Emergency planning and management Research Papers (original) (raw)

Hospitals are complex facilities and effectively small communities, housing many different functions and people to cater for the medical and mental health needs of a range of patients and their well-being and recovery. There are many... more

- by and +1
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- Structures and Fire Engineering, Emergency planning and management, Fire safety evacuation, Hospital Evacuation Planning

A common practice uses funny and cute internet memes to describe natural hazards, such as hurricanes, to the general public. Emergency managers create an industry lacking credibility and seriousness when they use unrealistic and comedic scenarios to describe disasters. If people believe that hurricanes are cute and funny, they will not understand their risk and therefore will not prepare adequately.

Abstract—Emergency situation required fast and accurate decision as every decision is very critical to save human lives. Naturally, during this situation humans made decision based on their past experiences by which their nerves and brain system will perceive the situation and mapped with their experiences to produce action. This naturalistic decision making approach has been one of the attention in emergency management research. In this paper a conceptual model of Intelligent Decision Support System for reservoir operation during ...

- by Ku Ruhana Ku Mahamud and +1
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- Naturalistic Decision Making, Decision Support Systems, Intelligent Systems, Decision Theory

The economic and social impacts of natural disasters are increasing throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. Essential economic and social developments are repeatedly experiencing setbacks due to the effects of large scale, or series of smaller scale natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and typhoons, and earthquakes. This is despite the increased knowledge about these events and better technology to mitigate their effects. More effort appears to have been devoted to research into the effects of flooding of domestic properties, despite the fact that businesses provide the basis for economic stability and growth (Tierney, 1995) (Dahlhamer and Tierney, 1998, Webb et al., 2000, Rodriguez et al., 2006).
Direct effects of flooding on business premises can range from mild to catastrophic. Where buildings are penetrated by flood water there is likely to be significant damage and commercial/industrial processes could be compromised. Particular concerns include loss of essential equipment (expedient replacement of which can frequently be impossible), loss of data, loss of operations in the period to remediation, and significantly the effect of failure to meet contracts or the needs of clients. This latter issue often resulting in long term lost business opportunities as clients engage alternative suppliers. Very often therefore the immediate cost of physical damage to business infrastructure (buildings, plant, machines and systems) can be small in relation to the broader damage sustained as a result of lost turn-over. Businesses can be made more resilient to indirect or direct flood damage (including through the use of flood protection measures or back-up utility systems), but economic appraisal of such measures can be difficult as there is little data or established methodology.
The focus of this chapter is on identifying the vulnerabilities that lead to damage to commercial and industrial activities and on using this information to examine what is needed to improve resilience to flooding events in the business sector. In detail, observed direct and indirect damages are analysed according to a forensic approach. Particular care is put on analysing indirect damage, as well as damage to infrastructure, as it is often the case that business activities suffer damages because of the disruption of essential services.
This chapter will aid an understanding of:
• the nature of forensic analysis when applied to flood events
• the data required for forensic analysis
• example of forensic analysis of flood event through and example of the procedure
• business vulnerability to natural disasters
• the use of forensic analysis for business continuity measures

- by Martin Dolan and +1
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- Flood Risk Management, Disaster Studies, Disaster risk management, Business Continuity Planning

Un viaggio nel mondo della difesa e della protezione civile, due settori-chiave nei paesi moderni. Ma come funzionano nel nostro Paese ed, in generale nel mondo? Quali sono i modelli organizzativi adottati? Quali sono le attuali fonti di minaccia e gli scenari che potranno interessare, in un futuro non molto lontano, il nostro Paese? E, infine, come è strutturata, realmente, la Protezione civile e quali sono i suoi ambiti operativi? Sono alcune delle domande alle quali intende rispondere, in maniera semplice e pragmatica, questo testo che cerca di colmare una lacuna nel panorama informativo del settore. Il libro è diviso in due parti. Nella prima si affronta il tema della Difesa civile, sia per inquadrare il settore, sia per comprendere con maggiore consapevolezza, il comparto della Protezione civile, che sarà interamente trattato nella seconda sezione del volume. Certo tutti conoscono la Protezione Civile, un settore d'attività divenuto ormai popolare. Eppure, si tratta di una struttura che stenta ad essere inquadrata correttamente. Probabilmente le numerose attività facenti capo a questo settore, i numerosi attori coinvolti, possono trarre in inganno sulle sue reali caratteristiche, compiti e finalità. Di qui l'importanza del volume che non solo risponde ai principali quesiti di attualità ma offre uno spaccato sugli scenari possibili, o futuribili che saranno le sfide della futura Protezione Civile.

This paper looks at the integration of local authorities within the emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) system for health. The experience of the author, who works within this field for a local authority, is that current guidance is unclear and has affected integration of local authorities into the EPRR system. This paper therefore aims to identify why these issues exist and to assist in driving changes to current guidance, documentation and procedures.

- by Laura Drew
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- Resilience, Interoperability, Emergency Response, Emergency planning and management
- by Christopher Oxendine and +1
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- Emergency Management, Emergency planning and management

On September 2013 an attack on the Westgate mall in Kenya led to a four day siege, resulting in 67 fatalities and 175 wounded. During the crisis, Twitter became a crucial channel of communication between the government, emergency responders and the public, facilitating the emergency management of the event. The objectives of this paper are to present the main activities, use patterns and lessons learned from the use of the social media in the crisis. Using TwitterMate, a system developed to collect, store and analyze tweets, the main hashtags generated by the crowd and specific Twitter accounts of individuals, emergency responders and NGOs, were followed throughout the four day siege. A total of 67,849 tweets were collected and analyzed. Four main categories of hashtags were identified: geographical locations, terror attack, social support and organizations. The abundance of Twitter accounts providing official information made it difficult to synchronize and follow the flow of information. Many organizations posted simultaneously, by their manager and by the organization itself. Creating situational awareness was facilitated by information tweeted by the public. Threat assessment was updated through the information posted on social media. Security breaches led to the relay of sensitive data. At times, misinformation was only corrected after two days. Social media offer an accessible, widely available means for a bi-directional flow of information between the public and the authorities. In the crisis, all emergency responders used and leveraged social media networks for communicating both with the public and among themselves. A standard operating procedure should be developed to enable multiple responders to monitor, synchronize and integrate their social media feeds during emergencies. This will lead to better utilization and optimization of social media resources during crises, providing clear guidelines for communications and a hierarchy for dispersing information to the public and among responding organizations.

- by Tomer Simon and +3
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- Emergency Medicine, Terrorism, International Terrorism, Disaster Studies

Serious Games are increasingly used as a training and educational tool. Fire keeps claiming a high number of victims. Some authors allege failures during the evacuation process as the main cause that contributes for that number. Fire drills are used to train buildings’ occupants for emergency situations. However, fire drills’ participants often have prior knowledge of their schedule and as result they are not as focused as they should. Moreover, fire drills require the mobilization of some resources, leading to financial costs. Performing a fire drill will always affect the normal functioning of the place where they take place; for this reason, sometimes they are not performed at all. In some special locations, like hospitals, fire drills are unsuitable. Emergency planning is crucial to prevent and minimize damage and victims. Albeit the improvement on safety measures, many occupants and employers in this type of buildings still lack adequate knowledge and training on how to behave in such hazardous situations. EVA is presented as a possible solution, which is based on the concept of Serious Game that can be used as a training tool for healthcare professionals. A preliminary prototype was developed. A sample of 20 subjects was selected to test it giving promising results. Results also showed that users who had training in fire prevention appear to perform better in the course. Moreover, participants who regularly play computer games overcame easily the game challenges. Further research and development are still to be explored, which are discussed in the concluding part of this paper.

Μια μικρή λίστα με τα τηλέφωνα εκτάκτου ανάγκης, τυπωμένη και πλαστικοποιημένη, τοποθετημένη σε σταθερό σημείο ακριβώς δίπλα από το τηλέφωνο του σπιτιού μας, σώζει ζωές και δεν κοστίζει τίποτε. Περιλαμβάνει εκείνα τα τηλέφωνα που για το... more

- by ANASTASIOS GERASIMATOS
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- Public Health Policy, Public Health, Emergency Management, First Aid

No statistical data is available on the number of employees working on night shifts in Turkey. Working on shifts is associated with decreased sleep time, decreased daily sleep quality, and decreased alertness during night shifts. Increased incidences of cardiovascular disorders, peptic ulcers, and some types of cancer in shift workers are well known. Exposure to light at nighttime suppresses melatonin production. In non-synchronized circadian rhythm, disturbed melatonin secretion may lead to excessive sleep, hunger for carbohydrates, and weight gain. Melatonin is the hormone that governs sleep. It seems to be the key regulator of the sleep/wake rhythm. Exposure to light at night and disturbance of the circadian rhythm contribute to the health problems of night shift workers by disturbing melatonin production. In this review, the definitions of social jetlag, delayed sleep phase syndrome, and insomnia will be discussed. Sleep disorders in psychiatric diseases will be reviewed. Melatonergic drugs available on the market will be listed, including their contraindications and side effects. The physiopathology of sleep, sleep disorders, depression, and melatonin will be given with an extended discussion. Two recent reviews about the effect of melatonin on sleep patterns will be discussed. Finally, other treatments for sleep disorders will be summarized. In conclusion, in shift workers, sleep problems are a complex subject in which multiple pathophysiological mechanisms play roles. The double-blind randomized controlled studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses that have been conducted can provide only weakly positive data about the beneficial effect of melatonin use in shift workers. In the future, multi-centered and multi-participant studies will shed more light on this issue. (Eurasian J Emerg Med 2016; 15: 48-53)

- by Mucahit Emet
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- Emergency Medicine, Sleep Physiology, Sleep Medicine, Emergency Management

This dissertation focuses on safety planning aspects, on a city level, aiming to reduce the related seismic risks. The main object of this project is the research on and evaluation of civil protection in the area of Acharnes, regarding preparedness plans. Exploring the specificities of the examined area, the strengths and weaknesses of the city were highlighted, whereas the consequences from previous disasters were taken into account for the suggestions made. Upon evaluating current conditions in terms of city preparedness, it became possible to establish a comprehensive suggestion of an emergency management plan for the area of Acharnes. The suggested plan, which was processed for Menidi city, consists of evacuation shelters and evacuation routes aiming to strengthen city preparedness and the safety of its residents. The methodology applied focus on checking the adequacy of shelters, their capacity and location in order to keep residents safe. Regarding the evacuation routes, the aspects checked were the width of main roads and the effectiveness of the road network during peak time as well as the area density, both in terms of population and of structures involved. The results indicated that even though the area has very few public spaces, the suggested shelters are ideal for the residents given that they are of sufficient capacity whereas they are also located within the desired distance. The evacuation routes have been chosen so as to keep the population safe, leading the residents to the suggested shelters. The suggested plan applies ideally to the particular nature of the area and its organization in terms of safety measures, given that it takes into account the current status of the city.

This paper summarizes some of the major improvements and features of the Emergency Preparedness and Response developed to face scenarios with Extensive Damage, aspect that has taken particular emphasis after the events happened at the Japanese Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. After the so called “stress test" and taken as one of the main references the work developed by the United States, important enhancements are being applied in the nuclear industry both in Spain and internationally. The aim is to review both the historical origin and evolution suffered after the accident at the Japanese nuclear power plant, and the fundamental aspects of Emergency Management that, taken into account its extended nature, have to be addressed by specific strategies that can prevent damage to the fuel and / or mitigate their potential consequences, when the plant response, considered normal, is severely affected. Improvements initially proposed as part of the response to hostile acts, bo...

- by Mark Robinson
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- Social Psychology, Social Identity, Audience Studies, Group Behavior
- by Megan A
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- Fire and Emergency Services, Institutional Change, History Of London, Urban Studies

This thesis documents the first Australian research to interview women about their experiences of domestic violence after catastrophic disaster. As such research is rare in developed countries, it addresses a gap in the disaster literature. Interviews with 30 women in two shires in Victoria confirmed that domestic violence increased following the Black Saturday bushfires on 7th February, 2009. The scant research that exists internationally indicates that not only is the notion of ‘women and children first’ a myth, but that women are disproportionally affected by disasters primarily as a result of their poverty relative to men and prescribed gender roles. This research found that women experiencing increased male violence were silenced in preference of supporting suffering men – men who had been heroes in the fires or were traumatised or unemployed as a result of the disaster. The silencing was evident in the lack of statistics on domestic violence in the aftermath of Black Saturday, the neglect of this issue in recovery and reconstruction operations, and the responses to women’s reports of violence against them by legal, community and health professionals. Three broad explanations for increased domestic violence after Black Saturday are identified – drawn from empirical findings from the field and the research literature. Theoretical concepts from two disparate fields – sacrifice and male privilege – help to explain a key finding that women’s right to live free from violence is conditional. Indeed, the aftermath of Black Saturday presents Australians with the opportunity to see how deeply embedded misogyny is and how fragile our attempts to criminalise domestic violence and hold violent men accountable for their actions. The post-disaster period – characterised as it is by men in uniforms on the ground working, saving, rescuing and restoring; powerful imagery about the role of wives and mothers; increased violence by men; mandatory care-loads for women; and the suffering of good men – presents fertile ground for the fortification of male hegemony. Yet, post-disaster change does not have to be regressive, reinstating and reinforcing the traditional inequitable structure – a structure that has high costs for men and women. An emergency management response to disaster that has embedded gender equity at all levels, together with education of communities on the contribution of strict gender roles to suffering in disaster’s aftermath, could exemplify and hasten a more equal society where men’s violence against women is rare.

- by Debra Parkinson
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- Gender Studies, Sex and Gender, Masculinity Studies, Disaster risk management

Provision of an accurate and timely disaster relief effort requires an insightful informational coverage of a crisis situation. Social media has a potential of providing a large amount of information generated by people about different aspects of a certain crisis situation. However, emergency-oriented social media utilization is still at an embryonic stage of its understanding. So, in this report 10 research studies were reviewed in an attempt to gain some understanding about this approach. As it appeared, crowdsourced information allows to get a versatile and insightful understanding of a crisis situation, but, as with any Big Data, there are major challenges of making use of high volumes of diverse information, in terms of extraction and representation of relevant and accurate information. Furthermore, other research studies proposed extraction/representation techniques which were primarily aimed at thematic and geographical clustering of information. As it appeared from the real cases of social media application during emergencies, there is still no standardized approach on how such information can be handled, but in those cases, emergency responders still managed to successfully apply their own methods of primarily geographical and thematic clustering of information, while still being greatly challenged by overwhelming amount of user-generated information. Thus, the success could perhaps be explained by social media being used primarily as a complement/enhancement of other already proved to be effective techniques. Further exploration would be needed in order to gain a more complete understanding of the current state emergency-oriented social media utilization, which could later be used as a theoretical framework for a new research study in this area.

- by Roman Fekolkin
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- Information Systems, Computer Science, Information Science, Information Retrieval

В статье описываются текущие исследования по оптимизации взаимодействий челове- ка с компьютером для применения в сценариях планирования и поддержки решений при чрезвычайных ситуациях. Целью исследований является проверка возможности использова- ния недорогой системы слежения за движениями глаз с открытым программным обеспече- нием в процессах интерпретации геопространственных изображений. Описываемый в статье проект имеет также образовательный компонент

- by Anna Banaszek and +1
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- Eye tracking, Decision Support Systems, Emergency Management, Decision support system

Se presentan las pautas para la elaboración de Planes de Preparación y Respuesta ante Emergencias según las normas ISo-14001 (ambiental) y OSHAS-18001 (salud ocupacional).

- by Brian O'Neill
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- Management, Safety Engineering, Emergency Medicine, Public Administration

In the face of disaster, the affected population calls for the delivery of immediate aid and relief, but that can only be done with effective management. The goal of emergency relief organizations must therefore be to prioritize the improvement of operations through two overarching elements: logistics and the supply-chain. More so, the enhancement and reconceptualization of emergency logistics can potentially lead to better outcomes by extending current practice to a more integrated and appropriate process. To support this, the author of the following paper provides a comprehensive outline of logistics in disaster preparedness and relief. Relevant topics that are discussed include the role of humanitarian logistics, emergency organizations and past disasters, current models of emergency relief logistics, and its challenges and limitations. The author then proposes significant improvements through the appropriate integration of commercial/business logistics concepts and the implementation of solutions that other professionals have implicated. Overall, logistics and supply chain management can serve a vital role in the successful operation of relief agencies, bolstering the overall impact on the transition from crisis to development.

- by Lisa Elkins Goodman
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- Organizational Behavior, Management, Criminology, Criminal Law

Emergency management plays a significant role in the hospitality industry. Providing the highest levels of safety standards and security ensures good marketing for the hotels by preventing an accident
before it becomes a major issue causing loss of life and property. By using secondary data this study investigates the impacts of emergency management, safety and security systems on loss prevention
in the hotel industry. This study aims to explain the safety and security systems, information security used by hotels, and the importance of an updated emergency plan (checklist) when dealing with an
actual risk. The results of this study explain that using an effective information system and being well prepared for emergencies could prevent or minimize loss for the hotels. An effective system would
also forecast any possible accidents. The importance of continuous emergency training for the employees is also emphasized. Finally, a focus on good marketing tools for hotels to create a safe
environment for the guests and meeting planners is included.

The goals of the NCHRP Synthesis 44-12 report were to identify interactive emergency training tools and sources appropriate for the M&O field personnel of state DOTs and
PWs, identify obstacles to their implementation, and create a toolkit of relevant training and exercise information. The key focus for the synthesis is M&O field personnel, and the
target audience is their managers.

- by Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf
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- Psychology, Higher Education, Disaster Studies, Natural Hazards

The design and implementation of training exercises for emergency preparation and disaster response (EPDR) is similar to the design and implementation of training exercises for any other field but with one important difference. The increase in the incidence of disaster situations has grown exponentially over the last few decades as ever-growing populations find themselves in the path of weather extremes and facing terrorist/chemical/biological/nuclear hazards. The military, first responders and front-line emergency/disaster managers who deal with EPDR issues are expected to respond faster and more effectively, all while staying within budget. The issue of appropriate and effective EPDR training has taken on huge importance for staff tasked with protecting civilian populations. This report looks at the history and type of training processes available, beyond the commonly-used table top exercise and the time-consuming (though valuable) full-scale exercise.

- by Jane Dalley
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- Disaster Studies, Disaster Management, Emergency Management, Disaster Preparedness

- by Bruria Adini and +1
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- Emergency Medicine, Terrorism, International Terrorism, Data Mining

Cartography during emergencies takes an incredibly
strategic value of fundamental importance
for saving lives. But after is then forgotten without
implement what is classically defined benefit in
peacetime to be ready in time of war. The reflections
in this paper are derived from some of the
experiences accumulated in the field in urgent
technical rescue in emergency events that have
allowed us to highlight the important role that
geomatics plays in such situations.

- by Michele Fasolo and +1
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- Cartography, Fire and Emergency Services, Crisis Management, Disaster Management

One of the expected consequences of climate change is an increase in the frequency and intensity of weather extremes such as heat waves, droughts and large-scale bushfires. The possible escalation in the frequency and magnitude of resulting impacts has led to arguments that future strategies for emergency management should be based on achieving organizational and community resilience. However, relatively little is known about the limits to conventional emergency management approaches and factors leading to resilience. Drawing on the 2009 Victorian Bushfires as an analogue for a ‘more-severe-than-expected’ event likely under a future, changed climate, this paper analyzes the limits to emergency management approaches under unfamiliar conditions. Our assessment focuses on three organizations involved in the Victorian Bushfires emergency response. Results show how events which occur with unprecedented severity are well beyond the routine emergency management capacities of emergency organizations. We discuss how the long-term promotion of organizational and societal resilience could be achieved and outline implications for research and practice.

- by Martina Linnenluecke
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- Management, Fire and Emergency Services, Community Resilience, Resilience

The current study investigates the impact of several disasters and crises on Malaysian's hospitality and tourism industry. This study aims to review some attempts to investigate the impact of disasters, how emergency planning could mitigate these impacts, and how to recover from it. Furthermore, it will review the governmental statistics and Malaysia‘s growth rate during several man-made and natural disasters. This study evaluates the contribution of the Gross domestic product (GDP) in the Malaysian economy, then discusses its effects on tourist arrivals to Malaysia and analyse the occupancy rate during the disasters. The findings identify that hospitality and tourism sector in Malaysia has been affected by several natural and human made disasters. Most of the industry businesses reported a reactive preparedness rather than proactive emergency planning, with relying on the government planning to recover shortly from disasters. Strategies like increasing service quality, hotel renovation, tax reduction, cheap tour packages, and the important role of media should be used to recover from disasters. Unfortunately, emergency planning for the disaster has been a dereliction by industry key players.

- by Michael May
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- Safety Engineering, Semiotics, Ergonomics, Decision Making

Natural hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, storms, extreme temperatures, etc. can trigger fires, explosions and toxic or radioactive releases at hazardous installations and other infrastructures that process, store or transport dangerous substances. These technological secondary effects of natural hazard impacts are also called "Natech" accidents (from "natural hazard-triggered technological accident"). Natech accidents are frequent in the wake of natural disasters, and they have repeatedly had significant and long-term social, environmental and economic impacts (e.g. Krausmann and Cruz, 2013; Girgin, 2011; Krausmann, Cruz and Affeltranger, 2011; Godoy, 2007). It should be noted that Natech accidents can be triggered by any kind of natural hazard; a major natural hazard, like a strong earthquake or a hurricane, is not necessarily required to cause a Natech event. Recent studies highlighted that the specific aspects of Natech risk are unfortunately often overlooked in chemical accident prevention programmes and disaster risk reduction frameworks, causing Natech accidents to recur (Krausmann and Baranzini, 2012). This is compounded by the predicted increase of Natech risk as a result of worldwide industrialisation, climate change, population growth and community encroachment on natural hazard zones. This outlook has triggered initiatives that aim to close gaps in Natech risk reduction. For instance, the OECD Working Group on Chemical Accidents has recently produced a Natech Addendum to the OECD Guiding Principles on Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response (OECD, 2015). This chapter will introduce the problem of Natech risks with a focus on emergency planning and response. It will present major lessons learnt that were obtained from an in-depth analysis of Natech accidents in the European Commission's eNatech accident database (http://enatech.jrc.ec.europa.eu) and make recommendations on how to close remaining gaps. A comprehensive treatment of Natech risks and how to manage them is available in Krausmann, Cruz and Salzano (2017).

PROPUESTA MINISTERIO DE VIVIENDA Y URBANISMO 2015 - CHILE -

The goal of this chapter is to discuss the case of the Vesuvius Emergency Plan: this is the only risk prevention tool existing for the Neapolitan volcano. In 1995, Italian Civil Protection presented the long-awaited “National Emergency Plan” that organized the area into “zones” of danger (red, yellow and blue). This certification of the territory as “at risk” had a double effect. On one hand, it contributed changing the relationship with the places, as for the red zone that from area of building expansion became a non-building land; on the other hand, it modified the sense attributed to time: the catastrophe is no longer a hypothetical eventuality but, to some extent, has been officially announced. In 2001, the Emergency Plan was updated and the time slot needed to forecast an eruption was reduced from two to one week. Subsequently, in 2013, the red zone perimeter together with the twinning between its 24 municipalities and other regions of Italy were redefined. The main limit of the Plan is that, being only inspired by an emergency logic, it lacks any ecological approach that would guarantee a better risk reduction. Conversely, a planning of the future emergency, as well as the current management of the territory, should be the results of a constant listening process, the meeting points of a complex, heterogeneous and multi-vocal reality; planning, in other words, should be meant as a strategy able to learn from events and no longer as a pre-established program, aimed at anticipating all the moves.