Disaster Relief Agencies Research Articles

Social Media and the Public’s Involvement in the Disaster’s Narrative (Case Study: Bantul Regency, Indonesia)

This research aims to discuss the disaster narration during the PPKM period on the Bantul Regency's social media. This research uses the qualitative method from interviews and social media data analyzed by the Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQDS). The data were showcased in crosstab analysis and word cloud analysis. The result shows that 1 Bantul District has succeeded in building a community understanding of crises rather than increasing the reputation of actors. The narrative built through crisis knowledge created by the Regional Disaster Relief Agency (BPBD) Bantul Data and Information Center (Pusdalops) needs to be better informed. 2) Then, in the social media dimension of Twitter, COVID-19 data is only presented with updates without showing collaboration between actors. 3) public interaction on BPBD Bantul's Twitter social media was primarily positive, with 63% (supporting all parties in tackling COVID-19), damaging 21% (distrust in COVID-19 data), and neutral 11% (impartial). In word cloud analysis, the dominance of words often used as narratives is Bantul with 31 counts, followed by data, COVID-19, district PPKM, etc.

Public safety network design for broadband wireless access

Public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) agencies rely on wireless communications to respond in the event of emergencies. Public safety networks (PSNs) provide the wireless network used by emergency services. PSN is used to support push-to-talk services with some data transmission by employing land mobile radios. However, PPDR agencies are increasingly relying on additional information such as videos that require higher bandwidths. Therefore, many countries are transitioning or integrating their public safety networks with advanced broadband wireless communication systems such as fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) and planning to evolve to fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) in the future. The paper investigates infrastructure sharing mechanisms and deployment strategies in the transition of PSNs to a 4G LTE network, including a roadmap for cost analysis. Additionally, the paper examines LTE-based PSN deployment scenarios in various countries and engages in a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of different sharing mechanisms and coexistence schemes. Finally, the challenges within the Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN) are addressed and potential future research directions in this domain are deliberated.

Trend of The Utilization of COVID-19 Hotline as a Service Provider on Information Regarding COVID-19 in the Special Region of Yogyakarta

The number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) is still increasing every single day. One of the measures which can be taken to reduce the number of positive cases of COVID-19 is to provide credible and valid information services regarding the disease. The information provider service is in the form of an interactive hotline so that people can ask for more detailed information related to COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to identify the provision of information about COVID-19 through the COVID-19 Hotline in DIY and analyze its trend of the utility. The research method used is qualitative with descriptive analysis techniques. There are two types of COVID-19 hotlines operating in DIY managed by the Regional Disaster Relief Agency (BPBD) and the Health Office of DIY. The results obtained from this study are the trend of the number of COVID-19 Hotline users in DIY is fluctuative according to the situation and conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic in DIY. The information submitted to the BPBD DIY COVID-19 Hotline is general information related to the way of handling COVID-19. Meanwhile, more detailed health information and mechanisms for handling COVID-19 can be obtained through the COVID-19 Hotline of the DIY Health Office. Through this research, it can be concluded that the COVID-19 Hotline in DIY can provide the information that the community needs. The most asked category of information was related to health services regarding COVID-19. The trend of the utility of the COVID-19 Hotline can be seen through the spread of incoming calls. The largest number of users is in the city of Yogyakarta. This is due to the highest positive cases of COVID-19 in DIY are in the city of Yogyakarta, so the need for information related to the development of COVID-19 also increases. The difference in the number of COVID-19 calls in DIY in each regency can be caused by the COVID-19 Hotline service at the city and district levels as well.

The Role of Local Disaster Relief Agencies in Influencing Local Government to Make New Spatial Management Local Regulations in Pandeglang Regency

This study aimed to analyze the role of Local Disaster Relief Agencies (LDRA) in influencing the local government of Pandeglang Regency to amend previous regional regulations supporting disaster risk reduction. This research was conducted on the coast of the Sunda Strait, Pandeglang Regency, Banten Province, Indonesia, which was the site of the 2018 tsunami. A qualitative approach including in-depth interviews, direct observation on the field, and documentation based on the values, beliefs, and knowledge of thirteen informants was adopted to support tsunami risk studies by developing local regulations. The results revealed that 1) the utilization of the Sunda Strait coast is not prioritized in disaster risk reduction; 2) implementing the prescribed role as a facilitator between the government and the community and the enacted role based on the reality on the field by conducting a disaster risk study in Pandeglang Regency, where the tsunami disaster becomes a priority disaster to address. With these results, the government and House of Local Representative members can consider changing previous regional regulations into new regional regulations that support efforts to reduce the risk of a tsunami disaster. The practical implications of this research suggest that every LDRA in Indonesia should use the results of disaster risk studies that are tailored to regional disaster priorities to capture the attention of local governments and secure disaster programs to be executed effectively every year.

Content-based user classifier to uncover information exchange in disaster-motivated networks.

Disasters strike communities around the world, with a reduced time-frame for warning and action leaving behind high rates of damage, mortality, and years in rebuilding efforts. For the past decade, social media has indicated a positive role in communicating before, during, and after disasters. One important question that remained un-investigated is that whether social media efficiently connect affected individuals to disaster relief agencies, and if not, how AI models can use historical data from previous disasters to facilitate information exchange between the two groups. In this study, the BERT model is first fine-tuned using historical data and then it is used to classify the tweets associated with hurricanes Dorian and Harvey based on the type of information provided; and alongside, the network between users is constructed based on the retweets and replies on Twitter. Afterwards, some network metrics are used to measure the diffusion rate of each type of disaster-motivated information. The results show that the messages by disaster eyewitnesses get the least spread while the posts by governments and media have the highest diffusion rates through the network. Additionally, the “cautions and advice” messages get the most spread among other information types while “infrastructure and utilities” and “affected individuals” messages get the least diffusion even compared with “sympathy and support”. The analysis suggests that facilitating the propagation of information provided by affected individuals, using AI models, will be a valuable strategy to pursue in order to accelerate communication between affected individuals and survival groups during the disaster and aftermath.

Rural Older Adults in Disasters: A Study of Recovery From Hurricane Michael.

This study aims for a greater understanding of how older adults (age 65 and older) in Jackson County, Florida, are prepared for and cope with the effects of a natural disaster. A multidisciplinary, international research team developed a survey examining: (1) resources available to individuals aged 65+ in rural communities for preparing for a disaster; (2) challenges they face when experiencing a disaster; and (3) their physical, social, emotional, and financial needs when it strikes. The survey was administered with older adults (65+) in Jackson County, Florida, following Hurricane Michael in 2018. The descriptive, multivariate logistic, and linear regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between respondents' demographic information and needs, concerns, and consequences of disaster. Results indicated (n = 139) rural community-dwelling older adults rely on social support, community organizations, and trusted disaster relief agencies to prepare for and recover from disaster-related events. Such findings can be used to inform the development of new interventions, programs, policies, practices, and tools for emergency management and social service agencies to improve disaster preparedness and resiliency among older populations in rural communities.

Training of dual band HT-based emergency communication tools on member of KTB BPBD, yogyakarta

Currently, the development of communication technology is very advanced with the presence of cellular and internet technology. However, when there is a public security disturbance and in an emergency situation, cellular communication devices are very dependent on electricity sources and pulses to communicate. Besides, if a natural disaster occurs, the power source will go out and the cellular provider BTS will not function. Radio communication can be used as an adequate alternative technology in dealing with emergencies. Radio communication can be established using simple equipment such as HT (Hand Transceiver), transmitting antennas and repeater stations to extend the communication range. The advantages of radio communication are that it is easier to implement, economical, and has a wide coverage. Therefore, the purpose of this community service activity is to improve skills in using emergency communication tools and provide an understanding of Standard Operating Procedures on how to communicate in an emergency situation. The target of this activity includes members of the National Disaster Relief Agency (BPBD) at Yogyakarta City. There are 2 activities, namely radio frequency regulation and skills workshops using emergency communication tools (HT). The result of this community service activity is that the participants are skilled in communicating using HT in times of emergency.

남송중기 황간(黃榦)이 한양군(漢陽軍)에서 실시한 진휼(賑恤) - 그의 황정(荒政) 기록을 통해서 본 이곳 거주민의 모습 -

This article examines the relief works performed by Huang Gan who was a great Daoxue(道學) scholar as well as the local governor of the Hanyang prefecture in the mid-Southern Song period. Through this research, some significant discoveries about the local situations of the backward regions like the Hanyang prefecture and the local relief system during the Southern Song could have been made. Above all, the Hanyang prefecture had different relief system from the other regions then. While the Hanyang prefecture did not have any disaster relief agency like Yicang(義倉), the state-operating granaries like the Changpingcang(常平倉), which had usually played the role of the adjustment of grain prices in the regions, took over the role of the Yichang. When Huang took the post of prefect, a severe drought struck the region. Since it quickly revealed that the drought was beyond the limitations of Changpingcang, Huang established a new relief organization like the Baowu(保伍) system, an organization of mutual assistance by the local people. By allowing the local rich to provide the poor with the relief rice, the Southern Song government rewarded government posts to the rich as compensation instead. Through the Baowu system, in addition, Huang was able to grasp the exact circumstances of the damage with considerable efficiency. Not only as the local prefect but as a Daoxue scholar, on the other hand, Huang eventually succeeded in drought relief through establishing a local autonomous relief system like the Shecang(社倉) by Zhu Xi(朱熹)’s. Above of all, however, the most significant contribution of this research is that it kindly helped us to understand how the local government and local community could have coped with the severe disaster together during the Southern Song period.

Real-Time Production of PGA, PGV, Intensity, and Sa Shakemaps Using Dense MEMS-Based Sensors in Taiwan.

Using low-cost sensors to build a seismic network for earthquake early warning (EEW) and to generate shakemaps is a cost-effective way in the field of seismology. National Taiwan University (NTU) network employing 748 P-Alert sensors based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology is operational for almost the last 10 years. This instrumentation is capable of recording the strong ground motions of up to ± 2g and is dense enough to record the near-field ground motion. It has proven effective in generating EEW warnings and delivering real-time shakemaps to the concerned disaster relief agencies to mitigate the earthquake-affected regions. Before 2020, this instrumentation was used to plot peak ground acceleration (PGA) shakemaps only; however, recently it has been upgraded to generate the peak ground velocity (PGV), Central Weather Bureau (CWB) Intensity scale, and spectral acceleration (Sa) shakemaps at different periods as value-added products. After upgradation, the performance of the network was observed using the latest recorded earthquakes in the country. The experimental results in the present work demonstrate that the new parameters shakemaps added in the current work provide promising outputs, and are comparable with the shakemaps given by the official agency CWB. These shakemaps are helpful to delineate the earthquake-hit regions which in turn is required to assist the needy well in time to mitigate the seismic risk.

Improving communication resilience for effective disaster relief operations

The objective of this paper is to identify strategies to improve the resilience of interagency communication between relief organizations and the community when dealing with an emergency. This research draws from frameworks including information theory, organization design, and how the private sector has learned and evolved from the challenges of information flow to provide guidance to disaster relief agencies. During times of emergency, private organizations as well as public authorities must coordinate in real time to create an effective response. When coordination is absent, failure results, as was seen after Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti Earthquake. Using data that the authors collected immediately after these disasters, two case studies of systemic failure are presented to extract lessons that might be used to improve communication resilience through coordination between parties in humanitarian relief operations. Recent emergency response trends are identified, and the paper argues that the persistence of response failures is not surprising, in part because response organizations normally operate independently, and their operations evolve at different rates. As a result, the organizational interfaces that enable rapid integration during a disaster naturally degrade and may be weak or absent. Integrating the literature on information processing theory and organization design with the data from the two case studies, the paper proposes that increasing the resilience of disaster response systems can be achieved by (1) improving the interoperability and information flow across organizational boundaries; (2) increasing the synergies between organizations on adapting new technology such as social media for the coordination of structured and unstructured data for use in decision-making, and (3) increasing the flexibility of relief organizations to use external resources from areas not affected by disasters on an opportunistic basis. The paper concludes by discussing resilience enhancing solutions including boundary spanning investments and argues that effective emergency response does not result from sporadic or intermittent efforts but rather requires sustained investment, continuous monitoring, and data collection.

Policy Implementation in Realizing the Effectiveness of Disaster Management

A natural disaster is an undesirable event and it can happen anytime. The government should be present to decrease the consequences of natural disaster, so it is necessary to make public policy and coordination between government agencies to handle a natural disaster. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of the implementation of disaster management policy towards coordination between regional work units in realizing the effectiveness of disaster management. The research methodology used is a quantitative method with path analysis technique. The research was conducted in Regional Disaster Relief Agency of Garut District (Indonesia) with 73 respondents. The results showed that the disaster management policy has a positive and significant effect on the coordination between regional work units in realizing the effectiveness of disaster management. The research finding showed that the good implementation of policy can be performed through improving coordination between Regional Work Units to realize the effectiveness of disaster management.

Community Pharmacy Response in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters: Time-Sensitive Opportunity for Research and Evaluation.

One year ago, Hurricane Maria passed over the archipelago of Puerto Rico, leaving widespread disruption of nearly all human services, including the health care sector. In the aftermath of the hurricane, limited access to medical care and prescription medications presented a serious challenge to maintaining control of preexisting chronic diseases. Many patients did not have access to refrigeration for heat-sensitive medications. Significant dietary changes due to the limited availability of shelf-stable foods further exacerbated chronic conditions such as heart failure and diabetes. The role of community pharmacists following a natural disaster has previously been documented, and may include the triage of evacuees, assessment of immunization needs, and provision of prescription medications under a collaborative practice agreement. However, our experience in Puerto Rico demonstrated a variety of barriers limited pharmacists’ ability to adequately respond to the magnitude of this disaster. These included medication shortages, extended loss of power, and limited telecommunications for contacting prescribers, disaster relief agencies, and third-party payers. Ultimately, the lack of preexisting emergency protocols made overcoming such barriers difficult. As the first and sometimes only accessible health care provider to many patients following a natural disaster, we must build a solid evidence base and better understanding of the individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors that contribute to the community pharmacist response. To date, however, a paucity of data exists on both the pharmacist and patient factors, which may contribute to an effective immediate response to patient needs at the community pharmacy following a natural disaster. Future research must focus on these multi-level factors to better inform public policy and effective disaster planning. Ultimately, such research and planning will lead to increased resiliency in our primary health care systems in the face of future disasters.

Accurate Radiofrequency Identification Tracking in Smart City Railways by Using Drones

Smart traffic is one of the key pillars of a smart city infrastructure. In the near future, more and more automated shipping systems are going to be used, eliminating the human factor as a possible source of error. In other words, safe operation of automated systems is one of the most important tasks. The direct supply of smart cities and their industrial facilities is best served by road and rail freight and passenger transport. The spreading of laws and automated systems reduces the number of accidents, but it does not completely eliminate it. With regard to the railway disasters that have occurred in recent years, we have observed that the time between the accident and the start of the rescuing process and repair is one of the most important factors for a successful operation. The localization of railway accidents is often difficult or time-consuming due to field conditions. This time can be greatly reduced by a drastic system that helps the work of disaster relief agencies and conscripts. Trolleys and tankers are nowadays equipped with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) transponder to keep track of shipment movement. In this article we investigate what kind of assistance could a drone equipped with RFID reader and navigation infrastructure provide in case of a traffic accident or a disaster situation, with particular regard to the dangerous goods transported on a fixed track. The goal is to develop the application of a modern and innovative technology that can make a smart city more secure.

Ensure proper protocols when giving disaster aid directly to individuals, families

Following the back‐to‐back hurricanes that struck first Texas and then Florida and Puerto Rico in late August and September, many grantmakers were left scrambling to identify which disaster relief agencies to support first. With so much destruction and so many people impacted, the situation, for many foundations, called for extraordinary measures, including expanding their usual grant programs to include aid directly to those hit hardest by the storms—a move that can, in theory, speed up the process by bypassing the “middleman” relief agency.

Bushfire Disaster Monitoring System Using Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN)

Some applications, including disaster monitoring and recovery networks, use low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN). LPWAN sensors capture data bits and transmit them to public carrier networks (e.g., cellular networks) via dedicated gateways. One of the challenges encountered in disaster management scenarios revolves around the carry/forward sensed data and geographical location information dissemination to the disaster relief operatives (disaster relief agency; DRA) to identify, characterise, and prioritise the affected areas. There are network topology options to reach its destination, including cellular, circuit switched, and peer-to-peer networks. In the context of natural disaster prediction, it is vital to access geographical location data as well as the timestamp. This paper proposes the usage of Pseudo A Number (PAN), that is, the calling party address, which is used by every network to include the location information instead of the actual calling party address of the gateway in LPWAN. This PAN information can be further analysed by the DRA to identify the affected areas and predict the complications of the disaster impacts in addition to the past history of damages. This paper aims to propose a solution that can predict disaster proceedings based on propagation and the velocity of impact using vector calculation of the location data and the timestamp, which are transmitted by sensors through the PAN of the gateway in LPWAN.

KAPASITAS BPBD KABUPATEN BLORA DALAM PENANGGULANGAN BENCANA DAERAH

Blora is one of the areas in Central Java which is prone to disaster area. Potential disasters that may occur in Blora are drought, floods, landslides, whirlwinds and fires. This study aims to describe how the capacity of The Regional Disaster Relief Agency (BPBD) of Blora in regional disaster management area and know the constraints that exist in BPBD Blora in disaster management. This research use qualitative method, data source used is primary data and secondary data. The data will be analyzed by descriptive analysis method. The theoretical basis used is the theory of capacity assessment by Patton & Sawicky. Based on the analysis, it was found that The Regional Disaster Relief Agency (BPBD) of Blora deficient in terms of supporting infrastructure for disaster relief and infrastructure that is already available is need for rejuvenation, there is no human resources qualified in the field of disaster, there is no early warning system or often called the early warning system (EWS), which serves to provide warning of the hazard.

A Natural Response to a Natural Disaster: The Art of Crisis in Nepal (Une réponse naturelle à une catastrophe naturelle : art de crise au Népal)

ABSTRACTThis article explores the implementation and use of art therapy in the context of emergency and immediate post-emergency phases after a natural disaster. Skill sharing and support sessions were delivered to national and international mental health and well-being professionals living in Nepal both during and immediately after the devastating earthquakes in 2015. A range of sessions for children were offered within United Nations humanitarian disaster relief agencies, Child Friendly Spaces and other community-led initiatives. Through consultation with the local community, natural materials were incorporated into the therapeutic response to this natural disaster. There was an interest in whether working with natural media would support recovery and resilience, particularly through regaining control and reconnecting with the earth, the place we naturally call home. Potential benefits are discussed, drawing on wider art therapy literature and contemporary literature around working with the arts outdoors and working with natural media.

Peningkatan kinerja pelayanan publik melalui peningkatan motivasi spiritual

Officer's performance in Regional Disaster Relief Agency (Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah) Kebumen Regency, based on the existing data in the field, is not yet optimum. This circumstance was related to threefactors namely ability, working discipline, and spiritual motivation. This research aimed to analyze the influence of ability, working discipline, and spiritual motivation toward officers performance in BPBD of Kebumen Regency. The research method used was quantitative analysis, the data obtained by givingquestionnaire, answers were analyzed by multiple linier regression to determine the relations between independent variables: the ability, working discipline, and spiritual motivation with the dependent variable wasperformance. After analyzing three variables, it was found that performance of Civil Servant on Regional Disaster Management Agency Kebumen was good. The result showed that the ability (X1) influenced performance of Civil Servant on Regional Disaster Management Agency Kebumen with percentage of 37.7%;working discipline (X2) influenced performance of Civil Servant on Regional Disaster Management Agency Kebumen with percentage of 72.3%; spiritual motivation infuenced performance of Civil Servant on Regional Disaster Management Agency Kebumen up to 66.1%. The result also showed positive relations between three variables, as those variables were impactful in significant way. Finally; ability, working discipline and spiritual motivation influenced overall performance of Civil Servant on Regional Disaster Management Agency Kebumen up to 78.3%. It means that the greater level of ability, working discipline and spiritual motivation resulted to a greater level performance of Civil Servant on Regional Disaster Management Agency Kebumen, and vice versa.

Retrospection-Simulation-Revision: Approach to the Analysis of the Composition and Characteristics of Medical Waste at a Disaster Relief Site.

A large amount of medical waste is produced during disaster relief, posing a potential hazard to the habitat and the environment. A comprehensive understanding of the composition and characteristics of medical waste that requires management is one of the most basic steps in the development of a plan for medical waste management. Unfortunately, limited reliable information is available in the open literature on the characteristics of the medical waste that is generated at disaster relief sites. This paper discusses the analysis of the composition and characteristics of medical waste at a disaster relief site using the retrospection-simulation-revision method. For this study, we obtained 35 medical relief records of the Wenchuan Earthquake, Sichuan, May 2008 from a field cabin hospital. We first present a retrospective analysis of the relief medical records, and then, we simulate the medical waste generated in the affected areas. We ultimately determine the composition and characteristics of medical waste in the affected areas using untreated medical waste to revise the composition of the simulated medical waste. The results from 35 cases showed that the medical waste generated from disaster relief consists of the following: plastic (43.2%), biomass (26.3%), synthetic fiber (15.3%), rubber (6.6%), liquid (6.6%), inorganic salts (0.3%) and metals (1.7%). The bulk density of medical relief waste is 249 kg/m3, and the moisture content is 44.75%. The data should be provided to assist the collection, segregation, storage, transportation, disposal and contamination control of medical waste in affected areas. In this paper, we wish to introduce this research method of restoring the medical waste generated in disaster relief to readers and researchers. In addition, we hope more disaster relief agencies will become aware of the significance of medical case recording and storing. This may be very important for the environmental evaluation of medical waste in disaster areas, as well as for medical waste management and disposal.

Daily river level forecast based on the development of an artificial neural network case study in La Virginia - Risaralda

The municipality of La Virginia (Risaralda, Colombia) is constantly affected by fl oods that originate from increased water levels in the Cauca River. Disaster relief agencies do not currently have adequate monitoring systems to identify potential overfl ow events in time-series observations to prevent fl ood damage to homes or injury to the general population. In this paper, various simulation models are proposed for the prediction of fl ooding that contributes as a technical tool to the development and implementation of early warning systems to improve the responsiveness of disaster relief agencies. The models, which are based on artifi cial neural networks, take hydroclimatological information from different stations along the Cauca River Basin, and the trend indicates the average daily level of the river within the next 48 hours. This methodology can be easily applied to other urban areas exposed to fl ood risks in developing countries.