Disasters

Difficulties in the disaster management process are caused by many factors such as the complexity and fast-spreading harmful effects of hazards, lack of timely and accurate information, difficulty in making key decisions, inability to assess the situation in a short time, the complexity of managing necessary resources, etc. For these reasons, effective disaster response is conditioned by the availability of a variety of data stored in numerous international and national databases that can be used in real-time. In addition, decision-makers are forced to use a variety of information systems and tools that allow them to make quick and accurate calculations in order to make appropriate decisions in a particular situation. Guided by this, the authors, using the method of content analysis and literature review, identify, analyze and comprehensively systematize and describe the significant characteristics of such databases and information systems. The aim of this paper is the scientific description of information and logistics systems and databases that are important for disaster management. The scientific significance of the paper is reflected in the systematization of scientific knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of using information systems and databases on disasters. In contrast, the social implications of the paper are reflected in informing competent services about the existence and possibilities of using information systems and databases in specific cases of disaster management. Keywords: security, disasters, management, databases, information systems, logistics systems. Poteškoće u procesu upravlјanja u katastrofama uslovlјene su delovanjem mnogobrojnih faktora kao što su složenost i velika brzina širenja štetnih dejstava opasnosti, nedostatak pravovremenih i tačnih informacija, komplikovanost donošenja klјučnih odluka, nemogućnost sagledavanja celokupne situacije u kratkom vremenskom periodu, složenost upravlјanja neophodnim resursima itd. Iz tih razloga, efikasno reagovanje na katastrofe je uslovlјeno dostupnošću različitih podataka koji su pothranjeni u mnogobrojnim međunarodnim i nacionalnim bazama podataka koje se mogu koristiti u realnom vremenu. Osim toga, donosioci odluka su prinuđeni da koriste različite informacione sisteme i alate koji im omogućavaju brze i tačne proračune u cilјu donošenja odgovarajućih odluka u konkretnoj situaciji. Rukovodeći se time, autori u radu primenom metode analize sadržaja i pregledom literature, identifikuju, analiziraju i sveobuhvatno sistematizuju i opisuju značajne karakteristike takvih baza i informacionih sistema. Cilј naučnog rada predstavlјa naučna deskripcija informaciono-logističkih sistema i baza podataka od značaja za upravlјanje u katastrofama. Naučni značaj rada ogleda se u sistematizaciji naučnih saznanja o prednostima i nedostacima korišćenja informacionih sistema i baza podataka o katastrofama. Nasuprot tome, društvene implikacije rada ogledaju se u informisanju nadležnih službi o postojanju i mogućnostima korišćenja informacionih sistema i baza podataka u konkretnim slučajevima upravlјanja u katastrofama. Klјučne reči: bezbednost, katastrofe, upravlјanje, baze podataka, informacioni sistemi, logistički sistemi.

Participate in an international competition for a project in China, design a project for Dubai, build a school in the favellas of Brazil. Those are some of the challenges that firms in the fields of architecture, urban planning and construction must now face in a globalizing construction sector. However, the international context of construction shows different faces, ranging from prestige buildings designed by foreign “star” architects in
world-class cities, to emergency shelters produced by humanitarian international initiatives in rural areas in developing countries. For many, this context offers great commercial opportunities, but also risks and threats.

Participants from different countries working in foreign contexts are confronted with major challenges that range from cultural adaptation to contractual know-how. A careful understanding of organizational design and procurement is crucial in this context. The procurement strategies - that is, the initial decisions made by the client(s) to create the temporary multi-organization in charge of the project – can determine the success or failure of the initiatives.

This 2008 conference-workshop discusses these challenges and seeks to clarify the scope of and opportunities for construction projects in the international context. It focuses on the procurement-related aspects of international construction projects, and it opens the door to a wide range of subjects related to the performance of these initiatives.

The conference-workshop addresses the following issues:
• How to procure a building project abroad?
• How do architects participate in international construction?
• What are the main risks of international procurement? What are the main risks of working
abroad?
• Is there such a thing as a real international supply chain?
• What are the differences between local procurement and international procurement?
• What are the main opportunities for construction companies interested in working abroad?
• How must the relations between foreign organizations and local actors be established?

The assessment of the response of a prehospital/hospital system to a disaster will prove a complex and challenging undertaking for those who attempt it. Data availability and quality will prove to be an immediate problem. Finding the time to devote to assessment is usually difficult. Identifying qualified and interested members of the required multidisciplinary team and, in particular, an individual with health services research background who can assist in all phases of the design and implementation of the project, is often difficult. Obviously, these problems will be less severe if they are addressed to some degree in the disaster plan. That is, a general protocol for assessment could be developed as part of the disaster planning effort and evaluation staff could tentatively be identified by position (e.g., emergency department medical director). The issue of data availability could be confronted and provisions made for the recording of at least minimal information on patient log ...

The Philippines is a country that is both largely dependent on marine resources for its people's socio-cultural and economic activities, yet also highly vulnerable to extreme weather events caused by climate change. Recognizing this, a Climate Change Adaptation Project, with support from the Norwegian Trust Fund, studied three coastal communities in three (3) different provinces in the Bicol region, widely known to lie in the so-called 'Philippine typhoon belt'. The project sought to establish a community-based adaptation strategy in pilot sites by providing guidance on setting appropriate policies, climate proofing livelihoods with adaptation measures, and institutionalizing science-based-decision support systems. The project also sought to develop a replicable template that can be used by and adapted to all other similar sites in the Philippines. The project had four major components: (1) policy and legislation, (2) vulnerability assessment, (3) bio-physical adaptation...

Levels of parasitism and the dynamics of helminth systems is subject to the impact of environmental conditions such that we may expect long term increases in temperature will increase the force of infection and the parasite's basic reproduction number, R0. We postulate that an increase in the force of infection will only lead to an increase in mean intensity of adults when adult parasite mortality is not determined by acquired immunity. Preliminary examination of long term trends of parasites of rabbits and grouse confirm these predictions. Parasite development rate increases with temperature and while laboratory studies indicate this is linear some recent studies indicate that this may be non-linear and would have an important impact on R0. Warming would also reduce the selective pressure for the development of arrestment and this would increase R0 so that in systems like the grouse and Trichostrongylus tenuis this would increase the instability and lead to larger disease outbr...

The continued professionalization of the humanitarian workforce requires sound underpinning by appropriate educational programs. The international disaster medicine and emergency health community requested the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) develop international standards and guidelines for the education and training for disaster medicine. The Working Group of the WADEM Education Committee prepared and circulated an Issues Paper to structure input on this significant international task. Subsequently, the Working Group facilitated an Open International Meeting convened in Brussels, Belgium, 2004. The "Issues Paper" also was used as a framework to structure this International Meeting, which utilized case studies selected to represent the scope of disaster medicine, and prepared a meeting consensus on a framework for disaster health and for related educational programs. The two-day Brussels meeting attracted 51 participants from 19 countries, re...

BACKGROUND Much scholarly and practitioner attention to the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans, Louisiana has focused on the failures of government disaster prevention and management at all levels, often overlooking the human strength and resourcefulness observed in individuals and groups among the worst-affected communities. OBJECTIVES This preliminary study sought to investigate human resilience in the city of New Orleans, State of Louisiana, eighteen months after Hurricane Katrina struck the Mississippi delta region. METHODS The Sense of Coherence scale, short form (SOC-13) was administered to a sample of 41 residents of Lower Ninth Ward and adjacent Wards who had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina but were either living in or visiting their home area during March 2007. Study participants were recruited through the local branch of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a nation-wide grassroots organization whose mission is to promo...

In 1922, the Commonwealth Bank opened in Cairns, North Queensland, on the corner of Abbott and Spence Street, not far from the Esplanade and the waters of the Trinity Inlet. A single-story timber building, “bolted together” and pinned to the ground by sunken concrete piers, the structure was described in the local press as “cyclone proof” and the strongest timber building in Australia. Cooled by fifty exhaust vents and simplex windows, the banking chamber also met the requirements of its tropical context and was described as an “ideal office interior” in which the “health and fitness of the staff have been considered in all essentials from first class sanitation to an up-to-date ventilation system.”

In this paper the entanglement of comfort—the health and fitness of the bank’s workers, both physical and psychological—with the bank’s design—both tropical and cyclone proof—will be examined. I will argue that the Commonwealth Bank was an early example of a commercial building designed to respond to tropical cyclones, a common occurrence in Northern Australia, but one which had little impact on the planning and construction of buildings at this time. While the bank was built to replace an earlier, smaller building inadequate to the institution’s needs, it was also a direct response to a catastrophic cyclone—the strongest on record—which hit Cairns and surrounding districts on February 2, 1920. Devastating the city and neighboring towns, the cyclone produced a significant storm surge, described in the press as a “tidal wave,” that inundated the city’s central business district, including Abbott Street, where the bank building was located. The structural properties and technical innovations of the new building effectively addressed the anxieties that this event, and subsequent cyclone seasons, would continue to evoke.

It will also be argued that the bank building and its widely publicized innovations were part of a larger campaign by the institution (and other northern businesses) to attract staff from the cooler southern parts of Australia (Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne), and particularly men (managers and accountants) with wives and children. Promising both safety and comfort for its workers and their families, the bank, it will be argued, also sought to counter the popular conviction that Northern Australia was not suitable for settlement and must remain empty and unproductive. This was achieved by the banking corporation through the national promotion of the lifestyles (and especially sporting activities) of the bank workers, the climatic suitability of the bank buildings, and the technical innovations that ensured it was “cyclone proof.”

Mass casualty incidents and large-scale disasters involving children are likely to overwhelm a regional disaster response system. Children have unique vulnerabilities that require special considerations when developing pediatric response systems. Although medical and trauma strategies exist for the evaluation and treatment of children on a daily basis, the application of these strategies under conditions of resource-constrained triage and treatment have rarely been evaluated. A recent report, however, by the Institute of Medicine did conclude that on a day-to-day basis the U.S. healthcare system does not adequately provide emergency medical services for children. The variability, scale, and uncertainty of disasters call for a set of guiding principles rather than rigid protocols when developing pediatric response plans. The authors propose the following guiding principles in addressing the well-recognized, unique vulnerabilities of children: (1) terrorism prevention and preparedness...

Individuals with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable in evacuation emergencies, and they face numerous challenges accessing resources for response and recovery.The aim of this study was to compare the preparedness behaviors of households with and without special-needs members.A random-digit-dial telephone survey was conducted of 501 adults in southeastern Pennsylvania in 2008. The survey instrument gathered data on sociodemographic characteristics, disability status/functional limitations, and preparedness behaviors related to an evacuation emergency. Analyses were conducted in 2009 and included multiple logistic regressions. Data were weighted to correct for unequal probabilities of selection and response.Nineteen percent (n=95) of respondents reported living in a household in which someone had a transportation-related special need requiring assistance in case of an emergency. Households with a special-needs member had greater odds of having arranged a place to meet (OR=2.2; 95% CI=1.26, 3.88); located a shelter (OR=1.8; 95% CI=1.05, 3.24); or packed a bag (OR=1.8; 95% CI=1.02, 3.21). No significant differences were identified with respect to awareness of evacuation routes, purchasing of food and water, or creation of an emergency plan to guide evacuation decision-making.Despite both greater vulnerability to disaster and numerous messages by governmental and nongovernmental organizations, households with special-needs members are not more likely to engage in time-consuming preparedness behaviors such as planning and buying. Understanding the motivations and behaviors of special-needs groups is critical to designing informed risk-communication messages and interventions to bolster the preparedness of the most vulnerable populations.

The article briefly reviews the UN Human Rights Committee’s (HRC) decision in the case Teitiota v New Zealand. At stake was the applicant’s claim that New Zealand should not send him back to Kiribati, his country of origin, as the effects of climate change there put him at risk of being exposed to life-threatening events and indecent living conditions. Despite a disappointing outcome for the applicant, the ruling has been hailed by commentators as a 'landmark determination’. After providing a brief introduction to the facts, the article will offer some comments on certain aspects of the decision, as well as a few suggestions on how the applicant could recalibrate his litigation strategy before UN treaty monitoring bodies.

This paper presents interview survey data by social scientists using established health measures on the health effects of flooding for residents in 30 locations in England and Wales. Firstly, it examines the extent to which flooded residents reported suffering physical and psychological health effects during and after the event. Secondly, it explores the issue of whether these effects were long-lasting by comparisons with the general population and with those at risk but not flooded. In the study, about two thirds of the flood victims were found to have scores on the General Health Questionnaire-12 scale indicative of mental health problems (scores of 4+) at their worst time after flooding. The evidence of the study also suggests that some flood victims suffered long term mental health effects as a result of their experience of flooding. The study examines the influence of a wide range of factors: characteristics of the flood event, types of property, and socio-demographic and the i...

On Dec. 12, 1985, a military charter DC-8 crashed shortly after takeoff at Gander, Nfld., Canada. All 256 aboard were killed, making this the deadliest US military aircraft accident in history. The investigation team (consisting of forensic pathologists, odontologists, ...

Complex humanitarian emergencies have been a major political, security and public health feature of the post-Cold War world. These man-made disasters account for more morbidity and mortality than all natural and technological disasters combined. In order to deliver effective aid during complex humanitarian emergencies, international relief agencies must have a solid understanding of the political and social climates in which they are operating. In addition, they should base their health interventions on objective epidemiological data, especially standardized rates of morbidity and mortality. Most deaths during complex humanitarian emergencies are due to preventable causes, especially increased rates of infectious diseases malnutrition and violent trauma. The most appropriate health interventions are therefore based on the models of public health and primary health care, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion. The field of humanitarian assistance has become increasingly professionalized in recent years, with its own professional standards, literature, research agenda and training opportunities. It is an unfortunate reflection on the current state of international affairs that the number of complex humanitarian emergencies and the enormous levels of suffering associated with them are unlikely to decline in the foreseeable future.

Psychological distress is common in the aftermath of a disaster. This study investigated psychological distress and morbidity in individuals who had experienced severe exposure to a wildfire disaster in a part of Greece. The study was a cross sectional case control of an adult population (18-65 years old). Face to face interviews were used in the collection of the data which were demographics, the type and number of losses and the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised for assessment of psychological symptoms. The results showed that those exposed to wildfires disaster scored significantly higher on the symptoms of somatization, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, and paranoia; had significantly more symptoms of psychopathology and were more distressed, compared to controls. Risk factors for potential psychiatric cases were those exposed to disaster; those who had lower education, and those who were widowed. It was concluded that wildfires may cause considerable psychological symp...

A community survey was conducted in Al awayda village, one of eight villages selected for study in the rural Gezira province of Sudan. The objective of the survey was to identify the main health, social and economic problems of people in rural areas and to set priorities as a first phase in a rural development program. The results showed a

Se realiza la caracterización de lo que se asume como un desastre en acervos documentales, sus elementos distintivos y sus dimensiones en cuanto a nivel de impacto; a partir de ello, se dan pautas para poder brindar los “primeros auxilios” a fondos y colecciones siniestrados.