y. L.; Li, J.; Zeng, T. T.

2018-04-01

Landslide disasters are the most frequent geological disasters in Fujian Province. They are also the type of geological disasters that cause the most serious economic and population losses each year. This study uses the fuzzy mathematics method to carry on the hazard assessment of landslide disaster in Fujian Province, in order to explore the mechanism of the landslide disaster, and provides the reference for the construction land expansion in Fujian Province. The calculation results show that landslide disasters in Fujian Province have a high correlation with external forces, that is, long-term precipitation and short-term strong precipitation are likely to trigger landslide disasters. Among the internal stress factors, the correlation between the occurrence of landslides and slopes is the highest, and the probability of landslides occurs in areas with steep slopes. The evaluation results show that the areas with high landslide hazards are mainly distributed in the central region of Fujian Province. From the remote sensing images, it can be seen that most of the dangerous areas are in rapidly developing cities, and their vegetation coverage is relatively low, and the environment is greatly affected by humans.

A Retrospective and Prospective Follow-up Study of Psychological Distress in the Danwon High School Survivors of the Sewol Ferry Disaster.

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Kim, Eun Ji; Nam, Hee Sun; Kim, Hak Beom; Chung, Unsun; Lee, So Hee; Chae, Jeong-Ho

2018-03-01

We monitored a group of students from Danwon High School who survived the Sewol ferry disaster for 27 months to examine the course of their psychological symptoms. We performed a chart review at the Danwon High School Mental Health Center at the following time points (T): 9 months (T1), 12 months (T2), and 15 months (T3) after the disaster. Additionally, we performed a follow-up review at 27 months (T4). Subjects completed the 'State' section of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression assessment, the Child Report of Post-traumatic Symptoms, and the Inventory of Complicated Grief. Data from the 32 subjects who completed all four assessments were used in the statistical analyses. Scores of psychological variables tended to increase until T2 and then slowly decreased until T4. The severity of anxiety and complicated grief symptoms changed significantly over time, but the severity of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms did not. We found that the symptoms of anxiety and complicated grief reported by Sewol ferry survivors from Danwon High School were exacerbated at the first anniversary of the disaster, but these symptoms subsided after the students graduated from high school.

[One year after the Great Tohoku Disaster].

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Aoki, Masashi

2012-01-01

After the great earthquake of March 11, 2011, at least seven hospitals with 723 beds along the Miyagi Prefecture northern coastline were so devastated they could no longer function, leaving only several available hospitals. The two crucial issues thus became maintaining communications and regional transport. Phones and wireless were knocked out in most hospitals and areas. Many of the severe cases had to be brought to the Tohoku University Hospital at Sendai from the above the hospitals. Tohoku University Hospital and other medical facilities in the Tohoku district were in a terrible crisis of electricity shortage. It was a critical situation, particularly for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis requiring artificial ventilation. We should hurry to submit a guideline for medical transportation for patients with neuromuscular diseases requiring artificial ventilation. We also should research the disaster medicine in the field of neurology, and prevent the neurological disease progressing after the earthquake. A large number of hospitals in coastal areas suffered devastating damage. We do not think it is feasible or even reasonable to restore such hospitals to what they were before the disaster. We started Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization as a disaster recovery model for revitalizing the areas reported to have scarce medical services. The project provides supports to local medical services, constructs a community coalition for medical information, sets up a biobank based on large-scale cohort studies, and provides educational training to produce highly specialized medical practitioners.

77 FR 530 - Alaska Disaster # AK-00022

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2012-01-05

... Effective Date: 12/22/2011. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 02/21/2012. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan... that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the... Credit Available Elsewhere 3.000 For Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations without Credit Available...

76 FR 56861 - Virginia Disaster #VA-00038

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2011-09-14

... Date: 09/03/2011. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 11/02/2011. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan...- Profit organizations that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan... Available Elsewhere 3.000 For Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere 3...

76 FR 20799 - Wisconsin Disaster #WI-00029

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2011-04-13

.../2011. Effective Date: 04/05/2011. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 06/06/2011. Economic Injury...- Profit organizations that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan... Available 3.000 Elsewhere: For Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available 3.000...

75 FR 14643 - Arizona Disaster #AZ-00011

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-26

.../17/2010. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 12/20/2010. ADDRESSES: Submit... disaster declaration on 03/18/2010, Private Non- Profit organizations that provide essential services of... Available Elsewhere:.. 3.625 Non-Profit Organizations without Credit Available 3.000 Elsewhere: For Economic...

NASA's Applied Sciences: Natural Disasters Program

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Kessler, Jason L.

2010-01-01

Fully utilize current and near-term airborne and spaceborne assets and capabilities. NASA spaceborne instruments are for research but can be applied to natural disaster response as appropriate. NASA airborne instruments can be targeted specifically for disaster response. Could impact research programs. Better flow of information improves disaster response. Catalog capability, product, applicable disaster, points of contact. Ownership needs to come from the highest level of NASA - unpredictable and irregular nature of disasters requires contingency funding for disaster response. Build-in transfer of applicable natural disaster research capabilities to operational functionality at other agencies (e.g., USFS, NOAA, FEMA...) at the outset, whenever possible. For the Decadal Survey Missions, opportunities exist to identify needs and requirements early in the mission design process. Need to understand additional needs and commitments for meeting the needs of the disaster community. Opportunity to maximize disaster response and mitigation from the Decadal Survey Missions. Additional needs or capabilities may require agency contributions.

Emergency Vehicle Scheduling Problem with Time Utility in Disasters

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Xiaobing Gan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a flexible emergency rescue system which is chiefly composed of three parts, namely, disaster assistance center, relief vehicles, and disaster areas. A novel objective of utility maximization is used to evaluate the entire system in disasters. Considering the uncertain road conditions in the relief distribution, we implement triangular fuzzy number to calculate the vehicle velocity. As a consequence, a fuzzy mathematical model is built to maximize the utility of emergency rescue system and then converted to the crisp counterpart. Finally, the results of numerical experiments obtained by particle swarm optimization (PSO prove the validity of this proposed mathematical model.

Design and Laboratory Level Production of High Energy Survival Tablets for Athletes, Tourists and People who Faced Natural Disasters

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A Nezami Asl

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: People affected by natural disasters like flood or earthquakes and also athletes like mountain climbers and also sailors who continuously go to jungles or deserts, might get into trouble in the nature and need help to get back to their home and therefore, they might need high energy supplements to keep them alive up to the time they find a food source. The goal of this study was to design and make these laboratory prototypes of high energy tablets. Methods: For making tablets 15 different formulations were designed and made in the laboratory and then were tested to be suit. We objected to design formulations that could provide at least 20 kcal per each tab and amount of daily protein (about 25 grams, Tablets were design to provide not only the minimum energy needed but also the minimum protein needs and daily requirements of some vitamins and minerals of a healthy male adult. Results: Laboratory samples of 5 gram high energy (21 Kcal were produced. The best formulation that had the capacity to be converted into tablets consisted of olive oil (16%, maltodextrin (36%, high biological value protein powder (25%, sesame seed (17% and wheat germ (6%. 25 tablets should be taken each day which provides 525 kcal energy, 25g protein and different vitamins and minerals, daily; therefore, they will provide the minimum energy needs for at least 10 days if provided in 1.2 kg packs.  Conclusion: The production of high energy tab rations can provide minimum energy needs for at least 7 days for athletes, tourists and people who face natural disasters when there is no access to any other food resources because they occupy the minimum volume and their production is accessible in Iran.

Awareness of disaster reduction frameworks and risk perception of natural disaster: a questionnaire survey among Philippine and Indonesian health care personnel and public health students.

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Usuzawa, Motoki; O Telan, Elizabeth; Kawano, Razel; S Dizon, Carmela; Alisjahbana, Bachti; Ashino, Yugo; Egawa, Shinichi; Fukumoto, Manabu; Izumi, Takako; Ono, Yuichi; Hattori, Toshio

2014-05-01

As the impacts of natural disasters have grown more severe, the importance of education for disaster medicine gains greater recognition. We launched a project to establish an international educational program for disaster medicine. In the present study, we surveyed medical personnel and medical/public health students in the Philippines (n = 45) and Indonesia (n = 67) for their awareness of the international frameworks related to disaster medicine: the Human Security (securing individual life and health), the Sphere Project (international humanitarian response), and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 (international strategy for disaster reduction). In both countries, more than 50% responders were aware of human security, but only 2 to 12% were aware of the latter two. The survey also contained questions about the preferred subjects in prospective educational program, and risk perception on disaster and disaster-related infections. In the Philippines, significant disasters were geophysical (31.0%), hydrological (33.3%), or meteorological (24.8%), whereas in Indonesia, geophysical (63.0%) and hydrological (25.3%) were significant. Moreover, in the Philippines, leptospirosis (27.1%), dengue (18.6%), diarrhea (15.3%), and cholera (10.2%) were recognized common disaster-related infections. In Indonesia, diarrhea (22.0%) and respiratory infection (20.3%) are major disaster-related infections. Water-related infections were the major ones in both countries, but the profiles of risk perception were different (Pearson's chi-square test, p = 1.469e-05). The responders tended to overestimate the risk of low probability and high consequence such as geophysical disaster. These results are helpful for the development of a postgraduate course for disaster medicine in Asia Pacific countries.

Approaches to Post-disaster Environmental Recovery

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Mehrdad Farrokhi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Environment and its ecosystems are affected by various natural and man-made disasters. The environmental management in disasters tries to protect ecosystems, sustain development, reduce disaster risk, and adapt to or decrease the impact of climate change. This study aimed to investigate the impact of disasters on the environment and methods of reducing these effects. Materials and Methods: This review study was conducted by searching PubMed, Google Scholar, Elsevier, UNEP, SID, and Magiran databases using keywords of “environment”, “disasters”, “recovery”, and “lessons learned” from 1999 to 2015. Results: Decrease in surface and groundwater resources, pollution of water resources, deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, air pollution and extinction of animal species are among post-disaster environmental damages. As a result of such changes in the environment and ecosystem, water shortage and drought, loss of vegetation, and food insecurity will ensue. Due to these destructive incidents, the people’s ability to provide necessary resources for living decreases and their very lives are threatened. Consequently, they are forced to immigrate to save their lives. Conclusion: Environmental recovery is one of the effective strategies for achieving sustainable development. In this regard, public and private organizations as well as international ones and people should work together. Responsible organizations, the stakeholders at different levels, and the public must be trained in this area and introduced to the latest international standards. Rules and policies should be reviewed and revised in accordance with today’s needs and international standards.

Non-structural Components influencing Hospital Disaster Preparedness in Malaysia

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Samsuddin, N. M.; Takim, R.; Nawawi, A. H.; Rosman, M. R.; SyedAlwee, S. N. A.

2018-04-01

Hospital disaster preparedness refers to measures taken by the hospital’s stakeholders to prepare, reduce the effects of disaster and ensure effective coordination during incident response. Among the measures, non-structural components (i.e., medical laboratory equipment & supplies; architectural; critical lifeline; external; updated building document; and equipment & furnishing) are critical towards hospital disaster preparedness. Nevertheless, over the past few years these components are badly affected due to various types of disasters. Hence, the objective of this paper is to investigate the non-structural components influencing hospital’s disaster preparedness. Cross-sectional survey was conducted among thirty-one (31) Malaysian hospital’s employees. A total of 6 main constructs with 107 non-structural components were analysed and ranked by using SPSS and Relative Importance Index (RII). The results revealed that 6 main constructs (i.e. medical laboratory equipment & supplies; architectural; critical lifeline; external; updated building document; and equipment & furnishing) are rated as ‘very critical’ by the respondents. Among others, availability of medical laboratory equipment and supplies for diagnostic and equipment was ranked first. The results could serve as indicators for the public hospitals to improve its disaster preparedness in terms of planning, organising, knowledge training, equipment, exercising, evaluating and corrective actions through non-structural components.

Psychological well-being in primary survivors of Uttarakhand disaster in India

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Srikant Sharma

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: After the 2004 Tsunami, India faced the worst natural disaster in Uttarakhand causing devastating floods and landslides. Besides the material harm, the disaster also has a massive impact on individual′s mental health, and the impact is perceived more in developing countries due to being densely populated with limited resources. The current study is an attempt to evaluate the psychological impact and its risk factors in Uttarakhand disaster. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted after 1 month of disaster in the primary survivors. All the included subjects were administered the semi-structured proforma for assessing the sociodemographic profile and the assessment instruments: Impact of events scale-revised (IES-R, depression anxiety stress scale and life orientation test-revised (LOT-R. Data were imputed and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17.0.1 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA. Results: About 58% subjects had posttraumatic stress disorder and significantly severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were noted in 45.3%, 57%, and 44.2% subjects, respectively. A physical illness was present in 36% subjects. Loss of at least one family member was reported by 12.8% subjects. LOT-R scores were negatively correlated to IES-R. Conclusion: Psychological morbidity in the immediate post-disaster period is high. Higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress with development of negative outlook regarding their future is observed with increasing age. Increasing age, lower educational levels, physical illness, loss of a family member, and pessimistic expectations were associated with adverse psychological sequelae.

Interdisciplinary Environmental-health Science Throughout Disaster Lifecycles

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Plumlee, G. S.; Morman, S. A.; Hoefen, T. M.

2014-12-01

Potential human health effects from exposures to hazardous disaster materials and environmental contamination are common concerns following disasters. Using several examples from US Geological Survey environmental disaster responses (e.g., 2001 World Trade Center, mine tailings spills, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, 2007-2013 wildfires, 2011 Gulf oil spill, 2012 Hurricane Sandy, 2013 Colorado floods) and disaster scenarios (2011 ARkStorm, 2013 SAFRR tsunami) this presentation will illustrate the role for collaborative earth, environmental, and health science throughout disaster lifecycles. Pre-disaster environmental baseline measurements are needed to help understand environmental influences on pre-disaster health baselines, and to constrain the magnitude of a disaster's impacts. During and following disasters, there is a need for interdisciplinary rapid-response and longer-term assessments that: sample and characterize the physical, chemical, and microbial makeup of complex materials generated by the disasters; fingerprint material sources; monitor, map, and model dispersal and evolution of disaster materials in the environment; help understand how the materials are modified by environmental processes; and, identify key characteristics and processes that influence the exposures and toxicity of disaster materials to humans and the living environment. This information helps emergency responders, public health experts, and cleanup managers: 1) identify short- and long-term exposures to disaster materials that may affect health; 2) prioritize areas for cleanup; and 3) develop appropriate disposal solutions or restoration uses for disaster materials. By integrating lessons learned from past disasters with geospatial information on vulnerable sources of natural or anthropogenic contaminants, the environmental health implications of looming disasters or disaster scenarios can be better anticipated, which helps enhance preparedness and resilience. Understanding economic costs of

Challenges of Managing Animals in Disasters in the U.S.

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Sebastian E. Heath

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Common to many of the repeated issues surrounding animals in disasters in the U.S. is a pre-existing weak animal health infrastructure that is under constant pressure resulting from pet overpopulation. Unless this root cause is addressed, communities remain vulnerable to similar issues with animals they and others have faced in past disasters. In the US the plight of animals in disasters is frequently viewed primarily as a response issue and frequently handled by groups that are not integrated with the affected community’s emergency management. In contrast, animals, their owners, and communities would greatly benefit from integrating animal issues into an overall emergency management strategy for the community. There is no other factor contributing as much to human evacuation failure in disasters that is under the control of emergency management when a threat is imminent as pet ownership. Emergency managers can take advantage of the bond people have with their animals to instill appropriate behavior amongst pet owners in disasters.

Disaster management and humanitarian logistics – A South African perspective

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Wilna L. Bean

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Disasters are becoming an unavoidable part of everyday life throughout the world, including South Africa. Even though South Africa is not a country affected by large-scale disasters such as earthquakes, the impact of disasters in South Africa is aggravated significantly by the vulnerability of people living in informal settlements. Humanitarian logistics, as a ‘new’ sub-field in the supply chain management context, has developed significantly recently to assist in disaster situations. This paper provides an overview of the South African humanitarian logistics context. Even though humanitarian logistics plays a critical role in the aftermath of disasters, it extends far beyond events that can typically be classified as ‘disasters’. Therefore the implication of the South African humanitarian logistics context on future research and collaboration opportunities in South African humanitarian logistics is also discussed. Finally, two recent case studies in the South African humanitarian logistics environment are discussed.

The contribution of ineffective urban planning practices to disaster and disaster risks accumulation in urban areas: the case of former Kunduchi quarry site in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

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Benedict F. Malele

2009-04-01

Full Text Available This study examined the link between urban planning practices and disaster risks. The study used the former Kunduchi Quarry Site within the City of Dar es Salaam to demonstrate how laxity in enforcing the laid down planning rules, regulations and procedures facilitates the accumulation and occurrence of disaster risks and disasters in urban areas. This undermines one of the central roles of urban planning, which is to protect the lives of people from disaster risks and disasters. In exploring this, the study specifically focused on understanding the rules, regulations and procedures of planning in Tanzania; the extent to which they are followed and, where they are not followed, their implications for disaster risks and disasters; the coping initiatives adopted by local communities to reduce risks and their level of success or failure; and finally the drawing of lessons and recommendations for disaster risk reduction in urban areas. Strongly emerging from this study is the finding that although planning rules and regulations do exist, they are not enforced. As a result urban communities suffer from disaster risks and disasters caused by unregulated activities. The study analyzed the coping initiatives that urban communities apply to reduce disaster risks in their areas. It noted that, while a range of “coping” responses could be observed, these are not lasting solutions to the disaster risks being faced. Sustainable solutions seem to be known by the local community but they are not adopted for fear of compromising or undermining their existing livelihood strategies.

Mainstreaming disaster resilience into planning practice in South Africa: challenges and champions

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Faling, W

2012-07-01

Full Text Available has become a mainstream idea in disaster reduction. As vulnerability to disasters progressively increases, an urban risk divide is developing in cities that is unjust, polarised, divided and fragmented. The poor are largely priced out of safe areas...

Enhancing Saarc Disaster Management: A Comparative Study With Asean Coordinating Centre For Humanitarian Assistance On Disaster Management

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2016-03-01

North Atlantic Treaty Organization NDMA National Disaster Management Authority NDMO National Disaster Management Organization NIDM National...disaster management authorities. National Disaster Management Authority ( NDMA ) has envisaged the role of the army in relief, recovery, management of

Unpredictable, unpreventable and impersonal medicine: global disaster response in the 21st century.

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Andrews, Russell J; Quintana, Leonidas M

2015-01-01

The United Nations has recognized the devastating consequences of "unpredictable, unpreventable and impersonal" disasters-at least US $2 trillion in economic damage and more than 1.3 million lives lost from natural disasters in the last two decades alone. In many disasters (both natural and man-made) hundreds-and in major earthquakes, thousands-of lives are lost in the first days following the event because of the lack of medical/surgical facilities to treat those with potentially survivable injuries. Disasters disrupt and destroy not only medical facilities in the disaster zone but also infrastructure (roads, airports, electricity) and potentially local healthcare personnel as well. To minimize morbidity and mortality from disasters, medical treatment must begin immediately, within minutes ideally, but certainly within 24 h (not the days to weeks currently seen in medical response to disasters). This requires that all resources-medical equipment and support, and healthcare personnel-be portable and readily available; transport to the disaster site will usually require helicopters, as military medical response teams in developed countries have demonstrated. Some of the resources available and in development for immediate medical response for disasters-from portable CT scanners to telesurgical capabilities-are described. For immediate deployment, these resources-medical equipment and personnel-must be ready for deployment on a moment's notice and not require administrative approvals or bureaucratic authorizations from numerous national and international agencies, as is presently the case. Following the "trauma center/stroke center" model, disaster response incorporating "disaster response centers" would be seamlessly integrated into the ongoing daily healthcare delivery systems worldwide, from medical education and specialty training (resident/registrar) to acute and subacute intensive care to long-term rehabilitation. The benefits of such a global disaster

Stealth Disasters and Geoethics

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Kieffer, Susan W.

2013-04-01

Natural processes of the earth unleash energy in ways that are sometimes harmful or, at best, inconvenient, for humans: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, landslides, floods. Ignoring the biological component of the geosphere, we have historically called such events "natural disasters." They are typically characterized by a sudden onset and relatively immediate consequences. There are many historical examples and our human societies have evolved various ways of coping with them logistically, economically, and psychologically. Preparation, co-existence, recovery, and remediation are possible, at least to some extent, even in the largest of events. Geoethical questions exist in each stage, but the limited local extent of these disasters allows the possibility of discussion and resolution. There are other disasters that involve the natural systems that support us. Rather than being driven primarily by natural non-biological processes, these are driven by human behavior. Examples are climate change, desertification, acidification of the oceans, and compaction and erosion of fertile soils. They typically have more gradual onsets than natural disasters and, because of this, I refer to these as "stealth disasters." Although they are unfolding unnoticed or ignored by many, they are having near-term consequences. At a global scale they are new to human experience. Our efforts at preparation, co-existence, recovery, and remediation lag far behind those that we have in place for natural disasters. Furthermore, these four stages in stealth disaster situations involve many ethical questions that typically must be solved in the context of much larger cultural and social differences than encountered in natural disaster settings. Four core ethical principles may provide guidelines—autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice (e.g., Jamais Cascio). Geoscientists can contribute to the solutions in many ways. We can work to ensure that as people take responsibility

Disaster Risk Management - The Kenyan Challenges

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Nabutola, W.

2009-04-01

assembly elections Kenya plunged into bloodshed. One Kenyan went for another, people who had been living together as neighbours suddenly turned on one another. Some of the more glaring outcomes were: • About 1,300 Kenyans died. • Property worth billions of shillings was destroyed. • Thousands of Kenyans fled their homes/farms/houses. • To date Kenya has Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). It has become a buzzword, almost fashionable if it were not so sad and grave, and a disgrace to democracy. During the short rains in September and October we experienced floods, land slides, crop failures. Ironically, in the previous months, we had just gone through drought, crops had failed, livestock died, sadly some people died, some through vagaries of weather while others as a result of inter-community friction. The net results were: • Kenya is primarily an agricultural economy sector employs over 80%. Only 20% of the land is arable, the rest is arid and semi arid land, occupied by the nomadic Kenyans. So when there is drought or floods, we get challenges that spark inter-community conflicts. Food shortages lead to higher food prices, a kilogramme bag of maize meal rose from barely affordable Kes. 52.00 to 120.00 in less than two months. In any case the food is not necessarily always available. • The global financial crisis affected our economy very adversely. Fuel prices rose from Kenya Shillings 60.00 per litre to 112.00. • Ironically Kenya's parliament voted against a law that would have compelled them to pay taxes. • As if in anticipation of citizen reactions the MP's passed the media law that would gag freedom of the press. METHODOLOGY 1. Review literature available on disasters in Kenya over the last decades. 2. I will ask Kenyans what they understand by the terms disasters and risks. 3. I will ask the Kenyan authorities - central government and local governments, what plans they have. 4. I will ask Kenya Red Cross what their plans are, their challenges and

Disaster Risk Management - The Kenyan Challenge

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Nabutola, W.; Scheer, S.

2009-04-01

assembly elections Kenya plunged into bloodshed. One Kenyan went for another, people who had been living together as neighbours suddenly turned on one another. Some of the more glaring outcomes were: • About 1,300 Kenyans died. • Property worth billions of shillings was destroyed. • Thousands of Kenyans fled their homes/farms/houses. • To date Kenya has Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). It has become a buzzword, almost fashionable if it were not so sad and grave, and a disgrace to democracy. During the short rains in September and October we experienced floods, land slides, crop failures. Ironically, in the previous months, we had just gone through drought, crops had failed, livestock died, sadly some people died, some through vagaries of weather while others as a result of inter-community friction. The net results were: • Kenya is primarily an agricultural economy sector employs over 80%. Only 20% of the land is arable, the rest is arid and semi arid land, occupied by the nomadic Kenyans. So when there is drought or floods, we get challenges that spark inter-community conflicts. Food shortages lead to higher food prices, a kilogramme bag of maize meal rose from barely affordable Kes. 52.00 to 120.00 in less than two months. In any case the food is not necessarily always available. • The global financial crisis affected our economy very adversely. Fuel prices rose from Kenya Shillings 60.00 per litre to 112.00. • Ironically Kenya's parliament voted against a law that would have compelled them to pay taxes. • As if in anticipation of citizen reactions the MP's passed the media law that would gag freedom of the press. METHODOLOGY 1. Review literature available on disasters in Kenya over the last decades. 2. I will ask Kenyans what they understand by the terms disasters and risks. 3. I will ask the Kenyan authorities - central government and local governments, what plans they have. 4. I will ask Kenya Red Cross what their plans are, their challenges and

InaSAFE applications in disaster preparedness

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Pranantyo, Ignatius Ryan; Fadmastuti, Mahardika; Chandra, Fredy

2015-04-01

Disaster preparedness activities aim to reduce the impact of disasters by being better prepared to respond when a disaster occurs. In order to better anticipate requirements during a disaster, contingency planning activities can be undertaken prior to a disaster based on a realistic disaster scenario. InaSAFE is a tool that can inform this process. InaSAFE is a free and open source software that estimates the impact to people and infrastructure from potential hazard scenarios. By using InaSAFE, disaster managers can develop scenarios of disaster impacts (people and infrastructures affected) to inform their contingency plan and emergency response operation plan. While InaSAFE provides the software framework exposure data and hazard data are needed as inputs to run this software. Then InaSAFE can be used to forecast the impact of the hazard scenario to the exposure data. InaSAFE outputs include estimates of the number of people, buildings and roads are affected, list of minimum needs (rice and clean water), and response checklist. InaSAFE is developed by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the Australian Government, through the Australia-Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction (AIFDR), in partnership with the World Bank - Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). This software has been used in many parts of Indonesia, including Padang, Maumere, Jakarta, and Slamet Mountain for emergency response and contingency planning.

Technology and Information Sharing in Disaster Relief.

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Benedikte Bjerge

Full Text Available This paper seeks to examine the extent to which technological advances can enhance inter-organizational information sharing in disaster relief. Our case is the Virtual OSOCC (On-Site Operations Coordination Centre which is a part of the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS under the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA. The online platform, which has been developing for more than a decade, provides a unique insight into coordination behaviour among disaster management agencies and individual actors. We build our study on the analysis of a complete database of user interaction including more than 20,000 users and 11,000 comments spread across approximately 300 disaster events. Controlling for types and severities of the events, location-specific vulnerabilities, and the overall trends, we find that the introduction of new features have led to increases in user activity. We supplement the data-driven approach with evidence from semi-structured interviews with administrators and key users, as well as a survey among all users specifically designed to capture and assess the elements highlighted by both interviews and data analysis.

Report of the Project Research on Disaster Reduction using Disaster Mitigating Information Sharing Technology

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Suzuki, Takeyasu

For the purpose of reducing disaster damage by applying information sharing technologies, "the research on disaster reduction using crisis-adaptive information sharing technologies" was carried out from July, 2004 through March 2007, as a three year joint project composed of a government office and agency, national research institutes, universities, lifeline corporations, a NPO and a private company. In this project, the disaster mitigating information sharing platform which is effective to disaster response activities mainly for local governments was developed, as a framework which enables information sharing in disasters. A prototype of the platform was built by integrating an individual system and tool. Then, it was applied to actual local governments and proved to be effective to disaster responses. This paper summarizes the research project. It defines the platform as a framework of both information contents and information systems first and describes information sharing technologies developed for utilization of the platform. It also introduces fields tests in which a prototype of the platform was applied to local governments.

Disaster preparation in kidney transplant recipients: a questionnaire-based cohort study from a large United States transplant center
.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharief, Shimi; Freitas, Daniel; Adey, Deborah; Wiley, James

2018-04-01

Few quantitative assessments have assessed disaster preparation in kidney transplant patients. This is a survey-based assessment of disaster preparedness of 200 patients at the University of California San Francisco, USA. Patients answered questionnaires assessing their level of preparedness as well as barriers to preparation. Preparedness was scored based on response to 7 questions. Univariate analyses compared participant characteristics extracted from the medical chart against three tertiles of preparedness: low (scores 0 - 2), medium (scores 3 - 4), and high (scores 5 - 7). California counties were coded and mapped by average preparedness scores. Only 30% of patients were highly prepared for disasters. Participants were prepared with available medication for 2 weeks (78.5%) and least prepared in having a medical ID bracelet (13%). Significant minorities of patients (40% of patients or more) were unprepared with lists of medications, important phone numbers and disaster kits. Preparedness was not associated with demographic and clinical characteristics. Monterey County was the most prepared of the 31 California counties sampled (score of 4.25 out of 7). All patients should be educated regarding disaster preparation. County and medical services should collaborate to address specialized populations in general preparedness planning.
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Political Communication in Disasters: A Question of Relationships

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Hamish McLean

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Politicians are both a help and hindrance in the provision of information to the public before, during and after disasters. For example, in Australia, the Premier of the State of Queensland, Anna Bligh, was lauded for her leadership and public communication skills during major floods that occurred late in 2010 and in early 2011 (de Bussy, Martin and Paterson 2012. Similarly, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was praised for his leadership following 9/11. This is in contrast to the poor performance of political leaders during Hurricane Katrina (Cole and Fellows 2008, Olson and Gawronski 2010. Political actors' lack of credibility and their poor situational awareness contributed to the problems. The involvement of political leaders in disaster communications is also problematic from the perspective of emergency agencies. For example, politicians who move their communication position from supportive to tactical can take over the role of providing official disaster information, such as evacuation warnings, without sufficient expertise, credibility or situational knowledge. This paper builds on the expanding body of research into the politics of disasters by exploring relationships with political actors from the perspective of emergency managers. Drawing on interviews with emergency agencies in Australia, Germany, Norway and the UK, we firstly examine when and what a politician should communicate during disasters and secondly, offer six principles toward a roadmap of involving political actors in the disaster communication process when life and property is at stake.

Assessing the Disaster Resilience of Megacities: The Case of Hong Kong

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Timothy Sim

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Many megacities are facing potential threats from various disasters, especially in the face of climate change. However, evaluating the resilience of megacities is not well established in both the academia and practice field. Using Hong Kong, which is a megacity ranked as the city in Asia with the highest risk for natural disasters, as a case study, we demonstrated the effort of assessing the resilience of a megacity. The Sendai Framework Local Urban Indicators Tools that was developed by the United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR was adopted as the main tool in this study, and a mixed bottom-up participatory and top-down method was utilized in the evaluation process. This is an innovative and participatory approach that is not commonly adopted in assessing the resilience of cities. The study found that Hong Kong is disaster resilient in that it mainstreams disaster risk in its development and that it dedicates sufficient financial resources. However, Hong Kong may improve on its disaster governance and encourage cooperation between the government and society to identify disaster risk and share information, particularly in the face of climate change and calls for more sustainable development.

Assessment of Environmental Literacy, Concern and Disaster Preparedness Among College Students

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Dr. Rosario Clarabel C. Contreras

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Climate change adversely brings about uncontrollable, unpredictable natural calamities. Municipality of Calinog, strategically located at the center of Panay Island, has its share of environmental hazard nightmares. Thus, it is deemed necessary to assess students’ environmental knowledge, concern and disaster preparedness. Participants were 293 students of West Visayas State University Calinog for AY 2012-13. Modified, partly adapted instrument attempted to collect information from respondents. Statistical tools used- Mean; Standard Deviation; t-test; One-Way ANOVA; and Pearson’s r. Respondents’ level of environmental literacy and concern are “knowledgeable” and “very concerned” respectively. Level of disaster preparedness was “most often prepared” in all variables except to course. Significant relationships between the environmental literacy and concern; and between environmental literacy and disaster preparedness have been observed. Generally, students are environmentally literate, concerned, prepared during disasters occurrence. Significant variations occur in environmental literacy, concern, and disaster preparedness among respondents categorized according to course while no variations occurred among others. Environmental literacy is associated with environmental concern and disaster preparedness while environmental concern not associated with disaster preparedness. Hence, educational institutions must do their share.

Country logistics performance and disaster impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaillancourt, Alain; Haavisto, Ira

2016-04-01

The aim of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the relationship between country logistics performance and disaster impact. The relationship is analysed through correlation analysis and regression models for 117 countries for the years 2007 to 2012 with disaster impact variables from the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) and logistics performance indicators from the World Bank. The results show a significant relationship between country logistics performance and disaster impact overall and for five out of six specific logistic performance indicators. These specific indicators were further used to explore the relationship between country logistic performance and disaster impact for three specific disaster types (epidemic, flood and storm). The findings enhance the understanding of the role of logistics in a humanitarian context with empirical evidence of the importance of country logistics performance in disaster response operations. © 2016 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2016.

Companion Animals, Natural Disasters and the Law: An Australian Perspective

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Steven White

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This article examines the regulation of companion animal welfare during disasters, with some context provided by two recent major disaster events in Australia. Important general lessons for improved disaster management were identified in subsequent inquiries. However, the interests of companion animals continue to be inadequately addressed. This is because key assumptions underpinning disaster planning for companion animals—the primacy of human interests over animal interests and that individuals will properly address companion animal needs during times of disaster—are open to question. In particular these assumptions fail to recognise the inherent value of companion animals, underestimate the strong bond shared by some owners and their animals and, at the same time, overestimate the capacity of some owners to adequately meet the needs of their animals.

THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR CHAIN DISASTER THEORY AND A CASE STUDY

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Amir S. GOHARDANI

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Management approaches are of paramount importance in the built environment. Efficient management approaches ensure timely project completions and consequently lead to economic growth. However, there are also challenges within the construction industry that could lead to disastrous effects and to significant death tolls. In this article, the Construction Sector Chain Disaster Theory (CSCDT is presented. This theory mirrors the construction sector as an ongoing disaster zone. In light of CSCDT, a limited number of past accidents within the global construction industry will be investigated with respect to the building blocks of the theory and in view of inadequate management practices that have made positive contributions to triggering disasters. The identified shortcomings will enable a more comprehensive approach to management in favor of disaster minimization in the construction sector.

Primary Identification Methods and their Effectiveness in Mass Disaster Situations: A Literature Review

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Naiara M. Gaglietti

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Mass disasters generally result in an elevated number of casualties that need identification. The primary identification methods listed by INTERPOL (DNA, fingerprint and forensic dentistry have a very important role in helping and speeding up the victim identification process. The present study sought to report mass destruction cases found in the literature published from 2005 to 2015 that have used the primary human identification methods. This study has been done as a literature review using the keywords: disasters, natural disasters, disaster victims, and human identification in a total of 16 selected papers and 13 listed disasters. It has been concluded that the primary identification methods are capable and efficient to perform a safe and satisfactory identification of mass disasters victims, used both separately or in combination.

Hospitals Capability in Response to Disasters Considering Surge Capacity Approach

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Gholamreza Khademipour

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The man-made and natural disasters have adverse effects with sound, apparent, and unknown consequences. Among various components of disaster management in health sector, the most important role is performed by health-treatment systems, especially hospitals. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the surge capacity of hospitals of Kerman Province in disaster in 2015. Materials and Methods: This is a quantitative study, conducted on private, military, and medical sciences hospitals of Kerman Province. The sampling method was total count and data collection for the research was done by questionnaire. The first section of the questionnaire included demographic information of the studied hospitals and second part examined the hospital capacity in response to disasters in 4 fields of equipment, physical space, human resources, and applied programs. The extracted data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: The mean capability of implementing the surge capacity programs by hospitals of Kerman Province in disasters and in 4 fields of equipment, physical space, human resources, and applied programs was evaluated as 7.33% (weak. The surge capacity capability of state hospitals in disasters was computed as 8% and compared to private hospitals (6.07% had a more suitable condition. Conclusion: Based on the results of study and significance of preparedness of hospitals in response to disasters, it is proposed that managers of studied hospitals take measures to promote the hospital response capacity to disasters based on 4 components of increasing hospital capacity.

Classification of Local Language Disaster Related Tweets in Micro Blogs

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Randy Joy Magno Ventayen

2018-02-01

Full Text Available – In Southeast Asia, Philippine is one of the disaster-prone countries which was hit by typhoon Lawin (international name: Haima, and Karen (international name “Sarika” last October 2016, the two typhoon swere named as one of the strongest typhoons that hit the country and the region 1. On some numbers of tweets in social media, there are local languages posted by the local users such as Pangasinan in the Philippines. The study will be sought to answer on how to download twitter data from a specific disaster duration in the region, how to extract and identify multilingual disaster-related tweets and finally how to classify disaster and non-disaster tweets in the local language. The study of classification and extraction of disaster and emergency-related tweets is important is interesting study because the life of a person which speaks a very rare dialect is important as the same as the person speaking a major language. Based on the findings, translation of selected typhoon-related words helps to filter the multilingual tweets and classified the tweets using Naïve Bayes algorithm

A snapshot of catastrophic post-disaster health expenses post-Haiyan

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Noel Espallardo

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: This paper provides a snapshot of the health-care costs, out-of-pocket expenditures and available safety nets post-Typhoon Haiyan. Methods: This descriptive study used a survey and document review to report direct and indirect health-care costs and existing financial protection mechanisms used by households in two municipalities in the Philippines at one week and at seven months post-Haiyan. Results: Reported out-of-pocket health-care expenses were high immediately after the disaster and increased after seven months. The mean reported out-of-pocket expenses were higher than the reported average household income (US$ 24 to US$ 59. Discussion: The existing local and national mechanisms for health financing were promising and should be strengthened to reduce out-of-pocket expenses and protect people from catastrophic expenditures. Longer-term mechanisms are needed to ensure financial protection, especially among the poorest, beyond three months when most free services and medicines have ended. Preparedness should include prior registration of households that would ensure protection when a disaster comes.

Emergency and disaster preparedness for chronically ill patients: a review of recommendations

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Tomio J

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Jun Tomio,1 Hajime Sato2 1Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Health Policy and Technology Assessment, National Institute of Public Health, Wako, Japan Abstract: Recent disasters, especially those in developed countries, have highlighted the importance of disaster preparedness measures for chronic diseases. A number of surviving patients experienced the exacerbation of a chronic illness, such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases, due to disaster-related stress, interruption of care, or both; for some patients, these exacerbations resulted in death. Here, we review reports from recent disasters in developed countries and summarize the recommendations for disaster preparedness of chronically ill patients. A considerable number of recommendations based on the lessons learned from recent disasters have been developed, and they provide practical and essential steps to prevent treatment interruption during and after a disaster. To improve preparedness efforts, we suggest that health care providers should be aware of the following three suggestions: 1 recommendations should be evidence-based; 2 recommendations should contain consistent messages; and 3 recommendations should be feasible. Keywords: disaster, chronic illness, preparedness

Research on Disaster Early Warning and Disaster Relief Integrated Service System Based on Block Data Theory

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Yang, J.; Zhang, H.; Wang, C.; Tang, D.

2018-04-01

With the continuous development of social economy, the interaction between mankind and nature has become increasingly evident. Disastrous global catastrophes have occurred from time to time, causing huge losses to people's lives and property. All governments recognize the importance of the establishment of disaster early warning and release mechanisms, and it is also an urgent issue to improve the comprehensive service level of emergency response and disaster relief. However, disaster early warning and emergency relief information is usually generated by different departments, and the diverse data sources, difficult integration, and limited release speed have always been difficult issues to be solved. Block data is the aggregation of various distributed (point data) and segmentation (data) big data on a specific platform and make them happen continuous polymerization effect, block data theory is a good solution to cross-sectoral, cross-platform Disaster information data sharing and integration problems. This paper attempts to discuss the integrated service mechanism of disaster information aggregation and disaster relief based on block data theory and introduces a location-based integrated service system for disaster early warning and disaster relief.

The importance of secondary trauma exposure for post-disaster mental disorder.

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Kessler, R C; McLaughlin, K A; Koenen, K C; Petukhova, M; Hill, E D

2012-03-01

Interventions to treat mental disorders after natural disasters are important both for humanitarian reasons and also for successful post-disaster physical reconstruction that depends on the psychological functioning of the affected population. A major difficulty in developing such interventions, however, is that large between-disaster variation exists in the prevalence of post-disaster mental disorders, making it difficult to estimate need for services in designing interventions without carrying out a post-disaster mental health needs assessment survey. One of the daunting methodological challenges in implementing such surveys is that secondary stressors unique to the disaster often need to be discovered to understand the magnitude, type, and population segments most affected by post-disaster mental disorders. This problem is examined in the current commentary by analyzing data from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. We analyze the extent to which people exposed to natural disasters throughout the world also experienced secondary stressors and the extent to which the mental disorders associated with disasters were more proximally due to these secondary stressors than to the disasters themselves. RESULTS. Lifetime exposure to natural disasters was found to be high across countries (4.4-7.5%). 10.7-11.4% of those exposed to natural disasters reported the occurrence of other related stressors (e.g. death of a loved one and destruction of property). A monotonic relationship was found between the number of additional stressors and the subsequent onset of mental disorders CONCLUSIONS. These results document the importance of secondary stressors in accounting for the effects of natural disasters on mental disorders. Implications for intervention planning are discussed.

Natural disaster management in India with focus on floods and cyclones

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Thattai, Deeptha V.; Sathyanathan, R.; Dinesh, R.; Harshit Kumar, L.

2017-07-01

Disasters are of two major kinds, natural and manmade, and affect the community. Natural disasters are caused by natural earth processes like floods, droughts, cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes and epidemics. Manmade disasters occur due to chemical spills, accidents, terrorism activities etc. India is prone to almost all the major natural disasters. The high population density combined with poor preparedness, planning and management, and rescue and relief measures inevitably lead to huge losses of lives and property every year in the country. This paper analyses the disaster management policy of India and its implementation using two recent case studies - one where a relative degree of success has been achieved (cyclones) and the other where we are still struggling to have even a basic preparedness system in place (floods).

The meaning of destruction: Definition and contextualization of disaster movies

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Tomašević Milan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The disaster movie is one of the most persistent genres in cinematography, but it constantly escapes our attention because it is presented as “easy summer fun”. If we want to understand it as a cultural document of an epoch in which the genre is important and popular, we need to come up with a definition, formula and conventions of a disaster movie. Also, we must propose one of many possible comprehensions of its popularity and religious heritage. The paper uses definitions of genre, conventions and formulae in the attempt to show a way of using popular narratives in the transmission of a world view. Using a narrative structure gives us a glimpse into the deeper cultural, social and political context in which the disaster movie is created, popular or rejected. The paper discusses disaster movies as cultural artifacts, as a ritual we are practicing without remembering its purpose. Also, paper is examining identifying apocalyptic and catastrophic as an product of interposition of Apocalypse to Johan and Great Tribulation. Using apocalyptic literature, end times narratives and disaster movies, the paper shows the fruitfulness of destruction representations and imaginarium of terror. Using fear and shock, the messages of disaster movies seems more urgent and relevant. Through the ideas of Susan Sontag and Maurice Yacowar, the paper presents a way for analyzing the contemporary disaster movie. Conventions and formulae of disaster movies help us to understand the way modern cinematography is used for cultural and political means. The popularity of disaster movies can be seen as a form of ”ritualization of discontent” wherein the viewers experience some sort of catharsis. Also, disaster movie gathers different interests and actualizes thirstness for transformation of order or achieving justice. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177026

Prevention and treatment of traumatic brain injury due to rapid-onset natural disasters

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James L. Regens

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The prevention and treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI attributable to rapid-onset natural disasters is a major challenge confronting disaster preparedness planners and emergency medical personnel responding to those incidents. The kinetic energy released by rapid-onset natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes or typhoons, and tornadoes can cause mild, moderate or severe TBIs. As a result, neurotrauma is a major risk factor for mortality and morbidity outcomes within the spatial domain impacted by a rapid-onset natural disaster. This review article elucidates major challenges associated with immediate emergency medical response, long-term care, and prevention of post-event increases in pediatric TBIs because of child abuse when rapid-onset natural disasters occur.

An Example of City Disaster Plan in the Context of Integrated Disaster Management with Un sufficient Legal Structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kepekci, D.

2007-01-01

Disaster management of a city, in coherent, stable and true manner, were realized by understanding and organizing of the disaster plan. When we consider the earthquake hazard of Marmara Region, it was investigated by the scientific studies how -a world city- Istanbul were effected this earthquake. When we consider the scientific data and we take a base the current legal structure of our country, the aim of the disaster plan is to provide the fist and emergency aid for the citizens when the destructive earthquake were occurred and effected the general life. This disaster plan includes base of the coordination and helping each other of the activity which all institution and organizations will do during possible disaster. The aims of making of plan is to provide the cooperation and collaboration between before the disaster and to act urgently during the disaster, and to provide the following necessary activity. This necessary activity as main headlines are; the providing of communication and transportation; regulation of traffic; rescue; emergency medical aid, to transportation patient and injured people to the hospitals; to put out fire; to provide security and public order; eating, dressing, heating and lighting studies; to provide temporary housing; the burial of dead citizens; to remove wreckage; to repair and to re-provide the electrical, water and canalization construction. In this study, it will mainly be presented Istanbul city disaster plan. Disaster plan of this city were produced by the intensive and sacrificial efforts with Turkish legal system. After that, disaster plan must updated as soon as possible. However government must regulate current legal system ( or the body of current law) related disaster plan. City disaster plan, which even construct well, include only the operations after the disaster. Before disaster, methods of preventive precaution against the disaster must add the plan with applicable legal system

Natural disasters in African countries: what can we learn about them?

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M T Lukamba

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Problems posed by disasters have become increasingly important for all African governments. Every year a variety of disas ters occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa and these are becoming more prevalent. This article presents an analysis of statistical surveys for natural disasters in different regions of Africa over a 30-year period from 1974 to 2003. It shows that disaster frequency is increasing on the continent. The investigation of the data demonstrates that the East Africa region is under the greatest threat from natural disasters. In 2008, climatological disasters, notably droughts, claimed many victims in the eastern part of Africa, with more than one third of the population affected in Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia. The region has experienced the highest recorded number of disaster events for the past 30 years, followed by the West Africa region. The Southern Africa region is placed third as far as the frequency of disaster events in sub-Saharan Africa is concerned. The least disaster prone region is central Africa. The observations made in this analysis relate to the economic losses in different regions from the impact of natural disasters. In some instances, recovery from economic loss could not be recouped because of stunted growth and other internal problems in these countries. In addition, this article suggests some strategies to mitigate the problem of natural hazards in sub-Saharan Africa. Keywords: Flood; drought; volcanic eruptions; political governance; climate change; specialised capabilities

Children capacity in disaster risk reduction: A call for action

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Leila Mohammadinia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Disasters have various physical, psychological, social and economical effects on all age group, particularly children who are more vulnerable than adults. In the aftermath of disasters, children like pregnant women, elderly and handicaps are special group with special needs. This is because they are at greater risk based on their specific physiological and psychological characteristics. Moreover,, according to the Sendai document, children need more attention in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRRprograms design, policies implementation with a proactive approach in Disaster Risk Reduction (1. In the Sendai document it is emphasized that policies regarding disaster risk reduction, cognition and risk perception about the risk property should be considered based upon the hazards and the environment in terms of vulnerability, capacity and exposure (2.Hyogo framework for action was also already have been focused on child priority on the legislation program (3. Accordingly, it is necessary to involve children in disaster risk reduction programs actively in order to overcome their needs and their problems (4. As children are more affected groups in various aspects of disasters in most countries, their potential utilization, the conditions and space should be provided based on laws, national policies, training and capacity. Although after disaster children required particular needs and attention(5-6, they should be considered as an active group who could participate in DRR program and help their family and also the community.(4, 7 Some evidences suggest on value of children team working for community preparedness. Iran had a successful experience for using adolescence capacity as a pillar in activation of early warning; including notification announced while observing the rising sea levels for local community in order to reduce the risk of flood disaster at a local area in the North of Iran. According to the Hyogo and the Sendai documents, it seems that using

Precepting at the time of a natural disaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Myhre, Douglas; Bajaj, Sameer; Fehr, Lana; Kapusta, Mike; Woodley, Kristine; Nagji, Alim

2017-04-01

Natural disasters strike communities that have varied degrees of preparedness, both physical and psychological. Rural communities may be particularly vulnerable as they often do not have the infrastructure or resources to prepare in advance. The psychological impact of a natural disaster is amplified in learners who may be temporary members of the community and therefore cannot draw on personal support during the crisis. They may turn to their clinical preceptors for guidance. The Slave Lake fire (population 6782) in May 2011 and the High River flood (population 12 920) in June 2013 are examples of natural disasters that have occurred in rural Alberta, Canada. At the time of these critical incidents, three medical students and one family medicine resident from the two provincial medical schools were participating in rotations in these communities. Although disasters occur rarely, there is a need for guidelines for preceptors from the learner perspective. Accordingly, using a modified Delphi approach, we captured the experiences of learners that were then refined into two themes, each containing three recommendations: considerations for action during a natural disaster and considerations for action after the acute crisis has passed. Although disasters occur rarely, there is a need for guidelines for preceptors from the learner perspective IMPLICATIONS: Our recommendations provide suggestions for practical solutions that build on the usual expectations of mentors and may benefit the student-teacher relationship at the time of a disaster and beyond. They are meant to initiate discussion regarding further study aimed towards creating recommendations for preceptor response that may cross disciplines. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Is your automated system disaster proof?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baird, P.W.; Priest, S.A.

1990-01-01

Disaster-proofing a system has four basic steps: (1) development of a disaster recovery plan; (2) creation and enforcement of procedures for developing and maintaining off-site back-ups for data, vital records, and documentation; (3) a performance test of the disaster recovery plan; and (4) the on-going maintenance of a plans currency and the periodic testing of the plant. The development of a complete disaster recovery plan has many elements: the operating environment for the system; the criteria under which an off-site recovery would be initiated; the back-up schedule and locations of all data; vital records and documentation; the steps required to recover the system; and any modifications necessitated by the off-site operating environment. Creation and enforcement of procedures for developing and maintaining current backups for all data, vital records, and documentation in a designated off-site location represent the second and most crucial step for ensuring an automated system can successfully survive a disaster. To effectively test any plan, a disaster scenario must be developed and performed by a disaster recovery team required to recover and operate the system in the off-site environment using nothing more than the disaster recovery plan and off-site information and data. Finally, the last step for ensuring that a system can survive a disaster is the maintenance of the plans currency and the continued performance of disaster recovery tests. As the environment surrounding a system changes a disaster recovery plan must be updated to reflect these changes. Equally important to the maintenance of currency is the on-going performance of disaster recovery tests on a periodic basis

Disaster Concept at Different Educational Grades

OpenAIRE

Dikmenli, Yurdal; Gafa, İbrahim

2017-01-01

Disasters cover allthe events that damage both humans and their living environment. The disasters whichstem from nature are called natural disasters while those which stem from humankind,are called human disasters. Since humans constantly encounter such events at differenttimes, places and in different forms, it is inevitable that they will be affectedby them. Thus, one wonders what people understand the concept of disaster tobe. The aim of this study is to identify the students from all the ...

Natural disasters and human mobility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mbaye, L.; Zimmermann, K.

2016-01-01

This paper reviews the effect of natural disasters on human mobility or migration. Although there is an increase of natural disasters and migration recently and more patterns to observe, the relationship remains complex. While some authors find that disasters increase migration, others show that

Disaster Management: Mental Health Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Math, Suresh Bada; Nirmala, Maria Christine; Moirangthem, Sydney; Kumar, Naveen C

2015-01-01

Disaster mental health is based on the principles of 'preventive medicine' This principle has necessitated a paradigm shift from relief centered post-disaster management to a holistic, multi-dimensional integrated community approach of health promotion, disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation. This has ignited the paradigm shift from curative to preventive aspects of disaster management. This can be understood on the basis of six 'R's such as Readiness (Preparedness), Response (Immediate action), Relief (Sustained rescue work), Rehabilitation (Long term remedial measures using community resources), Recovery (Returning to normalcy) and Resilience (Fostering). Prevalence of mental health problems in disaster affected population is found to be higher by two to three times than that of the general population. Along with the diagnosable mental disorders, affected community also harbours large number of sub-syndromal symptoms. Majority of the acute phase reactions and disorders are self-limiting, whereas long-term phase disorders require assistance from mental health professionals. Role of psychotropic medication is very limited in preventing mental health morbidity. The role of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) in mitigating the mental health morbidity appears to be promising. Role of Psychological First Aid (PFA) and debriefing is not well-established. Disaster management is a continuous and integrated cyclical process of planning, organising, coordinating and implementing measures to prevent and to manage disaster effectively. Thus, now it is time to integrate public health principles into disaster mental health.

Preparedness of Iranian Hospitals Against Disasters

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Asefzadeh

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Context Over the past decade the number of accidents and disasters has been growing around the world. In addition to damaging communities and infrastructures, unexpected disasters also affect service providers. This study aimed to evaluate the readiness of hospitals when confronted with unexpected disasters. Evidence Acquisition The present study was a simple review article, which was conducted via searching different sites, such as: Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct and PubMed, using different key words such as: Disasters, Crisis, Hospital and preparedness. The relationship between the articles found in relation to our subject was investigated through the title and abstract of articles. The relationship between the articles, which were found in relation to our subject, was investigated through the title and abstract of the articles. Our search included papers published during the period between 2007 and 2015 and we only considered studies that measured the preparedness of hospitals in critical conditions. Among the 30 articles, which were found, 17 were excluded from the study due to lack of relevant data. Hence, 15 papers, which were of proper design and robust data analysis, were included in the current study. Results Hospital preparedness in disaster was evaluated in three dimensions: structural, non-structural factors and vulnerability management performance. A total of readiness of hospitals in three dimensions was mediocre. Conclusions Overall, the results derived from these studies indicated that hospital safety levels in most of the surveyed hospitals were moderate. Although the situation in hospitals is not critical, there is a need to plan and take appropriate measures to improve the safety level of the hospitals.

Post-flood damage data: requirements for disaster forensic investigation

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Dolan Martin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Disaster forensic investigation analyses the unfolding of a disaster and attempts to identify its multiple causes of damage which can lead to (i improved disaster prevention and management from lessons learnt, and (ii more effective mitigation measures in the aftermath of a disaster. The way in which damage data are collected after a flood event as well as the types of collected data influences their usability within forensic investigations. In order to explore whether or not existing data can be used for disaster forensic analysis, the European Project IDEA (Improving Damage assessments to Enhance cost-benefit Analyses is investigating existing gaps in damage information so as to identify possible paths towards improving data quality. This paper focuses in detail on a forensic analysis of the interlinked damage to economic activities and infrastructure in the Severn floods of 2007 in the UK. Besides investigating the usability of existing data, this research investigated: (i the relative weight of direct and indirect costs to business and infrastructure companies; (ii to what extent damage to infrastructure has impacted on indirect damage to businesses. Finally recommendations for improving the data for use in forensic investigation are offered.

Disaster Risk Management In Business Education: Setting The Tone

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JUAN PABLO SARMIENTO

Full Text Available Looking for windows of opportunity to mainstream disaster risk management within business education, in 2015, the United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction's (UNISDR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE, partnered with Florida International University's Extreme Events Institute (FIU-EEI and 12 international leading business schools. This partnership began with a call for White Papers to propose innovative approaches to integrate cutting edge disaster management content into business education programs and other academic offerings, based on seven themes or niches identified: (1 Strategic Investment and Financial Decisions; (2 Generating Business Value; (3 Sustainable Management; (4 Business Ethics and Social Responsibility; (5 Business Continuity Planning; (6 Disaster Risk Metrics; and (7 Risk Transfer. In March 2016, an international workshop was held in Toronto, Canada to present the White Papers prepared by the business schools, and discuss the most appropriate approaches for addressing the areas of: teaching and curriculum; professional development and extension programs; internships and placement; research opportunities; and partnerships and collaboration. Finally, the group proposed goals for advancing the implementation phase of the business education initiatives, and to propose mechanisms for monitoring and follow-up.

Towards More Nuanced Classification of NGOs and Their Services to Improve Integrated Planning across Disaster Phases

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Vivian L. Towe

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs are being integrated into U.S. strategies to expand the services that are available during health security threats like disasters. Identifying better ways to classify NGOs and their services could optimize disaster planning. We surveyed NGOs about the types of services they provided during different disaster phases. Survey responses were used to categorize NGO services as core—critical to fulfilling their organizational mission—or adaptive—services implemented during a disaster based on community need. We also classified NGOs as being core or adaptive types of organizations by calculating the percentage of each NGO’s services classified as core. Service types classified as core were mainly social services, while adaptive service types were those typically relied upon during disasters (e.g., warehousing, food services, etc.. In total, 120 NGOs were classified as core organizations, meaning they mainly provided the same services across disaster phases, while 100 NGOs were adaptive organizations, meaning their services changed. Adaptive NGOs were eight times more likely to report routinely participating in disaster planning as compared to core NGOs. One reason for this association may be that adaptive NGOs are more aware of the changing needs in their communities across disaster phases because of their involvement in disaster planning.

Disaster healthcare system management and crisis intervention leadership in Thailand--lessons learned from the 2004 Tsunami disaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Peltz, Rami; Ashkenazi, Issac; Schwartz, Dagan; Shushan, Ofer; Nakash, Guy; Leiba, Adi; Levi, Yeheskel; Goldberg, Avishay; Bar-Dayan, Yaron

2006-01-01

Quarantelli established criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of disaster management. The objectives of this study were to analyze the response of the healthcare system to the Tsunami disaster according to the Quarantelli principles, and to validate these principles in a scenario of a disaster due to natural hazards. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command Medical Department sent a research team to study the response of the Thai medical system to the disaster. The analysis of the disaster management was based on Quarantelli's 10 criteria for evaluating the management of community disasters. Data were collected through personal and group interviews. The three most important elements for effective disaster management were: (1) the flow of information; (2) overall coordination; and (3) leadership. Although pre-event preparedness was for different and smaller scenarios, medical teams repeatedly reported a better performance in hospitals that recently conducted drills. In order to increase effectiveness, disaster management response should focus on: (1) the flow of information; (2) overall coordination; and (3) leadership.

INNOVATIV AIRBORNE SENSORS FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT

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M. O. Altan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Modern Disaster Management Systems are based on 3 columns, crisis preparedness, early warning and the final crisis management. In all parts, special data are needed in order to analyze existing structures, assist in the early warning system and in the updating after a disaster happens to assist the crises management organizations. How can new and innovative sensors assist in these tasks? Aerial images have been frequently used in the past for generating spatial data, however in urban structures not all information can be extracted easily. Modern Oblique camera systems already assist in the evaluation of building structures to define rescue paths, analyze building structures and give also information of the stability of the urban fabric. For this application there is no need of a high geometric accurate sensor, also SLC Camera based Oblique Camera system as the OI X5, which uses Nikon Cameras, do a proper job. Such a camera also delivers worth full information after a Disaster happens to validate the degree of deformation in order to estimate stability and usability for the population. Thermal data in combination with RGB give further information of the building structure, damages and potential water intrusion. Under development is an oblique thermal sensor with 9 heads which enables nadir and oblique thermal data acquisition. Beside the application for searching people, thermal anomalies can be created out of humidity in constructions (transpiration effects, damaged power lines, burning gas tubes and many other dangerous facts. A big task is in the data analysis which should be made automatically and fast. This requires a good initial orientation and a proper relative adjustment of the single sensors. Like that, many modern software tools enable a rapid data extraction. Automated analysis of the data before and after a disaster can highlight areas of significant changes. Detecting anomalies are the way to get the focus on the prior area. Also

Effective International Medical Disaster Relief: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

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Broby, Nicolette; Lassetter, Jane H; Williams, Mary; Winters, Blaine A

2018-04-01

Purpose The aim of this study was to assist organizations seeking to develop or improve their medical disaster relief effort by identifying fundamental elements and processes that permeate high-quality, international, medical disaster relief organizations and the teams they deploy. A qualitative descriptive design was used. Data were gathered from interviews with key personnel at five international medical response organizations, as well as during field observations conducted at multiple sites in Jordan and Greece, including three refugee camps. Data were then reviewed by the research team and coded to identify patterns, categories, and themes. The results from this qualitative, descriptive design identified three themes which were key characteristics of success found in effective, well-established, international medical disaster relief organizations. These characteristics were first, ensuring an official invitation had been extended and the need for assistance had been identified. Second, the response to that need was done in an effective and sustainable manner. Third, effective organizations strived to obtain high-quality volunteers. By following the three key characteristics outlined in this research, organizations are more likely to improve the efficiency and quality of their work. In addition, they will be less likely to impede the overall recovery process. Broby N , Lassetter JH , Williams M , Winters BA . Effective international medical disaster relief: a qualitative descriptive study. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(2):119-126.

Field note from Pakistan floods: Preventing future flood disasters

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Marcus Oxley

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Unusually heavy monsoon rains in Northern Pakistan have caused disproportionate levels of extreme flooding and unprecedented flood losses across the entire Indus River basin. Extensive land use changes and environmental degradation in the uplands and lowlands of the river basin together with the construction of a “built environment” out of balance with the functioning, capacities, scale and limits of the local ecosystems have exposed millions of people to an increased risk of extreme #ooding. The catastrophic nature of the August #ooding provides a unique opportunity to fundamentally change Pakistan’s current socio-economic development path by incorporating disaster risk reduction and climate change measures into the post-disaster recovery process to rebuild a safer, more resilient nation. In January 2005 one hundred and sixty-eight nations adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA2005-2015 to bring about a “substantial reduction in disaster losses” by 2015. Despite this global initiative a series of major disasters, including the recent flooding in Pakistan, all indicate that we are not on track to achieve the substantial reduction of disaster losses. The following fieldnote considers what can be done to accelerate progress towards implementation of the Hyogo Framework, drawing on insights and lessons learnt from the August flooding to understand how Pakistan and neighbouring countries can prevent a repeat of such catastrophic disasters in future years.

Organizational Behavior in Disasters and Implications for Disaster Planning. Volume 1, Number 2

Science.gov (United States)

1986-07-01

the personal challenges presented by the disaster. There may be expectations of panic, but what almost always occurs is rational behavior . For many...Similarly, there may be expectations of disorder, but what appears is a great deal of prosocial instead of antisocial behavior . To inexperienced...FEMA 104/July 1986 (5-1 Organizational Behavior in Disasters and IMpliCations for Disaster Planning - ii;~1COPBy Enrico L. Quarante~l , Ph. D

Protocol of the project pain & disasters: assessment of critical issues and possible solutions

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Daniele Mipatrini

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Disasters cause almost 100 thousand deaths and affect 200 million people every year. Operators working in disaster zones reported problems in importing medications, in particular pain killers and narcotics, in areas of disasters. The importance of ensuring access to painkillers, including major analgesics, is pinpointed by the World Health Organization which through its “Access to Controlled Medications Programme” provides normative guidance, policy analysis and training of healthcare workers on this issue. Nevertheless the little evidence available on the assessment and treatment of pain in disasters suggests that the management of pain in disaster zones may be affected by several factors mainly due to the availability of drugs, the skills of health personnel and cultural issues. Aim:The main aims of this project are: evaluating whether pain is correctly assessed and treated in disaster zones, assessing which are the main limitations to its treatment and producing suggestions and reccomandations to improve its treatment. Materials & Methods: In order to achieve our aims we will adopt a combined approach made by: A systematic review of the evidence will be conducted in the scientific databases Medline and Scopus. A review of grey literature concerning the issue on the Web pages of international organizations and NGOs working in the field of humanitarian aid. A survey among healthcare workers who took part to the international humanitarian actions. A survey among expert of the humanitarian field not necessary involved in projects on the field e.g. lawyer expert in international law, international organizations representatives working in the headquarters etc. A technical table with European experts in the field of pain treatment and/or disaster reaponse.

Global or local construction materials for post-disaster reconstruction? Sustainability assessment of 20 post-disaster shelter designs

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E. Zea Escamilla

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This data article presents the life cycle inventories of 20 transitional shelter solutions. The data was gathered from the reports 8 shelter designs [1]; 10 post-disaster shelter designs [2]; the environmental impact of brick production outside of Europe [3]; and the optimization of bamboo-based post-disaster housing units for tropical and subtropical regions using LCA methodologies [4]. These reports include bill of quantities, plans, performance analysis, and lifespan of the studied shelters. The data from these reports was used to develop the Life Cycle Inventories (LCI. All the amounts were converted from their original units (length, volume and amount into mass (kg units and the transport distance into ton×km. These LCIs represent the production phases of each shelter and the transportation distances for the construction materials. Two types of distances were included, local (road and international (freight ship, which were estimated based on the area of the country of study. Furthermore, the digital visualization of the shelters is presented for each of the 20 designs. Moreover, this data article presents a summary of the results for the categories Environment, Cost and Risk and the contribution to the environmental impact from the different building components of each shelter. These results are related to the article “Global or local construction materials for post-disaster reconstruction? Sustainability assessment of 20 post-disaster shelter designs”[5

Natural Disasters and Nontuberculous Mycobacteria

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Bernhard, Jon N.; Chan, Edward D.

2015-01-01

Infectious diseases acquired by survivors of large-scale natural disasters complicate the recovery process. During events such as tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornados and well into the recovery period, victims often are exposed to water-soil mixtures that have relocated with indigenous microbes. Because nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous in water and soil, there is potential for increased exposure to these organisms during natural disasters. In this hypothesis-driven commentary, we discuss the rise in NTM lung disease and natural disasters and examine the geographic overlap of NTM infections and disaster frequencies in the United States. Moreover, we show an increased number of positive NTM cultures from Louisiana residents in the years following three of the relatively recent epic hurricanes and posit that such natural disasters may help to drive the increased number of NTM infections. Finally, we advocate for increased environmental studies and surveillance of NTM infections before and after natural disasters. PMID:25644904

Upstream Disaster Management to Support People Experiencing Homelessness.

Science.gov (United States)

Sundareswaran, Madura; Ghazzawi, Andrea; O'Sullivan, Tracey L

2015-08-18

The unique context of day-to-day living for people who are chronically homeless or living with housing insecurity puts them at high risk during community disasters. The impacts of extreme events, such as flooding, storms, riots, and other sources of community disruption, underscore the importance of preparedness efforts and fostering community resilience. This study is part of larger initiative focused on enhancing resilience and preparedness among high risk populations. The purpose of this study was to explore critical issues and strategies to promote resilience and disaster preparedness among people who are homeless in Canada. A sample of interviews (n=21) from key informants across Canada was analyzed to explore existing programs and supports for homeless populations. The data was selected from a larger sample of (n=43) interviews focused on programs and supports for people who are at heightened risk for negative impacts during disasters. Qualitative content analysis was used to extract emergent themes and develop a model of multi-level collaboration to support disaster resilience among people who are homeless. The results indicate there is a need for more upstream continuity planning, collaboration and communication between the emergency management sector and community service organizations that support people who are homeless. Prioritization and investment in the social determinants of health and community supports is necessary to promote resilience among this high-risk population. The findings from this study highlight the importance of acknowledging community support organizations as assets in disaster preparedness. Day-to-day resilience is an ongoing theme for people who are chronically homeless or living with housing insecurity. Upstream investment to build adaptive capacity and collaborate with community organizations is an important strategy to enhance community resilience.

Information technologies and the sharing of disaster knowledge: the critical role of professional culture.

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Marincioni, Fausto

2007-12-01

A comparative survey of a diverse sample of 96 US and Italian emergency management agencies shows that the diffusion of new information technologies (IT) has transformed disaster communications. Although these technologies permit access to and the dissemination of massive amounts of disaster information with unprecedented speed and efficiency, barriers rooted in the various professional cultures still hinder the sharing of disaster knowledge. To be effective the available IT must be attuned to the unique settings and professional cultures of the local emergency management communities. Findings show that available technology, context, professional culture and interaction are key factors that affect the knowledge transfer process. Cultural filters appear to influence emergency managers' perceptions of their own professional roles, their vision of the applicability of technology to social issues, and their perspective on the transferability of disaster knowledge. Four cultural approaches to the application of IT to disaster communications are defined: technocentric; geographic,; anthropocentric; and ecocentric.

A rapid extraction of landslide disaster information research based on GF-1 image

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Wang, Sai; Xu, Suning; Peng, Ling; Wang, Zhiyi; Wang, Na

2015-08-01

In recent years, the landslide disasters occurred frequently because of the seismic activity. It brings great harm to people's life. It has caused high attention of the state and the extensive concern of society. In the field of geological disaster, landslide information extraction based on remote sensing has been controversial, but high resolution remote sensing image can improve the accuracy of information extraction effectively with its rich texture and geometry information. Therefore, it is feasible to extract the information of earthquake- triggered landslides with serious surface damage and large scale. Taking the Wenchuan county as the study area, this paper uses multi-scale segmentation method to extract the landslide image object through domestic GF-1 images and DEM data, which uses the estimation of scale parameter tool to determine the optimal segmentation scale; After analyzing the characteristics of landslide high-resolution image comprehensively and selecting spectrum feature, texture feature, geometric features and landform characteristics of the image, we can establish the extracting rules to extract landslide disaster information. The extraction results show that there are 20 landslide whose total area is 521279.31 .Compared with visual interpretation results, the extraction accuracy is 72.22%. This study indicates its efficient and feasible to extract earthquake landslide disaster information based on high resolution remote sensing and it provides important technical support for post-disaster emergency investigation and disaster assessment.

The lesson of the Chernobyl disaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milhaud, G.

1991-01-01

On april 26, 1986 a major nuclear disaster took place at 1 h 24 min local time, destroying the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl plant. Five years later the consequences of the disaster are still not fully known. Nevertheless the long term future of nuclear energy in the world is uncertain. Questions need to be answered by observing hard facts if emotional attitudes are not to prevail over reality. The reactor and its core were destroyed by an explosion, causing two radioactive jet emissions of iodine 131, followed by caesium 137. Both elements are mainly incorporated in the body via food. The Chernobyl disaster was a consequence of inadequate safety regulations and human error. Enforcement of strict regulations are likely to be highly effective in preventing a further catastrophe. However, governments should consider another possibility. What would be the consequences for public health if a terroristic act deliberately destroyed a nuclear power station

Emerging trends in disaster management and the Ethiopian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Emerging trends in disaster management and the Ethiopian experience: genesis, reform and transformation. ... Journal of Business and Administrative Studies ... Key words: disaster management, drought, pre-disaster action, post-disaster action, hazards, disaster, Ethiopian disaster management system, Ethiopia.

Application to space foods of the disaster food

Science.gov (United States)

Katayama, Naomi; Okano, Yukimi

2016-07-01

A long-term stay in the space of the human was enabled.The astronaut became able to stay in the long-term space for 1 from a half year.One of the pleasure in the space of the astronaut has a meal.The astronaut is chosen from each country.Therefore the space foods are full of variety.It wants to make the meal a universal meal to be able to do it.In addition, the space foods think about health and want to make a low salt diet. Nourishment balance of the meal eaten in space is regulated now. However, the meal which a hyperglycosemia level after a meal does not happen more than now is necessary.In addition, a low salt diet is necessary for hypertensive prevention. This accords with disaster food in the ground. The nutrient which is enough to take in the disaster foods for a long term is necessary. We need a meal suppressing the hyperglycosemia after a meal in a low salt diet as a disaster meal. Therefore I thought that we applied a disaster meal to space foods. We can store the disaster food at normal temperature for 3-5 years.It is necessary to be able to store the space foods at normal temperature more than three years. The nutrient that both the space foods and the disaster meal are short includes vitamins. We think that it is necessary to supplement it with a supplement about the intake of vitamins. This accords with disaster food in the ground.I thought about space foods menu with commercially available disaster food now in Japan. After all salt to take in per day increases.Most of the energy from carbohydrates is taken in. It is necessary to have vegetables. I think that it can make up for part of vitamins if I can make fresh vegetables in space. A supplement is necessary for the supply of vitamins. I think that multivitamin is good if possible.

Disaster risk reduction and sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khurshedi, N.

2005-01-01

During the past four decades, natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and slides, tsunami tropical cyclones and other severe storms, tornadoes and high winds, river floods and coastal flooding, wildfire and associated haze drought, sand/dust storms, and insect infestations have caused major loss of human lives and livelihoods, the destruction of economic and social infrastructure, as well as environmental damages. Economic losses have increased almost ten times during this period. As it happen in recent Asia Tsunami, in which over 2, 00,000 people reportedly killed, estimated five million homeless, and resulted in massive displacement of population and extensive damage to infrastructure. The escalation of severe disaster events triggered by natural hazards and related technological and environment disasters is increasingly threatening both sustainable development and poverty-reduction initiatives. The loss of human lives and the rise in the cost of reconstruction efforts and loss of development assets has forced the issue of disaster reduction and risk management higher on the policy agenda of affected governments as well a multilateral and bilateral agencies and NGOs. For this Disaster risk reduction-.strategies are aimed at enabling societies at risk to become engaged in the conscious management of risk and the reduction of vulnerability. The adoption of appropriate development policies can reduce disaster risk. These policies should be gender sensitive and need the necessary political commitment. They involve the adoption of suitable regulatory and other legal measures, institutional reform, improved analytical and methodological capabilities, financial planning, education and awareness. (author)

Plastic Surgery Response in Natural Disasters.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Susan; Zimmerman, Amanda; Gaviria, Andres; Dayicioglu, Deniz

2015-06-01

Disasters cause untold damage and are often unpredictable; however, with proper preparation, these events can be better managed. The initial response has the greatest impact on the overall success of the relief effort. A well-trained multidisciplinary network of providers is necessary to ensure coordinated care for the victims of these mass casualty disasters. As members of this network of providers, plastic surgeons have the ability to efficiently address injuries sustained in mass casualty disasters and are a valuable member of the relief effort. The skill set of plastic surgeons includes techniques that can address injuries sustained in large-scale emergencies, such as the management of soft-tissue injury, tissue viability, facial fractures, and extremity salvage. An approach to disaster relief, the types of disasters encountered, the management of injuries related to mass casualty disasters, the role of plastic surgeons in the relief effort, and resource management are discussed. In order to improve preparedness in future mass casualty disasters, plastic surgeons should receive training during residency regarding the utilization of plastic surgery knowledge in the disaster setting.

Invasive fungal infections after natural disasters.

Science.gov (United States)

Benedict, Kaitlin; Park, Benjamin J

2014-03-01

The link between natural disasters and subsequent fungal infections in disaster-affected persons has been increasingly recognized. Fungal respiratory conditions associated with disasters include coccidioidomycosis, and fungi are among several organisms that can cause near-drowning pneumonia. Wound contamination with organic matter can lead to post-disaster skin and soft tissue fungal infections, notably mucormycosis. The role of climate change in the environmental growth, distribution, and dispersal mechanisms of pathogenic fungi is not fully understood; however, ongoing climate change could lead to increased disaster-associated fungal infections. Fungal infections are an often-overlooked clinical and public health issue, and increased awareness by health care providers, public health professionals, and community members regarding disaster-associated fungal infections is needed.

Key Determinant Derivations for Information Technology Disaster Recovery Site Selection by the Multi-Criterion Decision Making Method

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Chia-Lee Yang

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Disaster recovery sites are an important mechanism in continuous IT system operations. Such mechanisms can sustain IT availability and reduce business losses during natural or human-made disasters. Concerning the cost and risk aspects, the IT disaster-recovery site selection problems are multi-criterion decision making (MCDM problems in nature. For such problems, the decision aspects include the availability of the service, recovery time requirements, service performance, and more. The importance and complexities of IT disaster recovery sites increases with advances in IT and the categories of possible disasters. The modern IT disaster recovery site selection process requires further investigation. However, very few researchers tried to study related issues during past years based on the authors’ extremely limited knowledge. Thus, this paper aims to derive the aspects and criteria for evaluating and selecting a modern IT disaster recovery site. A hybrid MCDM framework consisting of the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL and the Analytic Network Process (ANP will be proposed to construct the complex influence relations between aspects as well as criteria and further, derive weight associated with each aspect and criteria. The criteria with higher weight can be used for evaluating and selecting the most suitable IT disaster recovery sites. In the future, the proposed analytic framework can be used for evaluating and selecting a disaster recovery site for data centers by public institutes or private firms.

For establishment on nuclear disaster prevention system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2000-01-01

For increasing requirement of peoples for review of nuclear disaster countermeasure at a chance of the JCO critical accident, the Japanese Government newly established the 'Special Measure Act on Nuclear Disaster Countermeasure', which was enacted on July 16, 2000. The nuclear business relatives such as electric power company and so forth established the Business program on nuclear disaster prevention in nuclear business relatives' after their consultation with local communities at their construction, under their co-operation. Simultaneously, the electric power industry field decided to intend to provide some sufficient countermeasures to incidental formation of nuclear accident such as start of the Co-operative agreement on nuclear disaster prevention among the nuclear business relatives' and so forth. Here were described on nuclear safety and disaster prevention, nuclear disaster prevention systems at the electric power industry field, abstract on 'Business program on nuclear disaster prevention in nuclear business relatives', preparation of technical assistance system for nuclear disaster prevention, executive methods and subjects on nuclear disaster prevention at construction areas, recent business on nuclear disaster prevention at the Nuclear Technical Center, and subjects on establishment of nuclear disaster prevention system. (G.K.)

A novel surveillance approach for disaster mental health.

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Oliver Gruebner

Full Text Available Disasters have substantial consequences for population mental health. Social media data present an opportunity for mental health surveillance after disasters to help identify areas of mental health needs. We aimed to 1 identify specific basic emotions from Twitter for the greater New York City area during Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall on October 29, 2012, and to 2 detect and map spatial temporal clusters representing excess risk of these emotions.We applied an advanced sentiment analysis on 344,957 Twitter tweets in the study area over eleven days, from October 22 to November 1, 2012, to extract basic emotions, a space-time scan statistic (SaTScan and a geographic information system (QGIS to detect and map excess risk of these emotions.Sadness and disgust were among the most prominent emotions identified. Furthermore, we noted 24 spatial clusters of excess risk of basic emotions over time: Four for anger, one for confusion, three for disgust, five for fear, five for sadness, and six for surprise. Of these, anger, confusion, disgust and fear clusters appeared pre disaster, a cluster of surprise was found peri disaster, and a cluster of sadness emerged post disaster.We proposed a novel syndromic surveillance approach for mental health based on social media data that may support conventional approaches by providing useful additional information in the context of disaster. We showed that excess risk of multiple basic emotions could be mapped in space and time as a step towards anticipating acute stress in the population and identifying community mental health need rapidly and efficiently in the aftermath of disaster. More studies are needed to better control for bias, identify associations with reliable and valid instruments measuring mental health, and to explore computational methods for continued model-fitting, causal relationships, and ongoing evaluation. Our study may be a starting point also for more fully elaborated models that can

Post- and peritraumatic stress in disaster survivors: an explorative study about the influence of individual and event characteristics across different types of disasters

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Anna Grimm

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Background : Examination of existing research on posttraumatic adjustment after disasters suggests that survivors’ posttraumatic stress levels might be better understood by investigating the influence of the characteristics of the event experienced on how people thought and felt, during the event as well as afterwards. Objective : To compare survivors’ perceived post- and peritraumatic emotional and cognitive reactions across different types of disasters. Additionally, to investigate individual and event characteristics. Design : In a European multi-centre study, 102 survivors of different disasters terror attack, flood, fire and collapse of a building were interviewed about their responses during the event. Survivors’ perceived posttraumatic stress levels were assessed with the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R. Peritraumatic emotional stress and risk perception were rated retrospectively. Influences of individual characteristics, such as socio-demographic data, and event characteristics, such as time and exposure factors, on post- and peritraumatic outcomes were analyzed. Results : Levels of reported post- and peritraumatic outcomes differed significantly between types of disasters. Type of disaster was a significant predictor of all three outcome variables but the factors gender, education, time since event, injuries and fatalities were only significant for certain outcomes. Conclusion : Results support the hypothesis that there are differences in perceived post- and peritraumatic emotional and cognitive reactions after experiencing different types of disasters. However, it should be noted that these findings were not only explained by the type of disaster itself but also by individual and event characteristics. As the study followed an explorative approach, further research paths are discussed to better understand the relationships between variables.

JUNOS High Availability

CERN Document Server

Sonderegger, James; Milne, Kieran; Palislamovic, Senad

2009-01-01

Whether your network is a complex carrier or just a few machines supporting a small enterprise, JUNOS High Availability will help you build reliable and resilient networks that include Juniper Networks devices. With this book's valuable advice on software upgrades, scalability, remote network monitoring and management, high-availability protocols such as VRRP, and more, you'll have your network uptime at the five, six, or even seven nines -- or 99.99999% of the time. Rather than focus on "greenfield" designs, the authors explain how to intelligently modify multi-vendor networks. You'll learn

Tweeting in Disaster Area: An Analysis of Tweets during 2016 Mayor Floods in Indonesia

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Anang Dwi Santoso

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Social media allows people in the disaster area to communicate disaster information, to the people outside the disaster area, more quickly and accurately. Unfortunately, there are limited researches that examine the use of Twitter by people in the disaster sites. This study aims to explore the use of Twitter by users in the disaster-affected areas. We use the feature of twitter geolocation, to separate information from inside and outside the disaster site. This research gives depiction about communication behavior of people in the affected disaster area, through social media. The result showed that people in disaster location use twitter to give first-hand report, coordinate rescue effort, provide help and express grief. In addition, by focusing on the affected area, Twitter used by lay people is usually found rather than other users. From the segment of time, the researcher finds a number of tweets that will increase each day. Users will share more information the days after rather, than the day of disaster. In practical term, this research explores the used of social media by the victims of disaster, which can encourage effective communication to people or group outside the location; theoretically, this research gives more detail understanding about shared information from the people in the disaster place.

Planning Emergency Shelters for Urban Disaster Resilience: An Integrated Location-Allocation Modeling Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laijun Zhao

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years, extreme natural hazards threaten cities more than ever due to contemporary society’s high vulnerability in cities. Hence, local governments need to implement risk mitigation and disaster operation management to enhance disaster resilience in cities. Transforming existing open spaces within cities into emergency shelters is an effective method of providing essential life support and an agent of recovery in the wake of disasters. Emergency shelters planning must identify suitable locations for shelters and reasonably allocate evacuees to those shelters. In this paper, we first consider both the buildings’ post-disaster condition and the human choice factor that affect evacuees’ decision, and propose a forecasting method to estimate the time-varying shelter demand. Then we formulate an integrated location-allocation model that is used sequentially: an emergency shelter location model to satisfy the time-varying shelter demand in a given urban area with a goal of minimizing the total setup cost of locating the shelters and an allocation model that allocates the evacuees to shelters with a goal of minimizing their total evacuation distance. We also develop an efficient algorithm to solve the model. Finally, we propose an emergency shelters planning based on a case study of Shanghai, China.

A EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK FOR RECORDING AND SHARING DISASTER DAMAGE AND LOSS DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Corbane

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The recently adopted ‘Sendai Framework for Action on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030’ sets the goals to reduce loss of life, livelihood and critical infrastructure through enhanced national planning and international cooperation. The new Framework is expected to enhance global, regional and national efforts for building resilience to disasters, across the entire disaster management cycle (prevention, preparedness, response and early recovery. Improved monitoring and accountability frameworks, relying on harmonized disaster loss data will be required for meeting the targets and for capturing the levels of progress across different scales of governance. To overcome the problems of heterogeneous disaster data and terminologies, guidelines for reporting disaster damage and losses in a structured manner will be necessary to help national and regional bodies compile this information. In the European Union, the Member States and the European Commission worked together on the establishment of guidelines for recording and sharing disaster damage and loss data as a first step towards the development of operational indicators to translate the Sendai Framework into action. This paper describes the progress to date in setting a common framework for recording disaster damage and loss data in the European Union and identifies the challenges ahead.

Victimization of people by natural disasters: Spatial and temporal distribution of consequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mijalković Saša

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is a descriptive statistical analysis of geospatial and temporal distributions of victimized people (killed, injured, affected and damage with specific reference to geophysical, meteorological, climatological, biological and hydrological disasters that have occurred in the world of from 1900 to 2013 year. In addition, people affected by the various natural disasters could be classified as invisible victims as they are not recognized as victims either by the state or society, and consequently they do not receive adequate protection, assistance and support. Statistical research was conducted on data from the international database of the Centre for Research on Disaster Epidemiology Disaster (CRED in Brussels. Temporal analysis examined the distribution and effects of natural disasters on people, at intervals of ten years. The same methodology was adopted for analyses of geospatial distribution of victimized people because of natural disasters by continent. The aim of the research is to determine the geospatial and temporal distribution of victimization of people with natural disasters in the world geospace in the period from 1900 to 2013. The survey results clearly indicate an increase in the number and severity of the consequences of natural disasters. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179044: Razvoj metodologije evidentiranja kriminaliteta kao osnova kreiranja efikasnih mera za njegovo suzbijanje i prevenciju

Teaching Disaster Risk Management: Lessons from the Rotman School of Management

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ANDRÁS TILCSIK

Full Text Available This article describes how disaster risk management topics are taught at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and thus highlights opportunities for developing similar course modules on disaster risk management at other institutions. An undergraduate and MBA elective course, titled Catastrophic Failure in Organizations, contains four modules that are directly relevant to disaster risk management. The first module focuses on the need to move from risk indifference to risk sensitivity. The second module considers the importance of business continuity and crisis management plans and explores their common shortcomings. The third module uses a case study to examine the topic of prospective risk management. The fourth module focuses on the vulnerability of supply chains and other complex systems to disaster risk. The article describes the details of implementing these modules and discusses opportunities for further integration of disaster risk management topics in other parts of the curriculum.

Information flow through the disaster circle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Egedorf, Maren Marie; Villanueva Holm-Nielsen, Pablo

The traditional view of the disaster circle is phase based. Disaster and development professionals recognize that the actions carried out in the various phases of the disaster management cycle are overlapping and build upon each other, having resilience as the overall goal. However information does...... not necessarily flow across the phases of the circle in an effective manner. This is particularly true for the information that crosses the disaster point of the circle. Organisations carry out assessments, surveys and baselines for various purposes, at various points of time in the disaster circle. Output...

Real-time visual communication to aid disaster recovery in a multi-segment hybrid wireless networking system

Science.gov (United States)

Al Hadhrami, Tawfik; Wang, Qi; Grecos, Christos

2012-06-01

When natural disasters or other large-scale incidents occur, obtaining accurate and timely information on the developing situation is vital to effective disaster recovery operations. High-quality video streams and high-resolution images, if available in real time, would provide an invaluable source of current situation reports to the incident management team. Meanwhile, a disaster often causes significant damage to the communications infrastructure. Therefore, another essential requirement for disaster management is the ability to rapidly deploy a flexible incident area communication network. Such a network would facilitate the transmission of real-time video streams and still images from the disrupted area to remote command and control locations. In this paper, a comprehensive end-to-end video/image transmission system between an incident area and a remote control centre is proposed and implemented, and its performance is experimentally investigated. In this study a hybrid multi-segment communication network is designed that seamlessly integrates terrestrial wireless mesh networks (WMNs), distributed wireless visual sensor networks, an airborne platform with video camera balloons, and a Digital Video Broadcasting- Satellite (DVB-S) system. By carefully integrating all of these rapidly deployable, interworking and collaborative networking technologies, we can fully exploit the joint benefits provided by WMNs, WSNs, balloon camera networks and DVB-S for real-time video streaming and image delivery in emergency situations among the disaster hit area, the remote control centre and the rescue teams in the field. The whole proposed system is implemented in a proven simulator. Through extensive simulations, the real-time visual communication performance of this integrated system has been numerically evaluated, towards a more in-depth understanding in supporting high-quality visual communications in such a demanding context.

Web Application To Monitor Logistics Distribution of Disaster Relief Using the CodeIgniter Framework

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Mohamad Jamil

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Disaster management is the responsibility of the central government and local governments. The principles of disaster management, among others, are quick and precise, priorities, coordination and cohesion, efficient and effective manner. Help that is needed by most societies are logistical assistance, such as the assistance covers people's everyday needs, such as food, instant noodles, fast food, blankets, mattresses etc. Logistical assistance is needed for disaster management, especially in times of disasters. The support of logistical assistance must be timely, to the right location, target, quality, quantity, and needs. The purpose of this study is to make a web application to monitorlogistics distribution of disaster relefusing CodeIgniter framework. Through this application, the mechanisms of aid delivery will be easily controlled from and heading to the disaster site

Flying Real-Time Network to Coordinate Disaster Relief Activities in Urban Areas

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Matias Micheletto

2018-05-01

Full Text Available While there have been important advances within wireless communication technology, the provision of communication support during disaster relief activities remains an open issue. The literature in disaster research reports several major restrictions to conducting first response activities in urban areas, given the limitations of telephone networks and radio systems to provide digital communication in the field. In search-and-rescue operations, the communication requirements are increased, since the first responders need to rely on real-time and reliable communication to perform their activities and coordinate their efforts with other teams. Therefore, these limitations open the door to improvisation during disaster relief efforts. In this paper, we argue that flying ad-hoc networks can provide the communication support needed in these scenarios, and propose a new solution towards that goal. The proposal involves the use of flying witness units, implemented using drones, that act as communication gateways between first responders working at different locations of the affected area. The proposal is named the Flying Real-Time Network, and its feasibility to provide communication in a disaster scenario is shown by presenting both a real-time schedulability analysis of message delivery, as well as simulations of the communication support in a physical scenario inspired by a real incident. The obtained results were highly positive and consistent, therefore this proposal represents a step forward towards the solution of this open issue.

A regional, market oriented governance for disaster management: A new planning approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackstone, Erwin A; Hakim, Simon; Meehan, Brian

2017-10-01

This paper proposes a regional competitive governance and management of response and recovery from disasters. It presents problems experienced in major disasters, analyzes the failures, and suggests how a competitive system that relies on private and volunteer regional leaders, personnel, and capital can improve preparation, response and recovery efforts over the existing government system. A Public Choice approach is adopted to explain why government often fails, and how regional governance may be socially more efficient than the existing federal- state-local funded and managed disaster system. The paper suggests that the federal role might change from both funding and supplying aid in disasters to merely funding disaster recovery efforts. When a disaster occurs, available businesses and government resources in the region can be utilized under a competitive system. These resources could replace existing federal and state inventories and emergency personnel. An independent regionally controlled and managed council, which also develops its own financial resources, and local volunteer leaders are key for success. The paper suggests a new planning method that utilizes the statistical Factor Analysis methodology to derive an efficient organizational and functional model to confront disasters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Natural Disasters (Environmental Health Student Portal)

Science.gov (United States)

... be prepared. Games and Activities Stop Disasters (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction) - Online game to learn how to stop various disasters ... | Accessibility Videos and Players Contact Us: tehip@teh.nlm.nih. ...

Energy basis of disasters and the cycles of order and disorder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexander, J.F. Jr.

1978-01-01

A quantitative theory of cycles order and disorder was applied to the earth and evaluated to form an energy basis for the global cycles, surges, and disasters. Energy circuit language was used to diagram the world system and show a common pattern in the order--disorder processes. Storms, floods, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, urban fires, and wars were modeled as the catastrophic release of energy previously converged and stored. Released energy disordered and recycled material available to stimulate a new cycle of growth. Cascading of catastrophic processes of disasters was modeled with a world web. The feedback in the global energy web was provided by the control action of disaster pulses. The global model was presented in both diagrammatic and differential equation form with the energy flows and storages evaluated. Order--disorder models of the atmospheric, oceanic, biological, geological, and urban systems of earth were connected to form an energy convergence network. The global energy model was used to calculate energy quality factors (ratio of energy of one type generating energy of another type) for the earth's major energy transformations. The theory provided suggestions for land-use policy. Energy ratios that provide a quantitative basis for disaster planning can be developed for a local environment of pulsing energy. Possibilities were considered that cycles of order and disorder of the earth are synchronized by cycles of sunspots. Energy quality and pulse amplifier ratios of solar flares may be high enough to control many global cycles

Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation-based disaster risk assessment of desertification in Horqin Sand Land, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yongfang; Zhang, Jiquan; Guo, Enliang; Sun, Zhongyi

2015-02-03

Desertification is a typical disaster risk event in which human settlements and living environments are destroyed. Desertification Disaster Risk Assessment can control and prevent the occurrence and development of desertification disasters and reduce their adverse influence on human society. This study presents the methodology and procedure for risk assessment and zoning of desertification disasters in Horqin Sand Land. Based on natural disaster risk theory and the desertification disaster formation mechanism, the Desertification Disaster Risk Index (DDRI) combined hazard, exposure, vulnerability and restorability factors and was developed mainly by using multi-source data and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. The results showed that high risk and middle risk areas account for 28% and 23% of the study area, respectively. They are distributed with an "S" type in the study area. Low risk and very low risk areas account for 21% and 10% of the study area, respectively. They are distributed in the west-central and southwestern parts. Very high risk areas account for 18% of the study area and are distributed in the northeastern parts. The results can be used to know the desertification disaster risk level. It has important theoretical and practical significance to prevention and control of desertification in Horqin Sand Land and even in Northern China.

Towards a methodology for the use of geo-information technology in disaster assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dawie van Vuuren

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Disaster assessment entails the description of disaster events and their impact on human lives, property and the environment. Information is a vital component of this process, and geo-information technology in particular should have a key role in this regard.

From ‘government’ to ‘governance’: Tensions in disaster-resilience leadership in Zimbabwe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pathias P. Bongo

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This article examines the challenges that disaster leadership faces to move away from a top-down, command-and-control style to distributed leadership. The article challenges the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction which appears to be silent on leadership and instead emphasises ‘good governance’ to enhance organisational and institutional capacity for disaster resilience. We posit that leadership is an indispensable component of good governance, and not emphasising it could be tantamount to a gross underestimation of disaster policy and practice. Using the data from participatory action research that was conducted in Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe, the findings reveal some tensions in shifting from command and control to distributed leadership in disaster-risk reduction, which has implications for the shift from government to governance in disaster risks. More importantly, this study reiterates the blurred distinctions between disaster-risk reduction and sustainable development. Thus, unless well-known, sustainable development challenges are addressed – particularly community-based leadership, good governance, the integration of local knowledge, empowerment and ownership of development programmes – shifting from government to disaster governance is likely to continue facing challenges.

Post-traumatic stress disorder associated with natural and human-made disasters in the World Mental Health Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Bromet, E. J.; Atwoli, L.; Kawakami, N.; Navarro-Mateu, F.; Piotrowski, P.; King, A. J.; Aguilar-Gaxiola, S.; Alonso, J.; Bunting, B.; Demyttenaere, K.; Florescu, S.; de Girolamo, G.; Gluzman, S.; Haro, J. M.; de Jonge, P.; Karam, E. G.; Lee, S.; Kovess-Masfety, V.; Medina-Mora, M. E.; Mneimneh, Z.; Pennell, B.-E.; Posada-Villa, J.; Salmerón, D.; Takeshima, T.; Kessler, R. C.

2017-01-01

Background Research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following natural and human-made disasters has been undertaken for more than three decades. Although PTSD prevalence estimates vary widely, most are in the 20–40% range in disaster-focused studies but considerably lower (3–5%) in the few general population epidemiological surveys that evaluated disaster-related PTSD as part of a broader clinical assessment. The World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys provide an opportunity to examine disaster-related PTSD in representative general population surveys across a much wider range of sites than in previous studies. Method Although disaster-related PTSD was evaluated in 18 WMH surveys, only six in high-income countries had enough respondents for a risk factor analysis. Predictors considered were socio-demographics, disaster characteristics, and pre-disaster vulnerability factors (childhood family adversities, prior traumatic experiences, and prior mental disorders). Results Disaster-related PTSD prevalence was 0.0–3.8% among adult (ages 18+) WMH respondents and was significantly related to high education, serious injury or death of someone close, forced displacement from home, and pre-existing vulnerabilities (prior childhood family adversities, other traumas, and mental disorders). Of PTSD cases 44.5% were among the 5% of respondents classified by the model as having highest PTSD risk. Conclusion Disaster-related PTSD is uncommon in high-income WMH countries. Risk factors are consistent with prior research: severity of exposure, history of prior stress exposure, and pre-existing mental disorders. The high concentration of PTSD among respondents with high predicted risk in our model supports the focus of screening assessments that identify disaster survivors most in need of preventive interventions. PMID:27573281

Post-traumatic stress disorder associated with natural and human-made disasters in the World Mental Health Surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Bromet, E J; Atwoli, L; Kawakami, N; Navarro-Mateu, F; Piotrowski, P; King, A J; Aguilar-Gaxiola, S; Alonso, J; Bunting, B; Demyttenaere, K; Florescu, S; de Girolamo, G; Gluzman, S; Haro, J M; de Jonge, P; Karam, E G; Lee, S; Kovess-Masfety, V; Medina-Mora, M E; Mneimneh, Z; Pennell, B-E; Posada-Villa, J; Salmerón, D; Takeshima, T; Kessler, R C

2017-01-01

Research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following natural and human-made disasters has been undertaken for more than three decades. Although PTSD prevalence estimates vary widely, most are in the 20-40% range in disaster-focused studies but considerably lower (3-5%) in the few general population epidemiological surveys that evaluated disaster-related PTSD as part of a broader clinical assessment. The World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys provide an opportunity to examine disaster-related PTSD in representative general population surveys across a much wider range of sites than in previous studies. Although disaster-related PTSD was evaluated in 18 WMH surveys, only six in high-income countries had enough respondents for a risk factor analysis. Predictors considered were socio-demographics, disaster characteristics, and pre-disaster vulnerability factors (childhood family adversities, prior traumatic experiences, and prior mental disorders). Disaster-related PTSD prevalence was 0.0-3.8% among adult (ages 18+) WMH respondents and was significantly related to high education, serious injury or death of someone close, forced displacement from home, and pre-existing vulnerabilities (prior childhood family adversities, other traumas, and mental disorders). Of PTSD cases 44.5% were among the 5% of respondents classified by the model as having highest PTSD risk. Disaster-related PTSD is uncommon in high-income WMH countries. Risk factors are consistent with prior research: severity of exposure, history of prior stress exposure, and pre-existing mental disorders. The high concentration of PTSD among respondents with high predicted risk in our model supports the focus of screening assessments that identify disaster survivors most in need of preventive interventions.

76 FR 5647 - Pennsylvania Disaster #PA-00036

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-01

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12449 and 12450] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 01/25/2011. Incident... the disaster: Primary Counties: Philadelphia. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania: Bucks, Delaware...

Measuring vulnerability to disaster displacement

Science.gov (United States)

Brink, Susan A.; Khazai, Bijan; Power, Christopher; Wenzel, Friedemann

2015-04-01

Large scale disasters can cause devastating impacts in terms of population displacement. Between 2008 and 2013, on average 27 million people were displaced annually by disasters (Yonetani 2014). After large events such as hurricane Katrina or the Port-au-Prince earthquake, images of inadequate public shelter and concerns about large scale and often inequitable migration have been broadcast around the world. Population displacement can often be one of the most devastating and visible impacts of a natural disaster. Despite the importance of population displacement in disaster events, measures to understand the socio-economic vulnerability of a community often use broad metrics to estimate the total socio-economic risk of an event rather than focusing on the specific impacts that a community faces in a disaster. Population displacement is complex and multi-causal with the physical impact of a disaster interacting with vulnerability arising from the response, environmental issues (e.g., weather), cultural concerns (e.g., expectations of adequate shelter), and many individual factors (e.g., mobility, risk perception). In addition to the complexity of the causes, population displacement is difficult to measure because of the wide variety of different terms and definitions and its multi-dimensional nature. When we speak of severe population displacement, we may refer to a large number of displaced people, an extended length of displacement or associated difficulties such as poor shelter quality, risk of violence and crime in shelter communities, discrimination in aid, a lack of access to employment or other difficulties that can be associated with large scale population displacement. We have completed a thorough review of the literature on disaster population displacement. Research has been conducted on historic events to understand the types of negative impacts associated with population displacement and also the vulnerability of different groups to these impacts. We

Resilience in disaster research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahlberg, Rasmus; Johannessen-Henry, Christine Tind; Raju, Emmanuel

2015-01-01

This paper explores the concept of resilience in disaster management settings in modern society. The diversity and relatedness of ‘resilience’ as a concept and as a process are reflected in its presentation through three ‘versions’: (i) pastoral care and the role of the church for victims...... of disaster trauma, (ii) federal policy and the US Critical Infrastructure Plan, and (iii) the building of resilient communities for disaster risk reduction practices. The three versions aim to offer characteristic expressions of resilience, as increasingly evident in current disaster literature....... In presenting resilience through the lens of these three versions, the article highlights the complexity in using resilience as an all-encompassing word. The article also suggests the need for understanding the nexuses between risk, vulnerability, and policy for the future of resilience discourse....

76 FR 30749 - Pennsylvania Disaster #PA-00038

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-26

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12594 and 12595] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 05/18/2011. Incident... disaster: Primary Counties: Cumberland. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania: Adams, Dauphin, Franklin, Perry...

75 FR 71486 - Pennsylvania Disaster # PA-00035

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-23

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12389 and 12390] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 11/15/2010. Incident: Severe... the disaster: Primary Counties: Delaware. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania: Chester, Montgomery...

Joint System of the National Hydrometeorology for disaster prevention

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, J.; Cho, K.; Lee, Y. S.; Jung, H. S.; Yoo, H. D.; Ryu, D.; Kwon, J.

2014-12-01

Hydrological disaster relief expenditure accounts for as much as 70 percent of total expenditure of disasters occurring in Korea. Since the response to and recovery of disasters are normally based on previous experiences, there have been limitations when dealing with ever-increasing localized heavy rainfall with short range in the era of climate change. Therefore, it became necessary to establish a system that can respond to a disaster in advance through the analysis and prediction of hydrometeorological information. Because a wide range of big data is essential, it cannot be done by a single agency only. That is why the three hydrometeorology-related agencies cooperated to establish a pilot (trial) system at Soemjingang basin in 2013. The three governmental agencies include the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in charge of disaster prevention and public safety, the National Geographic Information Institute (NGII under Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) in charge of geographical data, and the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) in charge of weather information. This pilot system was designed to be able to respond to disasters in advance through providing a damage prediction information for flash flood to public officers for safety part using high resolution precipitation prediction data provided by the KMA and high precision geographic data by NGII. To produce precipitation prediction data with high resolution, the KMA conducted downscaling from 25km×25km global model to 3km×3km local model and is running the local model twice a day. To maximize the utility of weather prediction information, the KMA is providing the prediction information for 7 days with 1 hour interval at Soemjingang basin to monitor and predict not only flood but also drought. As no prediction is complete without a description of its uncertainty, it is planned to continuously develop the skills to improve the uncertainty of the prediction on weather and its impact

Integrating Global Open Geo-Information for Major Disaster Assessment: A Case Study of the Myanmar Flood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suju Li

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Major disasters typically impact large areas, cause considerable damages, and result in significant human and economic losses. The timely and accurate estimation of impacts and damages is essential to better understand disaster conditions and to support emergency response operations. Geo-information drawn from various sources at multi spatial-temporal scales can be used for disaster assessments through a synthesis of hazard, exposure, and post disaster information based on pertinent approaches. Along with the increased availability of open sourced data and cooperation initiatives, more global scale geo-information, including global land cover datasets, has been produced and can be integrated with other information for disaster dynamic damage assessment (e.g., impact estimation immediately after a disaster occurs, physical damage assessment during the emergency response stage, and comprehensive assessment following an emergency response. Residential areas and arable lands affected by the flood disaster occurring from July to August 2015 in Myanmar were assessed based on satellite images, GlobeLand30 data, and other global open sourced information as a study case. The results show that integrating global open geo-information could serve as a practical and efficient means of assessing damage resulting from major disasters worldwide, especially at the early emergency response stage.

77 FR 60004 - Pennsylvania Disaster #PA-00053

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-01

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 13307 and 13308] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 09/21/2012. Incident... adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Centre. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania: Blair...

77 FR 65044 - Pennsylvania Disaster #PA-00054

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-24

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 13346 and 13347] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 10/18/2012. Incident... adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Montgomery. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania: Berks...

75 FR 2165 - Pennsylvania Disaster #PA-00030

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-14

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12002 and 12003] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 01/07/2010. Incident... adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Centre. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania: Blair...

78 FR 47814 - Pennsylvania Disaster # PA-00059

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-06

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 13676 and 13677] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of PENNSYLVANIA dated 07/29/2013. Incident: Severe... adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Allegheny. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania...

78 FR 60366 - Pennsylvania Disaster #PA-00064

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-01

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 13777 and 13778] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 09/24/2013. Incident: Storms... adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Armstrong. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania...

Children's Cognitive Functioning in Disasters and Terrorism.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfefferbaum, Betty; Noffsinger, Mary A; Jacobs, Anne K; Varma, Vandana

2016-05-01

A growing literature has begun to address the cognitions that influence children's disaster reactions as well as the effects of disasters on children's cognitions. These cognitions must be viewed in the context of developmental and cultural considerations as well as disaster-related factors such as exposure and secondary stressors. This review examines the extant literature on children's cognitions related to disasters and terrorism including threat appraisal, beliefs, attention and concentration, memory, academic achievement, and executive functioning. The review highlights areas where research is lacking such as the effect of disasters on children's attention, concentration, content of disaster memories, and executive functioning. It also notes findings that may advance post-disaster screening and intervention.

78 FR 52600 - Pennsylvania Disaster #PA-00063

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-23

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 13722 and 13723] Pennsylvania Disaster PA... Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated 08/14/2013. Incident: Severe... adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Lawrence. Contiguous Counties: Pennsylvania: Beaver...

Modelling a critical infrastructure-driven spatial database for proactive disaster management: A developing country context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David O. Baloye

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The understanding and institutionalisation of the seamless link between urban critical infrastructure and disaster management has greatly helped the developed world to establish effective disaster management processes. However, this link is conspicuously missing in developing countries, where disaster management has been more reactive than proactive. The consequence of this is typified in poor response time and uncoordinated ways in which disasters and emergency situations are handled. As is the case with many Nigerian cities, the challenges of urban development in the city of Abeokuta have limited the effectiveness of disaster and emergency first responders and managers. Using geospatial techniques, the study attempted to design and deploy a spatial database running a web-based information system to track the characteristics and distribution of critical infrastructure for effective use during disaster and emergencies, with the purpose of proactively improving disaster and emergency management processes in Abeokuta. Keywords: Disaster Management; Emergency; Critical Infrastructure; Geospatial Database; Developing Countries; Nigeria

When is exposure to a natural disaster traumatic? Comparison of a trauma questionnaire and disaster exposure inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Harville, Emily W; Jacobs, Marni; Boynton-Jarrett, Renée

2015-01-01

Few studies have compared the sensitivity of trauma questionnaires to disaster inventories for assessing the prevalence of exposure to natural disaster or associated risk for post-disaster psychopathology. The objective of this analysis was to compare reporting of disaster exposure on a trauma questionnaire (Brief Trauma Questionnaire [BTQ]) to an inventory of disaster experience. Between 2011 and 2014, a sample of 841 reproductive-aged southern Louisiana women were interviewed using the BTQ and completed a detailed inventory about exposure to hurricanes and flooding. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology was measured with the Post-Traumatic Stress Checklist, and depression with the Edinburgh Depression Scale. The single question addressing disaster exposure on the BTQ had a sensitivity of between 65% and 70% relative to the more detailed questions. Reporting disaster exposure on the BTQ was more likely for those who reported illness/injury due to a hurricane or flood (74%-77%) or danger (77-79%), compared to those who reported damage (69-71%) or evacuation (64-68%). Reporting disaster exposure on the BTQ was associated with depression (odds ratio [OR] 2.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43-3.68). A single question is unlikely to be useful for assessing the degree of exposure to disaster across a broad population, and varies in utility depending on the mental health outcome of interest: the single trauma question is useful for assessing depression risk.

The evolution of global disaster risk assessments: from hazard to global change

Science.gov (United States)

Peduzzi, Pascal

2013-04-01

The perception of disaster risk as a dynamic process interlinked with global change is a fairly recent concept. It gradually emerged as an evolution from new scientific theories, currents of thinking and lessons learned from large disasters since the 1970s. The interest was further heighten, in the mid-1980s, by the Chernobyl nuclear accident and the discovery of the ozone layer hole, both bringing awareness that dangerous hazards can generate global impacts. The creation of the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) and the publication of the first IPCC report in 1990 reinforced the interest for global risk assessment. First global risk models including hazard, exposure and vulnerability components were available since mid-2000s. Since then increased computation power and more refined datasets resolution, led to more numerous and sophisticated global risk models. This article presents a recent history of global disaster risk models, the current status of researches for the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2013) and future challenges and limitations for the development of next generation global disaster risk models.

A survey of the practice of nurses' skills in Wenchuan earthquake disaster sites: implications for disaster training.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Huahua; He, Haiyan; Arbon, Paul; Zhu, Jingci

2011-10-01

To determine nursing skills most relevant for nurses participating in disaster response medical teams; make recommendations to enhance training of nurses who will be first responders to a disaster site; to improve the capacity of nurses to prepare and respond to severe natural disasters. Worldwide, nurses play a key role in disaster response teams at disaster sites. They are often not prepared for the challenges of dealing with mass casualties; little research exists into what basic nursing skills are required by nurses who are first responders to a disaster situation. This study assessed the most relevant disaster nursing skills of first responder nurses at the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake disaster site. Data were collected in China in 2008 using a self-designed questionnaire, with 24 participants who had been part of the medical teams that were dispatched to the disaster sites. The top three skills essential for nurses were: intravenous insertion; observation and monitoring; mass casualty triage. The three most frequently used skills were: debridement and dressing; observation and monitoring; intravenous insertion. The three skills performed most proficiently were: intravenous insertion; observation and monitoring; urethral catheterization. The top three ranking skills most important for training were: mass casualty transportation; emergency management; haemostasis, bandaging, fixation, manual handling. The core nursing skills for disaster response training are: mass casualty transportation; emergency management; haemostasis, bandaging, fixation, manual handling; observation and monitoring; mass casualty triage; controlling specific infection; psychological crisis intervention; cardiopulmonary resuscitation; debridement and dressing; central venous catheter insertion; patient care recording. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Real-Time Vehicle Routing for Repairing Damaged Infrastructures Due to Natural Disasters

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Huey-Kuo Chen

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We address the task of repairing damaged infrastructures as a series of multidepot vehicle-routing problems with time windows in a time-rolling frame. The network size of the tackled problems changes from time to time, as new disaster nodes will be added to and serviced disaster nodes will be deleted from the current network. In addition, an inaccessible disaster node would become accessible when one of its adjacent disaster nodes has been repaired. By the “take-and-conquer” strategy, the repair sequence of the disaster nodes in the affected area can be suitably scheduled. Thirteen instances were tested with our proposed heuristic, that is, Chen et al.'s approach. For comparison, Hsueh et al.'s approach (2008 with necessary modification was also tested. The results show that Chen et al.'s approach performs slightly better for larger size networks in terms of objective value.

A relative vulnerability estimation of flood disaster using data envelopment analysis in the Dongting Lake region of Hunan

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C.-H. Li

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The vulnerability to flood disaster is addressed by a number of studies. It is of great importance to analyze the vulnerability of different regions and various periods to enable the government to make policies for distributing relief funds and help the regions to improve their capabilities against disasters, yet a recognized paradigm for such studies seems missing. Vulnerability is defined and evaluated through either physical or economic–ecological perspectives depending on the field of the researcher concerned. The vulnerability, however, is the core of both systems as it entails systematic descriptions of flood severities or disaster management units. The research mentioned often has a development perspective, and in this article we decompose the overall flood system into several factors: disaster driver, disaster environment, disaster bearer, and disaster intensity, and take the interaction mechanism among all factors as an indispensable function. The conditions of flood disaster components are demonstrated with disaster driver risk level, disaster environment stability level and disaster bearer sensitivity, respectively. The flood system vulnerability is expressed as vulnerability = f(risk, stability, sensitivity. Based on the theory, data envelopment analysis method (DEA is used to detail the relative vulnerability's spatiotemporal variation of a flood disaster system and its components in the Dongting Lake region. The study finds that although a flood disaster system's relative vulnerability is closely associated with its components' conditions, the flood system and its components have a different vulnerability level. The overall vulnerability is not the aggregation of its components' vulnerability. On a spatial scale, zones central and adjacent to Dongting Lake and/or river zones are characterized with very high vulnerability. Zones with low and very low vulnerability are mainly distributed in the periphery of the Dongting Lake region

Safe disposal and recycling of water disaster debris in pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Latif, A.

2014-01-01

Depending upon the nature, the disaster may produce large masses of debris. Waste masses from single disaster integrate to larger magnitude annually. This will ultimately causes the extra work load on personnel and reflects the poor existing debris management facilities. Besides, it will take longer time to rehabilitate the debris exaggerated regions. The study focuses on 2 main cases of disaster i.e. earthquake of 2005 and flood of 2010 in Pakistan. Complete analysis involve two stages: the first stage involve development of disaster and disaster debris effects guidance whereas the second stage involves the development of set of criteria to make efficient environment and positive impacts of successful debris managing scheme. Such principles were employed to evaluate efficiency of debris managing scheme for detailed analysis. The discussion of the detailed analysis depicts methodology which assists the disaster managers, planners and researcher to simply multitude of work. Moreover, the disaster and disaster debris influence direction, the effect evaluation criterion and managing criteria have been established having the effect they can be virtually put into service for prospect debris managing scheme, planning and retort. With respect to character and strictness, calamity may make high magnitude of waste. By keeping in view the precedent calamities in the United States (US), concluded that in few situations produced waste masses approximately five to fifteen times more than yearly waste production rate from a single occasion. Same results were revealed by subsequent tsunami of Indian Ocean. Such kind of large masses may effects the existing solid debris management system and human resources. Major disaster yields large masses of debris in few hours or sometimes even in minutes. The volume of disaster debris depends upon the magnitude of trees ball up, indemnity to houses, business, services etc. The disaster remaining may be equally large in metropolitan and non

Integrated simulation of emergency response in disasters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanno, Taro; Furuta, Kazuo

2005-01-01

An integrated simulation system of emergency response in disasters is under development that can consider various factors of disasters, such as disaster phenomena, activities of response organizations, resident behavior, and their environment. The aim of this system is to provide support for design and assessment of disaster management systems. This paper introduces the conceptual design of the entire system and presents simulators of organizational behavior in nuclear and earthquake disasters. (author)

High availability using virtualization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calzolari, Federico; Arezzini, Silvia; Ciampa, Alberto; Mazzoni, Enrico; Domenici, Andrea; Vaglini, Gigliola

2010-01-01

High availability has always been one of the main problems for a data center. Till now high availability was achieved by host per host redundancy, a highly expensive method in terms of hardware and human costs. A new approach to the problem can be offered by virtualization. Using virtualization, it is possible to achieve a redundancy system for all the services running on a data center. This new approach to high availability allows the running virtual machines to be distributed over a small number of servers, by exploiting the features of the virtualization layer: start, stop and move virtual machines between physical hosts. The 3RC system is based on a finite state machine, providing the possibility to restart each virtual machine over any physical host, or reinstall it from scratch. A complete infrastructure has been developed to install operating system and middleware in a few minutes. To virtualize the main servers of a data center, a new procedure has been developed to migrate physical to virtual hosts. The whole Grid data center SNS-PISA is running at the moment in virtual environment under the high availability system.

Children's disaster reactions: the influence of family and social factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfefferbaum, Betty; Jacobs, Anne K; Houston, J Brian; Griffin, Natalie

2015-07-01

This review examines family (demographics, parent reactions and interactions, and parenting style) and social (remote effects, disaster media coverage, exposure to secondary adversities, and social support) factors that influence children's disaster reactions. Lower family socioeconomic status, high parental stress, poor parental coping, contact with media coverage, and exposure to secondary adversities have been associated with adverse outcomes. Social support may provide protection to children in the post-disaster environment though more research is needed to clarify the effects of certain forms of social support. The interaction of the factors described in this review with culture needs further exploration.

Developing a disaster education program for community safety and resilience: The preliminary phase

Science.gov (United States)

Nifa, Faizatul Akmar Abdul; Abbas, Sharima Ruwaida; Lin, Chong Khai; Othman, Siti Norezam

2017-10-01

Resilience encompasses both the principles of preparedness and reaction within the dynamic systems and focuses responses on bridging the gap between pre-disaster activities and post-disaster intervention and among structural/non-structural mitigation. Central to this concept is the ability of the affected communities to recover their livelihood and inculcating necessary safety practices during the disaster and after the disaster strikes. While these ability and practices are important to improve the community safety and resilience, such factors will not be effective unless the awareness is present among the community. There have been studies conducted highlighting the role of education in providing awareness for disaster safety and resilience from a very young age. However for Malaysia, these area of research has not been fully explored and developed based on the specific situational and geographical factors of high-risk flood disaster locations. This paper explores the importance of disaster education program in Malaysia and develops into preliminary research project which primary aim is to design a flood disaster education pilot program in Kampung Karangan Primary School, Kelantan, Malaysia.

Post-disaster resettlement in the Philippines: a risky strategy

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Alice R Thomas

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Experience in the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan suggests that resettlement as a strategy for mitigating disaster-induced displacement can create significant protection risks.

[Disaster relief through inter-professional collaboration --from the standpoint of a dietitian].

Science.gov (United States)

Inamura, Yukiko

2013-01-01

The present study examined disaster relief efforts by registered and other dietitians following the Great East Japan Earthquake to identify related problems. Based on this, the study discussed what is required to develop a "disaster relief system through inter-professional collaboration" to cope with unanticipated disasters. On March 15, 2011, the Japan Dietetic Association (JDA) independently established the "Great East Japan Earthquake relief emergency headquarters". The association along with these volunteers was committed to the establishment of a system for disaster relief activities with the support of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefectures: the number of registered volunteers was 978; a total of 1,588 dietitians were dispatched; and 602 became involved in relief work in the disaster-stricken areas. Registered and other dietitians dispatched for disaster relief provided support and home care for evacuation centers, elderly facilities, and temporary housing, including dietary and nutrition advice and consultation, in cooperation and collaboration with administrative dietitians in disaster areas, registered and other dietitians of disaster headquarters in disaster-stricken prefectures, the Primary Care for All Teams (PCAT) of the Japan Primary Care Association, disaster medical assistance teams (DMATs), and volunteer groups. Through the course of the relief activities, the following problems were identified: difficulties in responding to varying needs in different phases, nutritional measures (population-based and high-risk approaches), nutritional disparities among evacuation centers, necessity of a section to collect ever-changing information on disaster areas in a comprehensive manner, importance of working cooperatively to establish a support system, and differences in volunteers' support skills. To facilitate disaster relief through inter-professional collaboration, it is necessary for many different organizations to understand each other's capabilities

On civil engineering disasters and their mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Lili; Qu, Zhe

2018-01-01

Civil engineering works such as buildings and infrastructure are the carriers of human civilization. They are, however, also the origins of various types of disasters, which are referred to in this paper as civil engineering disasters. This paper presents the concept of civil engineering disasters, their characteristics, classification, causes, and mitigation technologies. Civil engineering disasters are caused primarily by civil engineering defects, which are usually attributed to improper selection of construction site, hazard assessment, design and construction, occupancy, and maintenance. From this viewpoint, many so-called natural disasters such as earthquakes, strong winds, floods, landslides, and debris flows are substantially due to civil engineering defects rather than the actual natural hazards. Civil engineering disasters occur frequently and globally and are the most closely related to human beings among all disasters. This paper emphasizes that such disasters can be mitigated mainly through civil engineering measures, and outlines the related objectives and scientific and technological challenges.

Gender-Sensitive Post-Disaster Assessments

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2012-01-01

This note on gender-sensitive post-disaster assessments is the eighth in a series of guidance notes on gender issues in disaster risk management (DRM) in the East Asia and the Pacific region. Targeting World Bank staff, clients and development partners, this note gives an overview of the main reasons for assessing gender impacts as part of a post-disaster needs assessment, identifies the k...

Disaster mythology and fact: Hurricane Katrina and social attachment.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacob, Binu; Mawson, Anthony R; Payton, Marinelle; Guignard, John C

2008-01-01

Misconceptions about disasters and their social and health consequences remain prevalent despite considerable research evidence to the contrary. Eight such myths and their factual counterparts were reviewed in a classic report on the public health impact of disasters by Claude de Ville de Goyet entitled, The Role of WHO in Disaster Management: Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction (Geneva, World Health Organization, 1991), and two additional myths and facts were added by Pan American Health Organization. In this article, we reconsider these myths and facts in relation to Hurricane Katrina, with particular emphasis on psychosocial needs and behaviors, based on data gleaned from scientific sources as well as printed and electronic media reports. The review suggests that preparedness plans for disasters involving forced mass evacuation and resettlement should place a high priority on keeping families together--and even entire neighborhoods, where possible--so as to preserve the familiar and thereby minimize the adverse effects of separation and major dislocation on mental and physical health.

How do Japanese escape from TSUNAMI? - Disaster Prevention Education through using Hazard Maps

Science.gov (United States)

Sakaue, Hiroaki

2013-04-01

After the disaster of the earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, Japan in 2011, it is necessary to teach more "Disaster Prevention" in school. The government guideline for education of high school geography students emphasizes improving students' awareness of disaster prevention through acquiring geographical skills, for example reading hazard and thematic maps. The working group of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) says that the purpose of Disaster Prevention Education is to develop the following competencies: 1. To acquire knowledge about disasters in the local area and the science of disaster prevention. 2. To teach individuals to protect themselves from natural hazards. 3. To safely support other people in the local area. 4. To build a safe society during rebuilding from the disasters. "Disaster Prevention Education" is part of the "Education for Sustainable Development" (ESD) curriculum. That is, teaching disaster prevention can contribute to developing abilities for sustainable development and building a sustainable society. I have tried to develop a high school geography class about "tsunami". The aim of this class is to develop the students' competencies to acquire the knowledge about tsunami and protect themselves from it through reading a hazard map. I especially think that in geography class, students can protect themselves from disasters through learning the risks of disasters and how to escape when disasters occur. In the first part of class, I have taught the mechanism of tsunami formation and where tsunamis occur in Japan. In the second part of class, I have shown students pictures that I had taken in Tohoku, for instance Ishinomaki-City, Minamisanriku-Town, Kesen'numa-City, and taught how to read hazard maps that show where safe and dangerous places are when natural hazards occur. I think that students can understand the features of the local area and how to escape from disasters that may occur in local area by

78 FR 65745 - Kansas Disaster #KS-00075

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-01

.../23/2013. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/22/2014. ADDRESSES: Submit... disaster declaration on 10/22/2013, Private Non- Profit organizations that provide essential services of... Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere 2.875 For Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations Without...

77 FR 67858 - Utah Disaster #UT-00021

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-14

.... Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 01/02/2013. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date... provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the address... Without Credit Available 3.000 Elsewhere For Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit...

78 FR 48764 - Texas Disaster # TX-00413

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-09

.... Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 10/01/2013. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date... provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the address... without Credit Available Elsewhere 2.875 For Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations without Credit...

78 FR 38781 - Michigan Disaster #MI-00027

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-27

.../2013. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 08/19/2013. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application... that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the... Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere 2.875 For Economic Injury: Non-Profit...

SPATIAL-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF OPENSTREETMAP DATA AFTER NATURAL DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY OF HAITI UNDER HURRICANE MATTHEW

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J. Xu

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Volunteered geographic information (VGI has been widely adopted as an alternative for authoritative geographic information in disaster management considering its up-to-date data. OpenStreetMap, in particular, is now aiming at crisis mapping for humanitarian purpose. This paper illustrated that natural disaster played an essential role in updating OpenStreetMap data after Haiti was hit by Hurricane Matthew in October, 2016. Spatial-temporal analysis of updated OSM data was conducted in this paper. Correlation of features was also studied to figure out whether updates of data were coincidence or the results of the hurricane. Spatial pattern matched the damaged areas and temporal changes fitted the time when disaster occurred. High level of correlation values of features were recorded when hurricane occurred, suggesting that updates in data were led by the hurricane.

A Way to Sustainability: Perspective of Resilience and Adaptation to Disaster

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Hongjian Zhou

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Based on the previous research findings about resilience, this study focused on the differences between resilience and adaptation from an agricultural drought case study in southern China. A conceptual variation between resilience and adaptation was explored to understand the distinction between resilience and adaptation. In fact, both are attributes of hazard-affected bodies and have connections and differences. Resilience pays more attention to the short-term response to loss (potential during and post disaster, while adaptation places stress on system’s response to disaster risk before disaster, loss or impacts in- and after disaster in the long term in order to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience. Land use and crop structure change, land policy change and labors turnover present the detailed differences between resilience and adaptation in the case study. Deficiencies of human resources, technology and policy in adapting to disaster risks were founded and discussed. This perspective would offer a way with greater potential in application of adaptation concept, especially in the process of integrated risk governance and regional sustainable development.

Historical Research on Disaster Management Legislation in Iran Before Islamic Revolution

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Jalil Arab-Kheradmand

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Various disasters are still inevitable and over the last two decades, affected lives of at least 800 million people. Iran is one of the most disaster-prone countries and about 90% of the country are at risks of earthquakes or floods. Thus, the disaster management in our country is a priority. In recent years, several protocols have been put forward to manage the emergencies and disasters. In this regard, the related laws and regulations crisis management are an integrated part of any crisis management which specifies each organization role. One of the important pitfalls in managing risk reduction approach, is the lack of proper laws and regulations and their implementation. Moreover, national guidelines and protocols provides the pathways for different areas of intervention. To solve this shortcoming, a historical review of legislation in this area is helpful. This study aims to review the legislative history of disaster management in Iran, the responsible organizations, and their strong and weak points. This study might help reduce vulnerabilities and boost coordination in crisis management.

Emergency medicine in case of disasters. Guideline for medical care in case of disasters. 4. rev. ed.; Katastrophenmedizin. Leitfaden fuer die aerztliche Versorgung im Katastrophenfall

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

Medical care in case of disasters means being pressed for time, facing difficult structures and a shortage of resources while trying to attend to many injured at a time. The knowledge required must be immediately available, and this is where this book comes in handy. The guide addresses primarily doctors and medical staff. It answers medical questions, lists contacts, provides information on disaster management, and goes into legal and ethical aspects as well. (orig.)

Regional Risk Evaluation of Flood Disasters for the Trunk-Highway in Shaanxi, China

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Hong-Liang Qi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Due to the complicated environment there are various types of highway disasters in Shaanxi Province (China. The damages caused are severe, losses are heavy, and have rapidly increased over the years, especially those caused by flood disasters along the rivers in mountainous areas. Therefore, research on risk evaluations, which play important roles in the prevention and mitigation of highway disasters are very important. An evaluation model was established based on the superposition theory of regional influencing factors to highway flood disasters. Based on the formation mechanism and influencing factors of highway flood disasters, the main influencing factors were selected. These factors include rainstorms, terrain slopes, soil types, vegetation coverage and regional river density, which are based on evaluation indexes from climate conditions and underlying surface of the basin. A regional risk evaluation of highway flood disasters in Shaanxi was established using GIS. The risk index was divided into five levels using statistical methods, in accordance with the regional characteristics of highway flood disasters. Considering the difference in upfront investments, road grade, etc, between expressways and trunk-highways in China, a regional risk evaluation of trunk-highway flood disasters was completed. The evaluation results indicate that the risk evaluation is consistent with the actual situation.

The German emergency and disaster medicine and management system—history and present

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Norman Hecker

2018-04-01

Full Text Available As well for optimized emergency management in individual cases as for optimized mass medicine in disaster management, the principle of the medical doctors approaching the patient directly and timely, even close to the site of the incident, is a long-standing marker for quality of care and patient survival in Germany. Professional rescue and emergency forces, including medical services, are the “Golden Standard” of emergency management systems. Regulative laws, proper organization of resources, equipment, training and adequate delivery of medical measures are key factors in systematic approaches to manage emergencies and disasters alike and thus save lives. During disasters command, communication, coordination and cooperation are essential to cope with extreme situations, even more so in a globalized world. In this article, we describe the major historical milestones, the current state of the German system in emergency and disaster management and its integration into the broader European approach. Keywords: Emergency medical systems, Disaster medicine, Public health, Germany

Traditional and Local Knowledge Practices for Disaster Risk Reduction in Northern Ghana

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Nsioh Macnight Ngwese

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In order to deal with recurrent disasters, like floods and droughts coupled with the limited adaptive capacity, in the semiarid regions of Northern Ghana, local communities have no choice but to apply traditional and local knowledge practices. This study seeks to identify such practices employed in selected rural communities in Northern Ghana and to investigate their effectiveness. Data were collected through key informant interviews, household questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions, and participant observations. The findings indicated that although diverse practices were applied to predict and manage local disaster events, skepticism prevailed among locals toward these practices regarding their effectiveness. Due to the lack of science-based tools and systems for disaster prediction and management, local communities continually depended on these knowledge systems and practices. Integrating local and traditional disaster risk reduction (DRR efforts into modern scientific knowledge should be encouraged in order to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to disasters with thorough effectiveness evaluation protocols.

A Location Based Communication Proposal for Disaster Crisis Management

Science.gov (United States)

Gülnerman, A. G.; Goksel, C.; Tezer, A.

2014-12-01

The most vital applications within urban applications under the title of Geographical Information system applications are Disaster applications. Especially, In Turkey the most occured disaster type Earthquakes impacts are hard to retain in urban due to greatness of area, data and effected resident or victim. Currently, communications between victims and institutions congested and collapsed, after disaster that results emergency service delay and so secondary death and desperation. To avoid these types of life loss, the communication should be established between public and institutions. Geographical Information System Technology is seen capable of data management techniques and communication tool. In this study, Life Saving Kiosk Modal Proposal designed as a communication tool based on GIS, after disaster, takes locational emegency demands, meets emergency demands over notification maps which is created by those demands,increase public solidarity by visualizing close emergency demanded area surrounded another one and gathers emergency service demanded institutions notifications and aims to increasethe capability of management. This design prosals' leading role is public. Increase in capability depends on public major contribution to disaster management by required communication infrastructure establishment. The aim is to propound public power instead of public despiration. Apart from general view of disaster crisis management approaches, Life Saving Kiosk Modal Proposal indicates preparedness and response phases within the disaster cycle and solve crisis management with the organization of design in preparedness phase, use in response phase. This resolution modal flow diagram is builded between public, communication tool (kiosk) amd response force. The software is included in communication tools whose functions, interface designs and user algorithms are provided considering the public participation. In this study, disaster crisis management with public

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Versus Disaster Risk Creation (DRC).

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, James

2012-06-21

In understanding and trying to reduce the risk from disasters, connections are often articulated amongst poverty, vulnerability, risk, and disasters. These are welcome steps, but the approach taken in top-down international documents is rarely to articulate explicitly that vulnerability accrues from a wide variety of dynamic and long-term processes. Neglecting these processes-and failing to explore their links with poverty, risk, and disasters-tends to encourage disaster risk creation. This paper identifies seven examples of on-the-ground realities of long-term vulnerability within two clusters: Endangerment: 1 Environmental degradation. 2 Discrimination. 3 Displacement. Impoverishment: 4 Self-seeking public expenditure. 5 Denial of access to resources. 6 Corruption. 7 Siphoning of public money. Examples are presented as vignettes, many contemporary and many rooted in historical contexts, to demonstrate the extent to which "vulnerability drivers" emanate from greed, the misuse of political and commercial power, mismanagement and incompetence amongst other behaviours. Moving forward to the tackling of disaster risk creation, instead of simply seeking disaster risk reduction, requires detailed investigation into these contemporary and historical realities of the causes of vulnerability. That would support the integration of disaster risk reduction within the many wider contexts that foment and perpetuate vulnerability.

Disaster-related fatalities among US citizens traveling abroad.

Science.gov (United States)

Partridge, Robert; Bouslough, David; Proano, Lawrence

2013-01-01

To describe the locations and risk of death associated with natural disaster fatalities for US citizens traveling abroad. A retrospective database review of US citizen disaster deaths occurring worldwide. None. Information on fatalities due to disasters was abstracted from the US Department of State Web site reporting deaths of US citizens abroad by non-natural causes from October 2002 through June 2012. The main outcome measures were the frequency of disaster deaths and countries where disasters occurred. Descriptive statistics and rates were used to evaluate the study data. There were 7,963 total non-natural deaths of US citizens traveling abroad during the study period. Of these, 163 (2.0 percent) were disaster-related deaths, involving 19 disaster events in 15 countries. Only two disaster-related events resulted in more than two deaths of US travelers-the 2010 earthquake in Haiti causing 121 fatalities (74.2 percent of disaster deaths), and the 2004 tsunami in Thailand causing 22 fatalities (13.5 percent of disaster deaths). The approximate annual mean death rate for US citizen travelers as a result of disaster events is 0.27 deaths/1 million travelers, compared with 1.4 deaths/1 million residents due to disaster annually within the United States. The risk of disaster-related fatality is low for US citizens traveling abroad. Although disaster-related death among travelers is unpredictable, during a period of almost 10 years, there was only one reported death due to disaster in the five countries most frequently visited by US travelers. Further investigation may identify population-, seasonal-, country-, or location-specific risks from which prevention strategies can be developed.

Disasters in ‘development’ contexts: Contradictions and options for a preventive approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth Hewitt

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The relations of development and disaster offer a starting point for an overview of disaster risk reduction (DRR in African contexts. A social vulnerability approach is adopted with its goal of improving conditions for persons and places most at risk. However, this approach faces serious contradictions in both the disasters and development scenes. Disaster events and losses have grown exponentially in recent decades. So have advances in disaster-related knowledge and the institutions and material resources devoted to disaster management. Evidently, the latter have not reduced disaster incidence or over all losses. Similar contradictions appear in development. By some measures, in most developing countries the economy has grown much faster than population. Yet, indebtedness, unemployment and insecurity seem worse in many countries. Poverty, the avowed target, remains huge in urban, peri-urban and rural areas singled out by disaster losses. Problems also arise from separate treatment of development and disaster. Climate change and the global financial crises challenge some of the most basic assumptions. The promise of ‘developed nations’, built around massive use of fossil fuels, puts global and African economic growth on a collision course with environmental calamity. The 2008 financial crisis has undermined the safety of global majorities, as well as reliance on development assistance. The case for alternatives in development and DRR is reinforced, including the vulnerability-reducing responses highlighted in the Hyogo framework for action. However, this is being undermined by a return to a civil defence-type approach, an increasingly militarised, and for-profit, focus on emergency management.

Tracking the evolution of the disaster management cycle: A general system theory approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christo Coetzee

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Officials and scholars have used the disaster management cycle for the past 30 years to explain and manage impacts. Although very little understanding and agreement exist in terms of where the concept originated it is the purpose of this article to address the origins of the disaster management cycle. To achieve this, general system theory concepts of isomorphisms, equifinality, open systems and feedback arrangements were applied to linear disaster phase research (which emerged in the 1920s and disaster management cycles. This was done in order to determine whether they are related concepts with procedures such as emergency, relief, recovery and rehabilitation.

Health Facilities Safety in Natural Disasters: Experiences and Challenges from South East Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesela Radovic

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The United Nations named 2010 as a year of natural disasters, and launched a worldwide campaign to improve the safety of schools and hospitals from natural disasters. In the region of South East Europe, Croatia and Serbia have suffered the greatest impacts of natural disasters on their communities and health facilities. In this paper the disaster management approaches of the two countries are compared, with a special emphasis on the existing technological and legislative systems for safety and protection of health facilities and people. Strategic measures that should be taken in future to provide better safety for health facilities and populations, based on the best practices and positive experiences in other countries are recommended. Due to the expected consequences of global climate change in the region and the increased different environmental risks both countries need to refine their disaster preparedness strategies. Also, in the South East Europe, the effects of a natural disaster are amplified in the health sector due to its critical medical infrastructure. Therefore, the principles of environmental security should be implemented in public health policies in the described region, along with principles of disaster management through regional collaborations.

High availability IT services

CERN Document Server

Critchley, Terry

2014-01-01

This book starts with the basic premise that a service is comprised of the 3Ps-products, processes, and people. Moreover, these entities and their sub-entities interlink to support the services that end users require to run and support a business. This widens the scope of any availability design far beyond hardware and software. It also increases the potential for service failure for reasons beyond just hardware and software; the concept of logical outages. High Availability IT Services details the considerations for designing and running highly available ""services"" and not just the systems

MODELLING OF UNCERTAINTY IN MINIMISING THE COST OF INVENTORY FOR DISASTER RELIEF

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Van Wyk

2012-01-01

Full Text Available ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Natural disasters – and even those caused by people – are largely unpredictable. So disasters need to be researched and their impact fully understood, so that the aid supplies required to ensure survival during and after disaster events will be available. The member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC are the countries of interest for this paper, as insufficient research has been conducted into inventory pre-positioning for disaster response in these countries. It is vital to anticipate the needs of disaster victims in potential disasters. These needs are evaluated according to the types and amounts of aid supplies required. This paper proposes a stochastic inventory model that can be applied in a generic way to any SADC country, providing a means to improve disaster preparedness through keeping aid supplies in pre-positioned facilities in the SADC region, at reasonable and affordable cost.

AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Natuurlike en mensgemaakte rampe is grootliks onvoorspelbaar. Gevolglik moet rampe nagevors en hul impak ten volle begryp word, sodat noodvoorrade wat benodig word vir oorlewing doeltreffend beplan kan word vir aanwending tydens en na rampgebeure. Die lede van die Suid-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap (SAOG is die lande van belang vir hierdie artikel omrede navorsing oor voorraadhouding vir rampreaksie in hierdie betrokke lande tot nog toe onvoldoende was. Dit is noodsaaklik om doeltreffend in die behoeftes van rampslagoffers te voorsien. Hierdie behoeftes word beoordeel na aanleiding van die aard en hoeveelhede van noodvoorrade wat benodig mag word in ramptoestande. Hierdie artikel stel ’n stochastiese voorraadmodel voor vir toepassing op ’n generiese wyse in enige SAOG land, om sodoende ’n metode te verskaf om rampvoorbereiding te verbeter deur die opgaar van noodvoorrade in vooraf-geïdentifiseerde fasiliteite binne die SAOG, teen redelike en bekostigbare koste.

Relationship between demographic and environmental factors and knowledge of secondary school students on natural disasters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cvetković Vladimir M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The subject of quantitative research is to examine the connection between demographic (gender, age and environmental factors (family, school and media and knowledge and perceptions of students about natural disasters. Bearing in mind the orientation of the research design on determination of character and strength of relationships of demographic and environmental factors with the knowledge and perceptions of students about natural disasters, research has explicative goal. The authors use the method of interviewing high school students to identify demographic and environmental factors associated with the knowledge and perceptions of students about natural disasters. The study included 3,063 students of secondary schools in the city of Belgrade. Results suggest the existence of links between gender, success achieved in school and education of parents and the knowledge of students about natural disasters. The results also indicate that the education of students at school and within family does not affect the knowledge, but affects their perception on natural disasters. Bearing in mind the geographical space of Serbia, the study is based only on the Belgrade region, so the findings can be generalized only to the population of students in this area. Research findings indicate potential ways to influence students to raise level of knowledge about natural disasters to a higher level. Given the evident lack of education about natural disasters in Serbia, the study results can be used for policies of educational programs, which would contribute to improving the safety of youth culture. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179045: Development of institutional capacities, standards and procedures for countering organized crime and terrorism in terms of international integration, br. 179034: From encouraging initiative, cooperation and creativity in education to new roles and identities in the society i br. 47008: Improving quality and

Disaster management and mitigation: the telecommunications infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Patricelli, Frédéric; Beakley, James E; Carnevale, Angelo; Tarabochia, Marcello; von Lubitz, Dag K J E

2009-03-01

Among the most typical consequences of disasters is the near or complete collapse of terrestrial telecommunications infrastructures (especially the distribution network--the 'last mile') and their concomitant unavailability to the rescuers and the higher echelons of mitigation teams. Even when such damage does not take place, the communications overload/congestion resulting from significantly elevated traffic generated by affected residents can be highly disturbing. The paper proposes innovative remedies to the telecommunications difficulties in disaster struck regions. The offered solutions are network-centric operations-cap able, and can be employed in management of disasters of any magnitude (local to national or international). Their implementation provide ground rescue teams (such as law enforcement, firemen, healthcare personnel, civilian authorities) with tactical connectivity among themselves, and, through the Next Generation Network backbone, ensure the essential bidirectional free flow of information and distribution of Actionable Knowledge among ground units, command/control centres, and civilian and military agencies participating in the rescue effort.

Enhanced change detection index for disaster response, recovery assessment and monitoring of buildings and critical facilities-A case study for Muzzaffarabad, Pakistan

Science.gov (United States)

de Alwis Pitts, Dilkushi A.; So, Emily

2017-12-01

The availability of Very High Resolution (VHR) optical sensors and a growing image archive that is frequently updated, allows the use of change detection in post-disaster recovery and monitoring for robust and rapid results. The proposed semi-automated GIS object-based method uses readily available pre-disaster GIS data and adds existing knowledge into the processing to enhance change detection. It also allows targeting specific types of changes pertaining to similar man-made objects such as buildings and critical facilities. The change detection method is based on pre/post normalized index, gradient of intensity, texture and edge similarity filters within the object and a set of training data. More emphasis is put on the building edges to capture the structural damage in quantifying change after disaster. Once the change is quantified, based on training data, the method can be used automatically to detect change in order to observe recovery over time in potentially large areas. Analysis over time can also contribute to obtaining a full picture of the recovery and development after disaster, thereby giving managers a better understanding of productive management and recovery practices. The recovery and monitoring can be analyzed using the index in zones extending from to epicentre of disaster or administrative boundaries over time.

78 FR 61441 - Colorado Disaster #CO-00066

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-03

.../25/2013. Economic Injury (Eidl) Loan Application Deadline Date: 06/24/2014. ADDRESSES: Submit... disaster declaration on 09/24/2013, Private Non- Profit organizations that provide essential services of....875 For Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere 2.875 The number...

76 FR 45643 - Wyoming Disaster #WY-00017

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-29

.../2011. Effective Date: 07/22/2011. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 09/20/2011. Economic Injury...- Profit organizations that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan... Elsewhere For Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations without Credit Available 3.000 Elsewhere The number...

78 FR 28939 - Minnesota Disaster #MN-00049

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-16

... Date: 05/03/2013. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/02/2013. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan... that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the... Elsewhere.... 2.875 Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere. 2.875 For Economic Injury...

78 FR 62000 - Pennsylvania Disaster #PA-00065

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-10

.../02/2013. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/01/2014. ADDRESSES: Submit... disaster declaration on 10/01/2013, Private Non- Profit organizations that provide essential services of... Elsewhere... 2.875 Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere 2.875 For Economic Injury...

75 FR 25305 - Mississippi Disaster #MS-00036

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-07

.../24/2010. Effective Date: 04/29/2010. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 06/28/2010. Economic..., Private Non- Profit organizations that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster..... 3.625 Non-Profit Organizations without Credit Available 3.000 Elsewhere For Economic Injury: Non...

76 FR 63700 - Delaware Disaster #DE-00010

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-13

...: 09/30/2011. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 11/29/2011. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan... organizations that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the... without Credit Available Elsewhere 3.000 For Economic Injury: Non-profit Organizations without Credit...

DisasterHub: A mobile application for enabling crowd generated data fusion in Earth Observation disaster management services

Science.gov (United States)

Tsironis, Vassilis; Herekakis, Themistocles; Tsouni, Alexia; Kontoes, Charalampos Haris

2016-04-01

The rapid changes in climate over the last decades, together with the explosion of human population, have shaped the context for a fragile biosphere, prone to natural and manmade disasters that result in massive flows of environmental immigrants and great disturbances of ecosystems. The magnitude of the latest great disasters have shown evidence for high quality Earth Observation (EO) services as it regards disaster risk reduction and emergency support (DRR & EMS). The EO community runs ambitious initiatives in order to generate services with direct impact in the biosphere, and intends to stimulate the wider participation of citizens, enabling the Openness effect through the Open Innovation paradigm. This by its turn results in the tremendous growth of open source software technologies associated with web, social media, mobile and Crowdsourcing. The Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of National Observatory of Athens has developed, in the framework of the BEYOND Centre of Excellence for EO-based monitoring of Natural Disasters (http://www.beyond-eocenter.eu), a rich ecosystem of Copernicus compliant services addressing diverse hazardous phenomena caused from climate and weather extremes (fires, floods, windstorms, heat waves), atmospheric disturbances (smoke, dust, ozone, UV), and geo-hazards (earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes). Several services are delivered in near-real time to the public and the institutional authorities at national and regional level in southeastern Europe. Specific ones have been recognized worldwide for their innovation and operational aspects (e.g. FIREHUB was awarded the first prize as Best Service Challenge in the Copernicus Masters Competition, 2014). However, a communication gap still exists between the BEYOND ecosystem and those directly concerned by the natural disasters, the citizens and emergency response managers. This disruption of information flow between interested parties is addressed

Disaster movies ed emozioni in emergenza

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Sbattella

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This article aims to investigate the relationship between movie representation of disasters and sharing of emotions that have been experienced personally in real emergency situations. The theme is addressed in the first place referring to clinical observations and accounts of survivors, which explicitly use some images from specific films in their narratives. The hypothesis explored here is that the film genre known as disaster movie provides to individuals in distress in our culture some representations and symbolic tools which are useful to encode exceptional events and to cope with and share the emotions aroused by them. A thorough knowledge of the genre can therefore help to better listen, understand and support the narratives of the people who survived to serious emergencies and now need social legitimization and acceptation of their emotions.

Family functioning in the aftermath of a natural disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McDermott Brett M

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Increased understanding of the complex determinants of adverse child mental health outcomes following acute stress such as natural disasters has led to a resurgence of interest in the role of parent psychopathology and parenting. The authors investigated whether family functioning in the post-disaster environment would be impaired relative to a non-exposed sample and potential correlates with family functioning such as disaster-related exposure and child posttraumatic mental health symptoms. Methods Three months after a category 5 tropical cyclone that impacted north Queensland Australia, school-based screening was undertaken to case identify children who may benefit from a mental health intervention. Along with obtaining informed consent, parents completed a measure of family functioning. Results Of 145 families of children aged 8 to 12 years, 28.3% met criteria for dysfunction on the Family Adjustment Device, double the frequency in a community sample. The dysfunction group was significantly more likely to have experienced more internalising (anxiety/depression symptoms. However, in an adjusted logistic regression model this group were not more likely to have elevated disaster-related exposure nor did children in these families validate more PTSD symptoms. Conclusions The implications of post-disaster discordant family functioning and possible different causal pathways for depressive and PTSD-related symptomatic responses to traumatic events are discussed.

Introducing high availability to non high available designed applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zelnicek, Pierre; Kebschull, Udo [Kirchhoff Institute of Physics, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg (Germany); Haaland, Oystein Senneset [Physic Institut, University of Bergen, Bergen (Norway); Lindenstruth, Volker [Frankfurt Institut fuer Advanced Studies, University Frankfurt (Germany)

2010-07-01

A common problem in scientific computing environments and compute clusters today, is how to apply high availability to legacy applications. These applications are becoming more and more a problem in increasingly complex environments and with business grade availability constraints that requires 24 x 7 x 365 hours of operation. For a majority of applications, redesign is not an option. Either because of being closed source or the effort involved would be just as great as re-writing the application from scratch. Neither is letting normal operators restart and reconfigure the applications on backup nodes a solution. In addition to the possibility of mistakes from non-experts and the cost of keeping personnel at work 24/7, these kind of operations would require administrator privileges within the compute environment and would therefore be a security risk. Therefore, these legacy applications have to be monitored and if a failure occurs autonomously migrated to a working node. The pacemaker framework is designed for both tasks and ensures the availability of the legacy applications. Distributed redundant block devices are used for fault tolerant distributed data storage. The result is an Availability Environment Classification 2 (AEC-2).

Emergency Management for Disasters in Malaysian Hotel Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AlBattat Ahmad Rasmi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to identify major emergencies that have the potential to place Malaysian hotels in emergency and disaster situations; investigate how hotels were prepared for emergencies, how they manage and overcome emergencies when occurred; and limitations and factors influencing successful emergency planning and adoption emergency management in Malaysian hotels. Face-to-face interview with managers from three, four and five star hotels from different backgrounds: local; regional; and International in Kuala Lumpur, Subang, and Putrajaya are undertaken. The result revealed that Malaysian hotels are exposed to a wide range of natural and man-made disasters. Malaysian hotels lack proactive emergency planning and a lot of constraints which impede successful emergency planning for disasters in the hotel industry in Malaysia, with emphasizing on the relevant authority’s role to demonstrate emergency management to hotels convincing them to adopt such practices, so they can be able to cope with emergencies effectively.

Innovative shelter for disasters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erkelens, P.A.; Akkerman, M.S.; Cox, M.G.D.M.; Egmond - de Wilde De Ligny, van E.L.C.; Haas, de T.C.A.; Brouwer, E.R.P.

2010-01-01

Disasters cause tremendous material and immaterial damage to people and their habitat. During the first days after the disaster the victims have to be provided with food, shelter, security, health care and registration. For sheltering, depending on the local circumstances, tents are often used for a

Validation of a Framework for Measuring Hospital Disaster Resilience Using Factor Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuang Zhong

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Hospital disaster resilience can be defined as “the ability of hospitals to resist, absorb, and respond to the shock of disasters while maintaining and surging essential health services, and then to recover to its original state or adapt to a new one.” This article aims to provide a framework which can be used to comprehensively measure hospital disaster resilience. An evaluation framework for assessing hospital resilience was initially proposed through a systematic literature review and Modified-Delphi consultation. Eight key domains were identified: hospital safety, command, communication and cooperation system, disaster plan, resource stockpile, staff capability, disaster training and drills, emergency services and surge capability, and recovery and adaptation. The data for this study were collected from 41 tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province in China, using a specially designed questionnaire. Factor analysis was conducted to determine the underpinning structure of the framework. It identified a four-factor structure of hospital resilience, namely, emergency medical response capability (F1, disaster management mechanisms (F2, hospital infrastructural safety (F3, and disaster resources (F4. These factors displayed good internal consistency. The overall level of hospital disaster resilience (F was calculated using the scoring model: F = 0.615F1 + 0.202F2 + 0.103F3 + 0.080F4. This validated framework provides a new way to operationalise the concept of hospital resilience, and it is also a foundation for the further development of the measurement instrument in future studies.

Establishing Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Platform Capabilities to Support Response Activities of the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program

Science.gov (United States)

Molthan, A.; Seepersad, J.; Shute, J.; Carriere, L.; Duffy, D.; Tisdale, B.; Kirschbaum, D.; Green, D. S.; Schwizer, L.

2017-12-01

NASA's Earth Science Disasters Program promotes the use of Earth observations to improve the prediction of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural and technological disasters. NASA Earth observations and those of domestic and international partners are combined with in situ observations and models by NASA scientists and partners to develop products supporting disaster mitigation, response, and recovery activities among several end-user partners. These products are accompanied by training to ensure proper integration and use of these materials in their organizations. Many products are integrated along with other observations available from other sources in GIS-capable formats to improve situational awareness and response efforts before, during and after a disaster. Large volumes of NASA observations support the generation of disaster response products by NASA field center scientists, partners in academia, and other institutions. For example, a prediction of high streamflows and inundation from a NASA-supported model may provide spatial detail of flood extent that can be combined with GIS information on population density, infrastructure, and land value to facilitate a prediction of who will be affected, and the economic impact. To facilitate the sharing of these outputs in a common framework that can be easily ingested by downstream partners, the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program partnered with Esri and the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) to establish a suite of Esri/ArcGIS services to support the dissemination of routine and event-specific products to end users. This capability has been demonstrated to key partners including the Federal Emergency Management Agency using a case-study example of Hurricane Matthew, and will also help to support future domestic and international disaster events. The Earth Science Disasters Program has also established a longer-term vision to leverage scientists' expertise in the development and delivery of

Post-disaster recovery: how to encourage the emergency of economic and social dynamics to improve resilience?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jouannic Gwenaël

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The disaster management cycle is made up of three phases: 1 the prevention during the pre-disaster time 2 the crisis management during the disaster then 3 the post-disaster recovery. Both the “pre-disaster” time and the “crisis” are the most studied phases and tap into the main resources and risk management tools. The post-disaster period is complex, poorly understood, least anticipated, and is characterized by the implication of a wide range of people who have a vested interest. In most cases, the collective will is to recover the initial state, without learning from the disaster. Nevertheless, the post-disaster period could be seen as an opportunity to better reorganize the territory to reduce its vulnerability in anticipation of future flood events. To explore this hypothesis, this work consists in analyzing the post-flood phase from a bibliographical work and the detailed study of 3 disaster areas. These results will lead us to better understand the concept of “recovery” in the post-disaster phase.

DigiNotar: Dissecting the First Dutch Digital Disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole S. van der Meulen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In the middle of the night on September 2, 2011, the Dutch Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations held an emergency press conference. DigiNotar, a Certificate Authority (CA, had been electronically ‘broken into’ and as a result intruders had managed to generate falsified certificates. As a CA, DigiNotar issued digital certificates to secure digital communication, but as a result of the breach the authenticity of such certificates could no longer be verified. The Dutch government subsequently revoked its trust in all certificates issued by DigiNotar. This was the beginning of the first digital disaster in the Netherlands. As a pioneering disaster, this article focuses on the implications of DigiNotar as a vital case study for future scenarios of digital disaster management. The main focus of this article is on the underlying ‘weaknesses’ of the DigiNotar incident, which allowed the situation to evolve from a problem into a disaster. These include lack of oversight, lack of security attention and risk awareness and the absence of an effective mitigation strategy. By identifying and subsequently analyzing the underlying problems, this article aims to demonstrate how future situations can be better contained if sufficient attention is granted to these factors and subsequent changes are introduced.

78 FR 32416 - Minnesota; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-30

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C..., Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA); 97.046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing...

78 FR 41942 - Alaska; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-12

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C...; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and Households In Presidentially Declared Disaster...

78 FR 32414 - Illinois; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-30

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... magnitude to warrant a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency..., Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and Households In Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049...

78 FR 51204 - Colorado; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-20

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C..., Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and Households In Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049...

Disaster Education: A Survey Study to Analyze Disaster Medicine Training in Emergency Medicine Residency Programs in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarin, Ritu R; Cattamanchi, Srihari; Alqahtani, Abdulrahman; Aljohani, Majed; Keim, Mark; Ciottone, Gregory R

2017-08-01

The increase in natural and man-made disasters occurring worldwide places Emergency Medicine (EM) physicians at the forefront of responding to these crises. Despite the growing interest in Disaster Medicine, it is unclear if resident training has been able to include these educational goals. Hypothesis This study surveys EM residencies in the United States to assess the level of education in Disaster Medicine, to identify competencies least and most addressed, and to highlight effective educational models already in place. The authors distributed an online survey of multiple-choice and free-response questions to EM residency Program Directors in the United States between February 7 and September 24, 2014. Questions assessed residency background and details on specific Disaster Medicine competencies addressed during training. Out of 183 programs, 75 (41%) responded to the survey and completed all required questions. Almost all programs reported having some level of Disaster Medicine training in their residency. The most common Disaster Medicine educational competencies taught were patient triage and decontamination. The least commonly taught competencies were volunteer management, working with response teams, and special needs populations. The most commonly identified methods to teach Disaster Medicine were drills and lectures/seminars. There are a variety of educational tools used to teach Disaster Medicine in EM residencies today, with a larger focus on the use of lectures and hospital drills. There is no indication of a uniform educational approach across all residencies. The results of this survey demonstrate an opportunity for the creation of a standardized model for resident education in Disaster Medicine. Sarin RR , Cattamanchi S , Alqahtani A , Aljohani M , Keim M , Ciottone GR . Disaster education: a survey study to analyze disaster medicine training in emergency medicine residency programs in the United States. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(4):368-373.

FEMA Historical Disaster Declarations - shp

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Historical Disaster Declarations provides geospatial view to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (referred to as the Stafford Act...

MongoDB high availability

CERN Document Server

Mehrabani, Afshin

2014-01-01

This book has a perfect balance of concepts and their practical implementation along with solutions to make a highly available MongoDB server with clear instructions and guidance. If you are using MongoDB in a production environment and need a solution to make a highly available MongoDB server, this book is ideal for you. Familiarity with MongoDB is expected so that you understand the content of this book.

Disaster Debris Recovery Database - Landfills

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The US EPA Disaster Debris Recovery Database (DDRD) promotes the proper recovery, recycling, and disposal of disaster debris for emergency responders at the federal,...

Disaster Debris Recovery Database - Recovery

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The US EPA Disaster Debris Recovery Database (DDRD) promotes the proper recovery, recycling, and disposal of disaster debris for emergency responders at the federal,...

78 FR 56979 - Arkansas Disaster # AR-00065

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-16

.... Effective Date: 09/04/2013. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 11/04/2013. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan... that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the...... 2.875 Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere 2.875 For Economic Injury: Non...

78 FR 48763 - Vermont Disaster #VT-00027

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-09

.... Effective Date: 08/02/2013. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 10/01/2013. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan... that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the... Economic Injury: Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available 2.875 Elsewhere The number assigned to...

Nuclear disaster in the Urals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medvedev, Z.A.

1979-01-01

The subject is discussed in chapters, entitled: a big sensation begins; the sensation continues; the Urals disaster; radioactive contamination of lakes, water plants, and fish; mammals in the radioactive contaminated zone of the Urals; identification of the contaminated zone as the Chelyabinsk region and the time of the disaster as Fall-Winter 1957; birds in the radioactive biocenosis and the spread of radioactivity to other countries; soil animals in the Urals contaminated zone; trees in the Urals contaminated zone; field plants in the Urals radioactive zone and research in plant radiogenetics; population genetics research in the radioactive environment; the CIA documents on the Urals nuclear disaster; the causes of the Urals disaster - an attempted reconstruction of the 1957-1958 events. (U.K.)

Evaluation of Social Vulnerability to Natural Disasters on a County Scale in Henan Province

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Shanfeng HE; Liping DU; Xiuhua GAO

2016-01-01

Social vulnerability evaluation is of important significance to analyzing risks of natural disasters to human society and economy. By using expert investigation and AHP method,12 indicators from four aspects( population,economy,infrastructure and disaster prevention and mitigation capacity) are selected to assess social vulnerability to natural disasters on a county scale in Henan Province. The results show that the population vulnerability and economic vulnerability to natural disasters in the eastern region is generally higher than in the western region,while the areas with high infrastructure vulnerability are mainly located in the northwest; the disaster prevention and mitigation capacity in northwest is higher than in east and south,and this capacity of various districts is obviously higher than that of counties; in terms of the spatial pattern,social vulnerability to natural disasters is roughly higher in a belt from northeast to southwest,and lower on both sides of the belt. The results can provide scientific basis for disaster risk management and disaster prevention and mitigation planning in Henan Province.

Earth observation for disaster risk reduction in Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafiq, L.

2012-01-01

This thesis investigates the role of Earth Observation (EO) for disaster risk reduction for Pakistan. It demonstrates that significant improvements are possible through the utilization of EO data for natural disaster risk reduction activities in Pakistan. In this thesis, a multi hazard approach is proposed in order to identify vulnerability and risk at district level in Pakistan. In particular, a methodology for ranking hazards, vulnerabilities and risks based on Delphi methods is developed. This method is implemented and the results are mapped for four selected hazards i.e., earthquakes, floods, cyclones and droughts. Based on the final risk rankings, the potential of EO is explored with a focus on vulnerability assessment through detailed analysis of two case studies i.e.; Flood and Cyclone/Tsunami. The study also reviews and evaluates the institutional framework of the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan in order to identify existing gaps and address them in view of modern technology being used globally. Results reveal that these gaps are mainly related to policies, coordination and communication of different stakeholders at the national level. The work also reviews the available Early Warning System (EWS) in Pakistan and particularly its usage during disasters. Within the context of EWS, multi-sensor satellite data have been utilized for the analysis of structure of an Arabian Sea tropical Cyclone. Results of this focal study provide useful information for operational analysis and forecasting as well as for designing disaster mitigation measures. This information may also play a major role in the development of cyclone warning strategies in the future. (author)

Disasters, Queer Narratives, and the News: How Are LGBTI Disaster Experiences Reported by the Mainstream and LGBTI Media?

Science.gov (United States)

McKinnon, Scott; Gorman-Murray, Andrew; Dominey-Howes, Dale

2017-01-01

The media plays a significant role in constructing the public meanings of disasters and influencing disaster management policy. In this article, we investigate how the mainstream and LGBTI media reported-or failed to report-the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) populations during disasters in Brisbane, Australia and Christchurch, New Zealand. The implications of our work lie within recent disasters research suggesting that marginalized populations-including LGBTI peoples-may experience a range of specific vulnerabilities during disasters on the basis of their social marginality. In this article, we argue that LGBTI experiences were largely absent from mainstream media reporting of the Brisbane floods and Christchurch earthquake of 2011. Media produced by and about the LGBTI community did take steps to redress this imbalance, although with uneven results in terms of inclusivity across that community. We conclude by raising the possibility that the exclusion or absence of queer disaster narratives may contribute to marginality through the media's construction of disasters as experienced exclusively by heterosexual family groups.

20 CFR 625.7 - Disaster Unemployment Assistance: Duration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Disaster Unemployment Assistance: Duration... DISASTER UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE § 625.7 Disaster Unemployment Assistance: Duration. DUA shall be payable... unemployment which begin during a Disaster Assistance Period. ...

Prevention of Tetanus Outbreak Following Natural Disaster in Indonesia: Lessons Learned from Previous Disasters.

Science.gov (United States)

Pascapurnama, Dyshelly Nurkartika; Murakami, Aya; Chagan-Yasutan, Haorile; Hattori, Toshio; Sasaki, Hiroyuki; Egawa, Shinichi

2016-03-01

In Indonesia, the Aceh earthquake and tsunami in 2004 killed 127,000 people and caused half a million injuries, while the Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006 caused 5,700 deaths and 37,000 injuries. Because disaster-affected areas are vulnerable to epidemic-prone diseases and tetanus is one such disease that is preventable, we systematically reviewed the literature related to tetanus outbreaks following previous two natural disasters in Indonesia. Based on our findings, recommendations for proper vaccination and education can be made for future countermeasures. Using specified keywords related to tetanus and disasters, relevant documents were screened from PubMed, the WHO website, and books. Reports offering limited data and those released before 2004 were excluded. In all, 16 publications were reviewed systematically. Results show that 106 cases of tetanus occurred in Aceh, with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 18.9%; 71 cases occurred in Yogyakarta, with CFR of 36.6%. For both outbreaks, most patients had been wounded during scavenging or evacuation after the disaster occurred. Poor access to health care because of limited transportation or hospital facilities, and low vaccination coverage and lack of awareness of tetanus risk contributed to delayed treatment and case severity. Tetanus outbreaks after disasters are preventable by increasing vaccination coverage, improving wound care treatment, and establishing a regular surveillance system, in addition to good practices of disaster management and supportive care following national guidelines. Furthermore, health education for communities should be provided to raise awareness of tetanus risk reduction.

Health Management in Disasters in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam Nakhaei

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background:  Disaster  management  relies  on  the  prediction  of  problems  and  providing necessary preparations at the right time and place. In this study, researchers intended to explore previous experiences of health disaster management. Materials and Methods: This study conducted using qualitative content analysis method. Participants  were  selected  purposefully  and  data  were  collected  through  interviews, observation, and relevant documents. Results: Transcribed data from 18 interviews, field notes, and other documents were analyzed. In data analysis, “reactive management” was emerged as the main theme. It included some categories such as “exposure shock,” “nondeliberative relief,” “lack of comprehensive health disaster plan,” “lack of preparedness,” and “poor coordination in health service delivery” as well as contextual factors. Conclusion: The results clarified deep perception of participants’ experiences about health management in disasters. The professionals and nonprofessionals’ emotion-based reactions and behaviors, if accompanied with deficiencies in planning and preparedness, can lead to ineffective services and aggravate the damages

Variations in disaster evacuation behavior: public responses versus private sector executive decision-making processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Drabek, T E

1992-06-01

Data obtained from 65 executives working for tourism firms in three sample communities permitted comparison with the public warning response literature regarding three topics: disaster evacuation planning, initial warning responses, and disaster evacuation behavior. Disaster evacuation planning was reported by nearly all of these business executives, although it was highly variable in content, completeness, and formality. Managerial responses to post-disaster warnings paralleled the type of complex social processes that have been documented within the public response literature, except that warning sources and confirmation behavior were significantly affected by contact with authorities. Five key areas of difference were discovered in disaster evacuation behavior pertaining to: influence of planning, firm versus family priorities, shelter selection, looting concerns, and media contacts.

Assessing Hospital Disaster Preparedness of Bushehr province

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Hakimeh Vahedparast

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Background: In disasters, large number of causalities rash into the hospitals in order to get health facilities. So, hospitals are the reference point for delivering the health services in all levels for helping to the most percent of injured people. Aim of study was to assess hospital disaster preparedness of Bushehr province. Maretial and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study which has been done in all Bushehr province hospitals. In order to collect data, we used 210 questions checklist with 10 different aims each aim had consisted of 6 different domains (equipment, working stuff, physical space, structure, protocols and functional chart. The checklists were completed by direct observation and evaluation of equipment, programs and documents based on their domains with different people. Results: The hospital preparedness in traffic base was very poor with mean number of 19/04±16/10 evaluation of security education and management domain with mean number 35/29±26/52, 38/65±19/46, 36/36±24/05, respectively were poor. In logistics, workforce, communications, excused transportation and addition to the hospitals with the mean number of 53/26±26/31, 49/65±27/61, 45/53±18/29, 43/33±19/72, and 40/47±20/37 were estimated as average. The most number was belonged to the emergency with the mean number of 53/80±19/18. Conclusion: The Bushehr province hospitals have not enough preparation against unexpected disasters and cannot be a good supporter for disaster happening, and in the occasions of happenings so many serious problems will occur. It will be suggested that the hospital managers should pay more attention to the unexpected disasters.

Simulation modelling of a patient surge in an emergency department under disaster conditions

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Muhammet Gul

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The efficiency of emergency departments (EDs in handling patient surges during disaster times using the available resources is very important. Many EDs require additional resources to overcome the bottlenecks in emergency systems. The assumption is that EDs consider the option of temporary staff dispatching, among other options, in order to respond to an increased demand or even the hiring temporarily non-hospital medical staff. Discrete event simulation (DES, a well-known simulation method and based on the idea of process modeling, is used for establishing ED operations and management related models. In this study, a DES model is developed to investigate and analyze an ED under normal conditions and an ED in a disaster scenario which takes into consideration an increased influx of disaster victims-patients. This will allow early preparedness of emergency departments in terms of physical and human resources. The studied ED is located in an earthquake zone in Istanbul. The report on Istanbul’s disaster preparedness presented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM, asserts that the district where the ED is located is estimated to have the highest injury rate. Based on real case study information, the study aims to suggest a model on pre-planning of ED resources for disasters. The results indicate that in times of a possible disaster, when the percentage of red patient arrivals exceeds 20% of total patient arrivals, the number of red area nurses and the available space for red area patients will be insufficient for the department to operate effectively. A methodological improvement presented a different distribution function that was tested for service time of the treatment areas. The conclusion is that the Weibull distribution function used in service process of injection room fits the model better than the Gamma distribution function.

75 FR 13777 - Disaster Assistance Fact Sheet DAP9580.107, Child Care Services

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-23

...] Disaster Assistance Fact Sheet DAP9580.107, Child Care Services AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency... (FEMA) is providing notice of the availability of the final Disaster Assistance Fact Sheet DAP9580.107...'s Web site at http://www.fema.gov . You may also view a hard copy of the fact sheet at the Office of...

Natural hazard and disaster tourism

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Rucińska Dorota

2014-03-01

Full Text Available An observed trend, which can be defined as tourist interest in natural hazards and disasters, has persuaded the authors to attempt to research several issues, including tourist motivations and specific tourism properties and functions of this form of activity. The objective also covered the allocation of this social and natural process in the general structure of tourism. This interest has a long history, and a new stage is currently forming, which partly results from factors affecting society, such as information and education, which provoke antagonistic reactions. Extreme natural phenomena entail a common reduction of tourist interest in the destination which hosted the event; however, it never drops to zero. Differences are visible depending on the type of phenomenon. On the other hand, natural hazards and disasters are considered to hold a specific tourism value. This article discusses the allocation of this human activity in the tourism forms known to scientists, accounting for its diversity and relating to ethics.

Midwives’ Professional Competency for Preventing Neonatal Mortality in Disasters

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Ziba Taghizadeh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Infants are the most vulnerable people with special needs in natural disasters. Since midwives are responsible for providing reproductive health services to infants in disastrous situations, assessing their professional competence is of great importance. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehran, Iran. A total of 361 midwives were selected by cluster sampling method. After giving their informed consents, they participated in the study and completed the researcher-made questionnaire about providing health services to infants in natural disasters. Midwives’ professional competence was investigated through self-assessment in terms of their perceived importance, knowledge, and skill. Then, the data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: Mean(SD total score of professional competency of midwives in providing services to infants in disasters was 91.95(20.2 obtained from 3 subcategories: perceived importance, 39.83(9.55; knowledge, 22.5(5.06; and skill 30.16(6.86. There were significant relationships between the scores of professional competency of midwives with age (P=0.053, degree of education (P=0.028, the workplace (P=0.053, and experience in disaster (P=0.047. About 49.86% of midwives demonstrated middle level of professional competency. The lowest knowledge and skill score were reported in managing common neonatal problems such as asphyxia, sepsis, physical trauma, which requires referral and stability. Conclusion: The average scores of professional competency of midwives to deliver reproductive health service to infants in disasters shows the necessity of related and integrated education. It is recommended that by holding training exercises and simulations, midwives be educated with regard to disasters and how to respond in these situations.

Factors influencing disaster nursing core competencies of emergency nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hye-Young; Kim, Ji-Soo

2017-10-01

Emergency nurses are expected to provide required nursing services by using their professional expertise to reduce the risk posed by disasters. Thus, emergency nurses' disaster nursing core competencies are essential for coping with disasters. The purpose of the study reported here was to identify factors influencing the disaster nursing core competencies of emergency nurses. A survey was conducted among 231 emergency nurses working in 12 hospitals in South Korea. Data were collected on disaster-related experience, attitude, knowledge, and disaster nursing core competencies by means of a questionnaire. In multiple regression analysis, disaster-related experience exerted the strongest influence on disaster nursing core competencies, followed by disaster-related knowledge. The explanatory power of these factors was 25.6%, which was statistically significant (F=12.189, pcompetencies of emergency nurses could be improved through education and training programs that enhance their disaster preparedness. The nursing profession needs to participate actively in the development of disaster nursing education and training programs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Time for a revolution: smart energy and microgrid use in disaster response.

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Callaway, David Wayne; Noste, Erin; McCahill, Peter Woods; Rossman, A J; Lempereur, Dominique; Kaney, Kathleen; Swanson, Doug

2014-06-01

Modern health care and disaster response are inextricably linked to high volume, reliable, quality power. Disasters place major strain on energy infrastructure in affected communities. Advances in renewable energy and microgrid technology offer the potential to improve mobile disaster medical response capabilities. However, very little is known about the energy requirements of and alternative power sources in disaster response. A gap analysis of the energy components of modern disaster response reveals multiple deficiencies. The MED-1 Green Project has been executed as a multiphase project designed to identify energy utilization inefficiencies, decrease demands on diesel generators, and employ modern energy management strategies to expand operational independence. This approach, in turn, allows for longer deployments in potentially more austere environments and minimizes the unit's environmental footprint. The ultimate goal is to serve as a proof of concept for other mobile medical units to create strategies for energy independence.

Analysis of tsunami disaster map by Geographic Information System (GIS): Aceh Singkil-Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Farhan, A.; Akhyar, H.

2017-02-01

Tsunami risk map is used by stakeholder as a base to decide evacuation plan and evaluates from disaster. Aceh Singkil district of Aceh- Indonesia’s disaster maps have been developed and analyzed by using GIS tool. Overlay methods through algorithms are used to produce hazard map, vulnerability, capacity and finally created disaster risk map. Spatial maps are used topographic maps, administrative map, SRTM. The parameters are social, economic, physical environmental vulnerability, a level of exposed people, parameters of houses, public building, critical facilities, productive land, population density, sex ratio, poor ratio, disability ratio, age group ratio, the protected forest, natural forest, and mangrove forest. The results show high-risk tsunami disaster at nine villages; moderate levels are seventeen villages, and other villages are shown in the low level of tsunami risk disaster.

Disaster Impacts on Human Capital Accumulation Shown in the Typhoon Haiyan Case

Science.gov (United States)

Özceylan Aubrecht, Dilek; Aubrecht, Christoph

2014-05-01

Philippines in November 2013. Natural disasters adversely affect human capital accumulation in several ways including loss of life, damage to the educational system, decreased educational quality, increased child labor, and associated high dropout rates. Another dimension closely related to the human capital is the reduced economic strength of families that can limit the expenditures on well-being, including education, health and food (child malnutrition) (Baez et al., 2010; Cuaresma, 2010). According to information provided by UN and international media approximately 6 million children were affected by Typhoon Haiyan with 1.4 million homes of children and their families destroyed and 1.8 million children displaced. About 90% of the school buildings in the affected region were damaged and schools therefore stayed closed for up to 2 months causing disruption for more than a million pupils and 34,000 teachers. In some areas, when school returned to operation, only half of the school kids reported back. Also for the other pupils the situation was still challenging with many of the prior basic educational resources affected (destroyed textbooks and learning material, damaged classrooms) and no own equipment available (books, pens, etc.). Those reported impacts have already interrupted the educational continuity and it is expected to further continue by adversely affecting human capital accumulation in the longer term. Part of this work has been done under the Global Program for Safer Schools (GPSS) carried out at the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). References: Baez, J., A. de la Fuente, and I. Carlos, 2010. Do Natural Disasters Affect Human Capital? An Assessment Based on Existing Empirical Evidence. IZA Discussion Paper Series: 5164. Cuaresma, J., 2010. Natural Disasters and Human Capital Accumulation. World Bank Economic Review 24(2): 280-302. Ozceylan Aubrecht, D., 2013. Economic Impact of Disasters on the Education Sector. Global Program for Safer

The Role of Private Stakeholders in Disaster and Humanitarian Operations

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Tharcisio Cotta Fontainha

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The role of private stakeholders in disaster operations goes far beyond the delivery of profits to its shareholders. Disasters and humanitarian operations literature acknowledges the importance of private sector in disaster lifecycle; however, it lacks an analysis of the risks and benefits of each different form of their engagement in such operations (contractual relationships, one-off relationships and CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility partnerships. To address this research gap, a literature review was conducted on papers covering the perspective of private stakeholders when engaging in disaster and humanitarian operations with stakeholders from public and social groups. The results revealed that some challenges are specific from one approach and others are common for all of them. Moreover, despite the increasing of reputation capital and organizational learning being used to motivate CSR approach, they are mentioned as benefits in approaches with lower engagement - contractual and one-off relationship approaches. Thus, the benefits and risks of each approach need to be carefully addressed by scholars and field professionals in order to seek better results from the engagement of private organizations.

Integration of Disaster Detection and Warning System for a Smart Vehicle

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Chun-Chieh Wang

2014-02-01

Full Text Available For firefighters and rescuers, the disaster relief works are difficulty performed in the tunnels because of their constricted space. To reduce the losses of accident, the safety of tunnels and factories should be ordinarily kept under surveillance. Hence, a multisensor based smart tracked vehicle is designed for the application of autonomous detection and surveillance in this paper. Besides, multisensors, communication modules, wireless cameras, an electronic compass, and a GPS module are installed in the vehicle. The key feature is the integration of disaster detection and warning systems so that the vehicle can move autonomously. Furthermore, a LabVIEW graphical programming software is applied to design a human machine interface (HMI and integrate all systems such that the vehicle can be guided by High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSHPA based remote control. Moreover, basic stamp microcontrollers are utilized as its control kernel such that the remote monitoring and control system (RMCS can be constructed successfully.

A snapshot of catastrophic post-disaster health expenses after Typhoon Haiyan.

Science.gov (United States)

Espallardo, Noel; Geroy, Lester Sam; Villanueva, Raul; Gavino, Roy; Nievera, Lucille Angela; Hall, Julie Lyn

2015-01-01

This paper provides a snapshot of the health-care costs, out-of-pocket expenditures and available safety nets post-Typhoon Haiyan. This descriptive study used a survey and document review to report direct and indirect health-care costs and existing financial protection mechanisms used by households in two municipalities in the Philippines at one week and at seven months post-Haiyan. Reported out-of-pocket health-care expenses were high immediately after the disaster and increased after seven months. The mean reported out-of-pocket expenses were higher than the reported average household income (US$ 24 to US$ 59). The existing local and national mechanisms for health financing were promising and should be strengthened to reduce out-of-pocket expenses and protect people from catastrophic expenditures. Longer-term mechanisms are needed to ensure financial protection, especially among the poorest, beyond three months when most free services and medicines have ended. Preparedness should include prior registration of households that would ensure protection when a disaster comes.

Disaster and Contingency Planning for Scientific Shared Resource Cores.

Science.gov (United States)

Mische, Sheenah; Wilkerson, Amy

2016-04-01

Progress in biomedical research is largely driven by improvements, innovations, and breakthroughs in technology, accelerating the research process, and an increasingly complex collaboration of both clinical and basic science. This increasing sophistication has driven the need for centralized shared resource cores ("cores") to serve the scientific community. From a biomedical research enterprise perspective, centralized resource cores are essential to increased scientific, operational, and cost effectiveness; however, the concentration of instrumentation and resources in the cores may render them highly vulnerable to damage from severe weather and other disasters. As such, protection of these assets and the ability to recover from a disaster is increasingly critical to the mission and success of the institution. Therefore, cores should develop and implement both disaster and business continuity plans and be an integral part of the institution's overall plans. Here we provide an overview of key elements required for core disaster and business continuity plans, guidance, and tools for developing these plans, and real-life lessons learned at a large research institution in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Disaster and Contingency Planning for Scientific Shared Resource Cores

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkerson, Amy

2016-01-01

Progress in biomedical research is largely driven by improvements, innovations, and breakthroughs in technology, accelerating the research process, and an increasingly complex collaboration of both clinical and basic science. This increasing sophistication has driven the need for centralized shared resource cores (“cores”) to serve the scientific community. From a biomedical research enterprise perspective, centralized resource cores are essential to increased scientific, operational, and cost effectiveness; however, the concentration of instrumentation and resources in the cores may render them highly vulnerable to damage from severe weather and other disasters. As such, protection of these assets and the ability to recover from a disaster is increasingly critical to the mission and success of the institution. Therefore, cores should develop and implement both disaster and business continuity plans and be an integral part of the institution’s overall plans. Here we provide an overview of key elements required for core disaster and business continuity plans, guidance, and tools for developing these plans, and real-life lessons learned at a large research institution in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. PMID:26848285

Challenges of communication system during emergency disaster ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The purpose of this review is to provide the overview of available systems and potential future systems for communication during disaster in Malaysia. Electronic searches in major subject loci databases such as MEDLINE (via PUBMED), Ovid, Science Direct, Scopus, IEEE Xplore digital library and Springer are used in ...

Psychological impact of nuclear disasters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behere, Prakash B.; Chougule, Kaveri N.; Syyed, S.

2017-01-01

There are major Nuclear Power plant disasters in world, one was Chernobyl, Ukraine 1986, and other was Fukushima, Japan 2011. There are many studies, which are evidence based to demonstrate short and long terms consequences of nuclear plant disasters. The psychological consequences of nuclear power plant disasters include depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and medically unexplained somatic symptoms. These effects are often long term and associated with fears about developing serious illness like cancer. Research on disasters involving radiation, particularly evidence from Chernobyl, indicates that mothers of young children and safai workers are the highest risk groups. It is important that non-mental health providers learn to recognize and manage psychological symptoms and that medical programs be designed to reduce stigma and alleviate psychological suffering by integrating psychiatric and medical treatment

Practice parameter on disaster preparedness.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfefferbaum, Betty; Shaw, Jon A

2013-11-01

This Practice Parameter identifies best approaches to the assessment and management of children and adolescents across all phases of a disaster. Delivered within a disaster system of care, many interventions are appropriate for implementation in the weeks and months after a disaster. These include psychological first aid, family outreach, psychoeducation, social support, screening, and anxiety reduction techniques. The clinician should assess and monitor risk and protective factors across all phases of a disaster. Schools are a natural site for conducting assessments and delivering services to children. Multimodal approaches using social support, psychoeducation, and cognitive behavioral techniques have the strongest evidence base. Psychopharmacologic interventions are not generally used but may be necessary as an adjunct to other interventions for children with severe reactions or coexisting psychiatric conditions. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

DISASTER RISK AND CAPACITIES ASSESSMENT IN THE NORTH-WEST PARTS OF RWANDA

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J.ean Baptiste Nsengiyumva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The Republic of Rwanda is located in the Great lakes region of the central Africa. This landlocked country has historically suffered from periodic natural and manmade disasters, mainly in the form of droughts, floods and landslides impacting the agrarian economy and the country’s efforts towards sustainable development and poverty reduction. Vulnerability to Periodic natural disasters is a long term concern. The study therefore aims at conducting an assessment of disaster risks, vulnerabilities and coping capacities in Burera, Nyabihu and Musanze Districts affected floods and landslides in order to put in place mitigation strategies for disaster risks. Different methods and techniques were used to conduct this study including interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions, field visits and observations, GIS and remote sensing among others. The analysis comprised the disaggregation of the hazards’ characteristics including description of the hazard, Triggering factors, Frequency, seasonality, Duration, sectors affected, impacts, time of recovery, intensity of the hazard and others. In terms of vulnerability. The analysis comprised physical, environmental, social, institutional, economic, profile of the most vulnerable populations, differentiation of impacts, and level of vulnerabilities. The study results showed that the Disaster Risk reduction is very possible through a comprehensive risk management. There is also a big need to expand capacity building in terms of disaster management, risk mapping to reach cell and village levels, put in place and operationalize early warning systems or hydro-meteorological hazards and many others in order to minimize the disaster risks and where possible to transform them into opportunities. All disasters are not preventable but mitigation is always possible.

Engaging youth in post-disaster research: Lessons learned from a creative methods approach

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Lori Peek

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Children and youth often demonstrate resilience and capacity in the face of disasters. Yet, they are typically not given the opportunities to engage in youth-driven research and lack access to official channels through which to contribute their perspectives to policy and practice during the recovery process. To begin to fill this void in research and action, this multi-site research project engaged youth from disaster-affected communities in Canada and the United States. This article presents a flexible youth-centric workshop methodology that uses participatory and arts-based methods to elicit and explore youth’s disaster and recovery experiences. The opportunities and challenges associated with initiating and maintaining partnerships, reciprocity and youth-adult power differentials using arts-based methods, and sustaining engagement in post-disaster settings, are discussed. Ultimately, this work contributes to further understanding of the methods being used to conduct research for, with, and about youth. Keywords: youth, disaster recovery, engagement, resilience, arts-based methods, participatory research

Development and evaluation of fixed phrase registration function for disaster response management system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Takeyasu; Tsuda, Teppei

2012-01-01

It is important that three elements such as what happened, how it will advance, and how people should act are intelligibly transferred in disaster information from administrative organs to local residents. In this paper, authors developed the fixed phrase registration function and it was implemented in disaster response management system authors have previously developed. The system was applied to disaster response exercise in Mitsuke City, Niigata prefecture and the function was highly evaluated by employees of Mitsuke City. (author)

Earth Remote Sensing for Weather Forecasting and Disaster Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Molthan, Andrew; Bell, Jordan; Case, Jonathan; Cole, Tony; Elmer, Nicholas; McGrath, Kevin; Schultz, Lori; Zavodsky, Brad

2016-01-01

NASA's constellation of current missions provide several opportunities to apply satellite remote sensing observations to weather forecasting and disaster response applications. Examples include: Using NASA's Terra and Aqua MODIS, and the NASA/NOAA Suomi-NPP VIIRS missions to prepare weather forecasters for capabilities of GOES-R; Incorporating other NASA remote sensing assets for improving aspects of numerical weather prediction; Using NASA, NOAA, and international partner resources (e.g. ESA/Sentinel Series); and commercial platforms (high-res, or UAV) to support disaster mapping.

76 FR 44031 - Arkansas; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-22

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance....046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and...

Exploring the Demands on Nurses Working in Health Care Facilities During a Large-Scale Natural Disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gillian C. Scrymgeour

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Nurses are pivotal to an effective societal response to a range of critical events, including disasters. This presents nurses with many significant and complex challenges that require them to function effectively under highly challenging and stressful circumstances and often for prolonged periods of time. The exponential growth in the number of disasters means that knowledge of disaster preparedness and how this knowledge can be implemented to facilitate the development of resilient and adaptive nurses and health care organizations represents an important adjunct to nurse education, policy development, and research considerations. Although this topic has and continues to attract attention in the literature, a lack of systematic understanding of the contingencies makes it difficult to clearly differentiate what is known and what gaps remain in this literature. Providing a sound footing for future research can be facilitated by first systematically reviewing the relevant literature. Focused themes were identified and analyzed using an ecological and interactive systems framework. Ten of the 12 retained studies included evacuation, revealing that evacuation is more likely to occur in an aged care facility than a hospital. The unpredictability of an event also highlighted organizational, functional, and competency issues in regard to the complexity of decision making and overall preparedness. The integrative review also identified that the unique roles, competencies, and demands on nurses working in hospitals and residential health care facilities during a natural disaster appear invisible within the highly visible event.

[The theme of disaster in health care: profile of technical and scientific production in the specialized database on disasters of the Virtual Health Library - VHL].

Science.gov (United States)

Rocha, Vania; Ximenes, Elisa Francioli; Carvalho, Mauren Lopes de; Alpino, Tais de Moura Ariza; Freitas, Carlos Machado de

2014-09-01

In the specialized database of the Virtual Health Library (VHL), the DISASTER database highlights the importance of the theme for the health sector. The scope of this article is to identify the profiles of technical and scientific publications in the specialized database. Based on systematic searches and the analysis of results it is possible to determine: the type of publication; the main topics addressed; the most common type of disasters mentioned in published materials, countries and regions as subjects, historic periods with the most publications and the current trend of publications. When examining the specialized data in detail, it soon becomes clear that the number of major topics is very high, making a specific search process in this database a challenging exercise. On the other hand, it is encouraging that the disaster topic is discussed and assessed in a broad and diversified manner, associated with different aspects of the natural and social sciences. The disaster issue requires the production of interdisciplinary knowledge development to reduce the impacts of disasters and for risk management. In this way, since the health sector is a interdisciplinary area, it can contribute to knowledge production.

Disaster Response Modeling Through Discrete-Event Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jeffrey; Gilmer, Graham

2012-01-01

Organizations today are required to plan against a rapidly changing, high-cost environment. This is especially true for first responders to disasters and other incidents, where critical decisions must be made in a timely manner to save lives and resources. Discrete-event simulations enable organizations to make better decisions by visualizing complex processes and the impact of proposed changes before they are implemented. A discrete-event simulation using Simio software has been developed to effectively analyze and quantify the imagery capabilities of domestic aviation resources conducting relief missions. This approach has helped synthesize large amounts of data to better visualize process flows, manage resources, and pinpoint capability gaps and shortfalls in disaster response scenarios. Simulation outputs and results have supported decision makers in the understanding of high risk locations, key resource placement, and the effectiveness of proposed improvements.

78 FR 36556 - Oklahoma; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-18

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42... Assistance (DUA); 97.046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to...

78 FR 45549 - Iowa; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-29

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42... Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and Households In Presidentially...

78 FR 36557 - Iowa; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-18

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... warrant a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance....046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and...

78 FR 41943 - Arkansas; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-12

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... warrant a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance....046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and...

78 FR 51202 - Minnesota; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-20

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... to warrant a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency....046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and...

78 FR 25462 - Oklahoma; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-01

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42... Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and Households In Presidentially Declared...

75 FR 30419 - Kentucky; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-01

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... magnitude to warrant a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency....046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and...

76 FR 33775 - Tennessee; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-09

... President issued a major disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief... and magnitude to warrant a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and....046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and...