Disaster Management Structures Research Articles

Medication supply chain resilience during disasters: exploration of causes, strategies, and consequences applying Strauss and Corbin's approach to the grounded theory

BackgroundDue to the importance of procurement of medicines and medical supplies during disasters and the significance of an existing resilient supply chain, the present study aimed to explore the causes, strategies, and consequences of the medication supply chain resilience during the Kermanshah, Iran, earthquake experience in 2018.MethodsThis was a qualitative study based on the grounded theory method. The suggested approach by Strauss and Corbin was used. Thirty-two in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted via theoretical sampling, and data were saturated. Open-ended and probing questions were used, and all the interviews were recorded with the prior permission of the participants. Field notes and memoing were also used along with the interviews. Transcribed data were analyzed in three levels of open coding, selective, and axial coding by two researchers with sufficient reflexivity without any conflict of interest.ResultsThe results led to the identification of eight main categories, including "Disaster Management Structure", "Information Management", "Supply Chain Monitoring", "Socio-Cultural Factors", "Planning", "Resource Management", "Medical Service Coverage", and "Waste of time and resources". According to Strauss and Corbin's model, socio-cultural factors and inappropriate structures and planning related to the health system during disasters may waste time and resources.Conclusions"Waste of time and resources” during disasters can be considered the main determinant that can damage the resilience of the medication supply chain. Policymakers need to seek applied strategies for decreasing waste. Socio-cultural interventions, preparedness of information infrastructures and coordination among the stewards and the community during disasters can help the supply chain preserve its resilience and act more effectively.

The COVID-19 response and accountability in South Africa.

South Africa is a country that has undergone massive societal changes in the last 30 years. At the time coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) struck, the country was still facing challenges in terms of inequality and the disaster vulnerability of its population. During COVID-19, the provision of lifesaving personal protective equipment and other resources was marred by corruption and failings of the governmental officials. At the same time, the complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic required operational changes in the public health and disaster risk management systems. This study provides an overview of the public service accountability legislation and framework. Flexibility of the disaster management structures at the local government level and flexible information sharing as well as cooperation of all relevant stakeholders are critical for efficient management of the coronavirus pandemic and the maintenance of accountability in that space. Those experiences are captured at local and district municipality levels in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Best practices and lessons should be taken forward and identified.

An IoE blockchain-based network knowledge management model for resilient disaster frameworks

The disaster area is a constantly changing environment, which can make it challenging to distribute supplies effectively. The lack of accurate information about the required goods and potential bottlenecks in the distribution process can be detrimental. The success of a response network is dependent on collaboration, coordination, sovereignty, and equal distribution of relief resources. To facilitate these interactions and improve knowledge of supply chain operations, a reliable and dynamic logistic system is essential. This study proposes the integration of blockchain technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the Internet of Everything (IoE) into the disaster management structure. The proposed disaster response model aims to reduce response times and ensure the secure and timely distribution of goods. The hyper-connected disaster supply network is modeled through a concrete implementation on the Network Simulation (NS2) platform. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method yields significant improvements in several key performance metrics. Specifically, it achieved more than a 30% improvement in the successful migration of tasks, a 17% reduction in errors, a 15% reduction in delays, and a 9% reduction in energy consumption.

The Revolution in the Iranian Disaster Management System in Controlling COVID-19 Pandemic

Managing the disastrous consequences of pandemics depends on the capacity of the governments to mitigate them. As the health system in Iran was undertaking economic issues because of sanctions, the government has been forced to make major and urgent decisions while anticipating the economic, social, and political effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, Iran has integrated all critical sections of the community to provide a unified command structure to involve all stakeholders. In this regard, we present a disaster management structure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. We hope to provide information on the advantages that might change disaster management structure in pandemics.

Long-term impact of the Galtuer avalanche on the public health system.

On February 23, 1999, an avalanche buried large parts of the village of Galtuer Austria, killing 31 people. The purpose of this paper is to examine the longer-term impact of this avalanche on the public health system. For the case study, we used a mixed-method approach consisting of a document study and expert interviews with people who were involved in the disaster-management operations. Many long-term changes were undertaken in the context of infrastructural measures, disaster-management structures, and coordination and cooperation within the existing system to protect people and property as well as to provide important information for decision makers. The investigation reveals the importance of situational approaches to the post-disaster phase depending on the recovery needs of those affected. Moreover, the value of social capital in a disaster situation is emphasized.

Taiwan’s Experience in Disaster Coordination

Taiwan is located on the earthquake-prone circum-Pacific belt and seasonal typhoon impact zone. Given Taiwan’s large population and high urban density, disasters can have serious consequences on its economy, environment, and public health. This paper traces the evolution of Taiwan’s disaster management system into its current framework under the national Disaster Prevention and Response Act and examines the coordination experiences across different actors in involved in disaster response. Through two case studies, Typhoon Morakot and the Formosa Fun Coast Dust Explosion incident, this paper investigates the coordination that occurred in the various phases of disaster management and indicates coordination successes and failures, as well as factors leading to coordination breakdowns in the response stage of the two cases. These factors include unclear responsibilities for mobilization, lack of real-time information systems sharing across sectors, ineffective communication mechanism, inadequate disaster management structure, and lack of disaster drills/exercises for integrating multiple organizations. Understanding how coordination successes and breakdowns occur will provide useful learning points on which future policy changes and education can improve.

The institutionalization of mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies in Indonesia

The paper probes how Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for emergencies (MHPSS) has been institutionalized in a disaster-prone country. Using Indonesia as a case study, the article lays down the various MHPSS-related institutions and systems (legal frameworks, policies, processes, and programs) that were constituted at different levels of governance in Indonesia as part of its disaster management structures. It examines how these institutions and systems were made to operate in the Central Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) disasters of 2018. Furthermore, factors that facilitated or hindered the effective functioning of the MHPSS system are discussed. The findings of this research are based on secondary data and primary data collected through interviews and focus group discussions with various national and local government and non-government stakeholders involved in disaster response, including field visits in the two provinces. The paper contends that the Indonesian Government has established necessary national disaster management institutions and structures with local counterparts, where MHPSS structures have been integrated. It also discusses crucial intervention programs delivered to survivors of the two provincial disasters, which the paper asserts conform to the integrated support systems prescribed by the IASC that include basic services and security, community and family support (family reunification, psychosocial support, and community rituals) focused non-specialized services (PFA, psychological intervention, and basic mental health care), and specialized services (referral services to clinical and non-clinical service providers). Lastly, the paper argues that a confluence of administrative, logistical, organizational, resource, supply, human resource, and contextual factors have either hindered or facilitated the functionality of the MHPSS systems in place, which explains the varying levels of efficiency of the MHPSS responses in the two provinces.

Analysis of Susceptibilities, Capacities of Local Communities, Disaster Management Structures, Policies and Institutions in Pakistan: A case of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)

Azad Jammu and Kashmir is among the major disaster-prone areas of Pakistan. Disasters largely affect people resulting in loss of economy. Therefore, disaster risk reduction mechanism at community level is essential to minimize damage. The objective of this paper is two folds. Firstly, it analyzes the institutional framework in Pakistan for disaster management and specific disaster management policies. Secondly, this paper was designed to develop an in-depth understanding of the key challenges that the communities of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan face in the wake of constantly reoccurring disasters. This paper is based on field visits. House-hold surveys, observations, key informant interviews and group discussions were conducted to analyze the preparedness, both at community and organizational levels. The findings point out that disaster management policies and mechanisms regarding preparedness are not implemented by both federal and state authorities at local level. Further, the local communities of AJK, Pakistan are susceptible to different kind of hazards related to disasters. The paper reveals that available federal/state mechanism of disasters do not meet the needs of community. All of the stakeholders that include federal government institutions, state government institutions and local communities are not prepared. Thus, communities are continuously getting affected by natural disasters. The paper suggests that there is a dire need to improve the coordination between state and national agencies. Further, there is need to enhance community preparedness specifically in AJK, Pakistan to upgrade community’s defensive and awareness mechanism to safeguard citizens’ lives in response to seismic emergency.

Event news detection and citizens community structure for disaster management in social networks

PurposeNowadays, the event detection is so important in gathering news from social media. Indeed, it is widely employed by journalists to generate early alerts of reported stories. In order to incorporate available data on social media into a news story, journalists must manually process, compile and verify the news content within a very short time span. Despite its utility and importance, this process is time-consuming and labor-intensive for media organizations. Because of the afore-mentioned reason and as social media provides an essential source of data used as a support for professional journalists, the purpose of this paper is to propose the citizen clustering technique which allows the community of journalists and media professionals to document news during crises.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop, in this study, an approach for natural hazard events news detection and danger citizen’ groups clustering based on three major steps. In the first stage, the authors present a pipeline of several natural language processing tasks: event trigger detection, applied to recuperate potential event triggers; named entity recognition, used for the detection and recognition of event participants related to the extracted event triggers; and, ultimately, a dependency analysis between all the extracted data. Analyzing the ambiguity and the vagueness of similarity of news plays a key role in event detection. This issue was ignored in traditional event detection techniques. To this end, in the second step of our approach, the authors apply fuzzy sets techniques on these extracted events to enhance the clustering quality and remove the vagueness of the extracted information. Then, the defined degree of citizens’ danger is injected as input to the introduced citizens clustering method in order to detect citizens’ communities with close disaster degrees.FindingsEmpirical results indicate that homogeneous and compact citizen’ clusters can be detected using the suggested event detection method. It can also be observed that event news can be analyzed efficiently using the fuzzy theory. In addition, the proposed visualization process plays a crucial role in data journalism, as it is used to analyze event news, as well as in the final presentation of detected danger citizens’ clusters.Originality/valueThe introduced citizens clustering method is profitable for journalists and editors to better judge the veracity of social media content, navigate the overwhelming, identify eyewitnesses and contextualize the event. The empirical analysis results illustrate the efficiency of the developed method for both real and artificial networks.

Disaster Management Structure of Universities: Case Study of the Central Campus of the University of Tehran.

Research on the disaster management plans of renowned universities worldwide shows that such plans are generally compiled in 3 categories: structural, nonstructural, and organizational sections. The importance of earthquakes in Tehran and the high vulnerability of the University of Tehran to earthquakes encouraged us to challenge the university's plans concerning disaster management. An initial attempt was made to analyze the disaster management of 23 renowned universities worldwide and their structure compared with the present organizational structure of the University of Tehran. Then an expert opinion study was done to determine the appropriate management structure of the Incident Command System. These efforts resulted in an adhocratic system as the proper one for emergency situations after an earthquake. Furthermore, the results of the comparative study led to a general management structure that may be considered as a global pattern. An appropriate organizational structure is proposed for the disaster management of the University of Tehran, which may be used as an appropriate disaster management structure for other universities. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:681-693).

Effects of SMART Tunnel Maintenance Works on Flood Control and Traffic Flow

SMART was the light in the tunnel to end devastating floods at Kuala Lumpur City Centre. SMART refers to “Storm-water Management and Road Tunnel.” Completed in the year 2007, this iconic structure is the longest multipurpose water storm tunnel in the world. The 3 kilometers motor way is part of the 9.7 kilometers water tunnel constructed to reduce risk of food by diverting water during flash flood and to alleviate the heavy traffic during peak hours at Jalan Loke Yew, Pudu flyover and Sungai Besi areas. It is a unique and innovative disaster management structure and created with a designed maintenance system to support its purposes. This research work has been carried out to investigate the effects of SMART tunnel maintenance works on flooding and traffic flow. Data have been drawn from records and simple statistical method were used to analyze them. Ten respondents were interviewed to verify and validate the results. The study found that SMART Tunnel maintenance works has positive significant effects on flood occurrences and has no significant association with traffic flow. This research offers the reason of improving maintenance works of SMART Tunnel to enable its optimum utilization its purposes of flood occurrences and traffic flow at Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

Investigation of Crisis Management Structure of the Selected Countries with an Emphasis on Natural Disasters Using Multi-Case Study Method

<p>Since Iran is regarded as a high risky country in terms of natural disasters, it is essential to pay attention to the crisis management agendas. One of the approaches used for disaster management is a community-based approach. This paper aims to take a positive step in direction of optimal disaster management, by studying and investigating the disaster management structures of both developed and developing countries in terms of climate and occurrence of disaster similarities between target countries (U.S.A, Canada, Japan, turkey, India, Pakistan) and Islamic republic of Iran, by adopting the comparative study method. The findings indicate that there is an authenticity between type and extent of development and decentralized structure of the disaster management; as a result the decentralized structure provides a required arena for comprehensive participation at various levels. The social capability subjected to the dangers will be increased in confronting disasters and society recover to the prior state will be boosted, if authorities can establish a balance between provincial, city, district and rural capacities and potentials usage of Iran and planning in all cycles of disaster management and decentralized structure.</p>

Learning from the past

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical analysis of the disaster management structure, policies and institutions in Pakistan between 1947 and 2005, and highlights the contemporary challenges in view of the learning from the past.Design/methodology/approach– The paper uses a historic-integrative case study approach to disaster management and risk reduction policy, planning and practice. Qualitative data were collected through purposive sampling and a case study design was adopted. A broad range of actors was recruited as research participants. In total, 22 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted in relation to this study in six different districts of Pakistan to achieve insight into the role of different institutions and stakeholders.Findings– Overall, the post-colonial flood-centric policy framework and fragmented responsibilities of different disaster management institutions show the lack of an effective institutional structure for disaster management and mitigation in Pakistan, particularly at the local level. Until the event of the 2005 earthquake, policies heavily relied on attaining immediate and short-term goals of response and relief while ignoring the long-term objectives of strategic planning for prevention and preparedness as well as capacity building and empowerment of local institutions and communities.Practical implications– The analysis explains, in part, why disaster planning and management needs to be given due attention in the developing countries at different policy scales (from local to national) especially in the face of limited resources, and what measures should be taken to improve effectiveness at different phases of the disaster management cycle.Originality/value– The paper advances the importance of a historical case study approach to disaster management and mitigation. The empirical work provides original research evidence about the approaches to dealing with disasters in Pakistan and thus enriches existing knowledge of disaster management policy and planning about the country.

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

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.

Managing the Limbe Floods: Considerations for Disaster Risk Reduction in Cameroon

Cameroon has recorded disasters, both natural and man-made, in the past. The coastal city of Limbe and many other geographical locations are potential sites for future disasters. On the basis of interviews and related primary and secondary literature, this article looks at past occurrences of floods in Limbe, particularly those of 2001, and how the state and local authorities managed the challenge. Through this, it attempts an evaluation of state policies and the institutional structure for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and management in the country. The study reveals that Cameroon does not have a national disaster management structure and a national platform for DRR. Disaster related activities are lumped together with other civil protection responsibilities of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (MINATD) despite the country’s commitment to the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015. Government interventions are more reactive than proactive although its strategy to disaster management indicates both disaster preparedness and emergency intervention and rehabilitation. The study concludes that the present strategy is bureaucratic, financially burdensome, and does not really achieve the essential goals of DRR in saving lives and reducing vulnerability. For DRR to be effective in Cameroon, a permanent disaster management unit with regional and local structures should be put in place independent of other branches of the Department of Disaster and Emergency Services of MINATD and with each level exercising a significant degree of operative autonomy. A national policy and framework with emphasis on DRR should be adopted in the country.

Progress or repetition? Gender perspectives in disaster management in Japan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review research on gender and disasters in Japan, from the Kobe Earthquake to the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). Gender perspectives were not adequately considered immediately after these disasters. Rather, disasters reinforced the gender roles prevalent in Japanese society. The paper seeks ways to position gender perspectives into mainstream thought on disaster management in Japan. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was conducted of secondary Japanese sources including peer-reviewed and non-academic journals published by governmental and non-governmental organisations after the Kobe, Niigata Chuetsu, and GEJEs. Popularly searched keywords were the Japanese for “gender” or “women”, and “disasters”. Findings – A review of the published literature indicated that gender-related issues experienced during the Kobe Earthquake in 1995 and the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake in 2004 were repeated following the GEJE in 2011. Japan has experienced numerous disasters; thus, the importance of gender perspectives has been gradually recognised and has received increased attention after the GEJE. This paper emphasises that these should be embedded at policy level and within disaster management structures to create disaster resilient communities. Originality/value – To date, not much research in Japan, and none published in English, has reviewed gender- and disaster-related issues.

Disability and public shelter in emergencies

This paper reviews current practice regarding people with disabilities in public (or communal) emergency shelter management. It shows that provision for disabled people generally fails to meet their needs and describes the main problem areas. These problems are set in the context of management and staff failings as well as underlying weaknesses in disaster management structures as a whole. The latter include outdated attitudes towards disability, the invisibility of people with disabilities to emergency officials and relief workers and misguided assumptions about the capacities of disabled people and their organizations to manage and respond to crises. The paper concludes with suggestions about how these challenges might be overcome.

Earthquake‐disaster preparedness: the case of Accra

Purpose – Accra, the capital of Ghana is far away from major earthquake zones of the world, but has a history of destructive earthquakes. However, its seismic risk does not attract the requisite attention. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of Accra's seismic risk, discuss challenges faced and risk‐reduction initiatives, and then to propose specific strategies that are necessary to reduce this risk.Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken is to: give an overview of Accra's profile and seismicity; discuss disaster management structures in place and the challenges faced; discuss seismic risk‐reduction programs; discuss the risk‐reduction strategies of two cities in other developing countries, with the view of identifying specific strategies that would be helpful to Accra; and conclude with specific risk‐reduction action measures that are important for Accra.Findings – A number of specific recommendations to reduce Accra's seismic risk are made at the end of the paper. Among these, the ...

Floods and health in Gambella region, Ethiopia: a qualitative assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of coping mechanisms

Background: Floods are the most frequent and devastating type of natural disaster worldwide, causing unprecedented deaths, diseases, and destruction of property and crops. Flooding has a greater impact in developing countries due to lack of sufficient disaster management structures and a lack of economic resources.Objective: This study was conducted with the aim of contributing to the knowledge base of development strategies that reduce flood-related health risks in developing countries. The study focused particularly on assessing the flood risks and health-related issues in the Gambella region of Ethiopia; with the intent of producing relevant information to assist with the improvements in the efficacy of the current flood coping strategies in the region.Methods: Data were gathered through interviews with 14 officers from different government and non-governmental organizations and a questionnaire survey given to 35 flood victims in Itang woreda. A qualitative approach was applied and the data were analyzed using content analysis.Results: It was found that flooding is a common problem in Gambella region. The findings also indicate that the flood frequency and magnitude has increased rapidly during the last decade. The increase in floods was driven mainly by climate change and changes in land use, specifically deforestation. The reported main impacts of flooding on human health in Gambella region were deaths, injuries, and diseases such as malaria and diarrhea. Another notable consequence of flooding was crop destruction and subsequent malnutrition.Conclusions: Three weaknesses that were identified in the current coping strategies for flood-related health impacts in Gambella region were a lack of flood-specific policy, absence of risk assessment, and weak institutional capacity. This study recommends new policy approaches that will increase the effectiveness of the current flood coping strategies to sustainably address the impact of flooding on human health.