Disaster Relief Agencies Research Articles

Community Partnerships: Teaching Volunteerism, Emergency Preparedness and Awarding Red Cross Certificates in Nursing School Curricula

Natural, manmade disasters and disease outbreaks are an international experience. Effective response to a public health emergency hinges on a well-prepared interdisciplinary team. Yet nursing school faculty are often perplexed about how to best teach these valuable skills. Based on The American Red Cross Student Nurses Education Model, this presentation will review and demonstrate effective methods to improve workforce capacity and core skills. More than 1,000 nursing students from all over the United States took the American Red Cross Pilot Course designed by Dr. Cheryl Schmidt and her colleagues. As the program expands, hundreds, and potentially thousands, of nursing students will be better prepared to serve as disaster volunteers. The program presented in this article is based on Dr. Schmidt's and Nowak's research. It reviews teaching strategies that were evaluated using an experimental design examining disaster preparedness skill formation and partnerships with volunteer disaster relief agencies. Results indicated that students, when taught by a brief integrated format, will effectively learn core disaster nursing skills and enlist in disaster volunteer efforts.

The Price of Being Beautiful: Negative Effects of Attractiveness on Empathy for Children in Need

The research examines how the attractiveness of children in need affects the empathy they evoke and the subsequent help they receive from unrelated adults. The authors find that attractive children are attributed desirable characteristics related to social competence, which is consistent with the “beautiful is good” stereotype. Ironically, the authors find that these attributions reduce the empathy evoked by attractive children and the help they receive from unrelated adults as long as their need is not severe. These effects are demonstrated in four experiments. The research identifies a significant cost of being beautiful and an important exception to the beautiful is good stereotype. The results also have practical implications for how children are portrayed in promotional materials for disaster relief agencies, children's hospitals, and other charities.

Flood extent mapping for Namibia using change detection and thresholding with SAR

A new method for flood detection change detection and thresholding (CDAT) was used with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery to delineate the extent of flooding for the Chobe floodplain in the Caprivi region of Namibia. This region experiences annual seasonal flooding and has seen a recent renewal of severe flooding after a long dry period in the 1990s. Flooding in this area has caused loss of life and livelihoods for the surrounding communities and has caught the attention of disaster relief agencies. There is a need for flood extent mapping techniques that can be used to process images quickly, providing near real-time flooding information to relief agencies. ENVISAT/ASAR and Radarsat-2 images were acquired for several flooding seasons from February 2008 to March 2013. The CDAT method was used to determine flooding from these images and includes the use of image subtraction, decision-based classification with threshold values, and segmentation of SAR images. The total extent of flooding determined for 2009, 2011 and 2012 was about 542 km2, 720 km2, and 673 km2 respectively. Pixels determined to be flooded in vegetation were typically <0.5% of the entire scene, with the exception of 2009 where the detection of flooding in vegetation was much greater (almost one third of the total flooded area). The time to maximum flooding for the 2013 flood season was determined to be about 27 days. Landsat water classification was used to compare the results from the new CDAT with SAR method; the results show good spatial agreement with Landsat scenes.

The role of intermodal transportation in humanitarian supply chains

After a natural or man-made disaster, effective and efficient disaster relief support is needed. People affected by disasters should be moved from impacted areas, and staff and disaster relief supplies need to be moved to affected destinations in a timely manner. Disaster relief supply chains facilitate the transportation of personnel and supplies that directly affect the humanitarian aid performance. Utilizing appropriate transportation modes in the relief chain is critical to maintain effective relief operations. The main objective of this study is to identify the role of intermodal transportation and related decision making in disaster relief transportation. This objective will be achieved through the following specific aims: identify and assess the current response operations; determine how, if at all, and why humanitarian organizations utilize different modes of transportation to move goods and personnel effectively and efficiently when responding to and recovering from disasters; and identify factors that will potentially enhance the attractiveness of using intermodal transportation. To achieve these aims, two rounds of interviews were conducted first, and second, a large-scale online survey was distributed. Data analysis found that intermodal transportation is not frequently used in disaster relief operations. Decision makers in disaster relief agencies consider multiple factors when choosing transportation modes, but among the factors identified by participants, travel distance was the transportation mode considered most often, regardless of whether supplies or people were being transported. Finally, the organizations that cover larger areas and preposition supplies in their relief operations tend to use intermodal transportation more frequently.

Developing supply chains in disaster relief operations through cross‐sector socially oriented collaborations: a theoretical model

PurposeThis study seeks to provide insights into corporate achievements in supply chain management (SCM) and logistics management and to detail how they might help disaster agencies. The authors aim to highlight and identify current practices, particularities, and challenges in disaster relief supply chains.Design/methodology/approachBoth SCM and logistics management literature and examples drawn from real‐life cases inform the development of the theoretical model.FindingsThe theoretical, dual‐cycle model that focuses on the key missions of disaster relief agencies: first, prevention and planning and, second, response and recovery. Three major contributions are offered: a concise representation of current practices and particularities of disaster relief supply chains compared with commercial SCM; challenges and barriers to the development of more efficient SCM practices, classified into learning, strategising, and coordinating and measurement issues; and a simple, functional model for understanding how collaborations between corporations and disaster relief agencies might help relief agencies meet SCM challenges.Research limitations/implicationsThe study does not address culture‐clash related considerations. Rather than representing the entire scope of real‐life situations and practices, the analysis relies on key assumptions to help conceptualise collaborative paths.Practical implicationsThe study provides specific insights into how corporations might help improve the SCM practices by disaster relief agencies that continue to function without SCM professional expertise, tools, or staff.Originality/valueThe paper shows that sharing supply chain and logistics expertise, technology, and infrastructure with relief agencies could be a way for corporations to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship. Collaborations between corporations and disaster agencies offer significant potential benefits.

Expert Systems for Earthquake Damage Assessment

An earthquake is a calamity that can cause colossal damage to buildings, infrastructure, and environment, consequently leading to heavy casualties. It is therefore imperative for disaster relief agencies and civil protection bodies to assess the damage for planning purposes. Satellite remote sensing and geographic information systems can help prepare initial damage assessment maps. This examines the preparation of damage assessment maps using decision tree-based expert systems. The inductive machine learning-based decision tree classification has correctly identified 61% of the severely damaged buildings, and hence, is a viable option for preparing damage assessment maps.

A Tsunami Related Tetanus Epidemic in Aceh, Indonesia

In January 2005, a tetanus epidemic was discovered amongst survivors of the Boxing Day Tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia. Our aim was to describe the extent of the tetanus outbreak in tsunami survivors admitted and describe the case outcomes from one hospital. All clinicians were instructed to report suspected cases to a centralised organisation using a standardised data collection tool. Active case finding was carried out by a trained team that visited hospital wards in Aceh. Of the 106 cases, 79% was above 25 years old (the median age was 40 years) and 62% was male. The mortality rate in Aceh was 19% and that of in follow up cases was 17%. Fifteen of the follow-up cases were admitted with severe tetanus associated with superficial wounds, three of whom had a history of immersion. Supplies to treat the tetanus cases in this epidemic were initially limited as disaster relief agencies were not prepared for the resultant tetanus epidemic. The mortality rate of 17%, was significantly less than was usual for tetanus in adults (>50%) and children (80%) in underdeveloped countries. To reduce mortality and morbidity, rapid disaster relief organisations should include supplies for vaccination and treatment of tetanus cases and consider early tracheotomy for severe cases.

A conceptual framework to evaluate performance of non-profit social service organisations

The objective of this research is to provide a conceptual framework that can be used for the design and implementation of an integrated performance measurement system for non-profit service providers in general and in particular for disaster relief agencies. This conceptual framework contains four main dimensions of performance, i.e., revenue generation, capacity creation, customer satisfaction and outcome achievement. Lastly, a modelling approach that can be used to formulate and analyse the data collected through this system using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) (Charnes et al., 1978) is proposed. DEA performance measures will consider the operating environment and elicit quantitative best practices. The conceptual framework, analytical and modelling approaches address a void on the literature given that several programme and performance evaluation initiatives that have been launched in the past do not offer a solution as to how to evaluate different performance dimensions relevant for the sector.

Finding Milton Wright

This research project uses a case study to deconstruct public relations campaigns conducted by disaster relief organizations following the presidentially declared disaster for flooding in Kentucky in the spring of 2003. It is an attempt to show how public relations campaigns are a part of the social construction of disaster. It explores the resulting cultural product of public relations texts and how older populations are directly impacted by institutional values regarding trauma and disasters. It indicates that the origin of trauma for elderly people after disasters does not seem to come from the flood, but from an inability to change the vulnerabilities that come with advanced age, or the sense of social isolation felt from lack of communication on the part of a social support network and disaster relief agencies.

A Mental Health Program for Ground Zero Rescue and Recovery Workers: Cases and Observations

A Mental Health Program for Ground Zero Rescue and Recovery Workers: Cases and Observations

A word from the editor

Welcome to the third volume and first issue of 2005 for the ACM Computers in Entertainment online magazine! In this issue we publish seven interesting papers on entertainment technologies, including animation, games, interactive TV, storytelling, and artificial intelligence. The article on inverse kinematics was voted the best paper and presentation at the Second International Game Design and Technology Workshop, held last September at Liverpools John Moores University. To begin, the Interviews column features video interviews with three of our distinguished advisory board members: Bill Kinder, Elisabeth Freeman, and Eric Freeman. Bill Kinder, Director of Editorial and Postproduction at the Pixar Animation Studios, talks about the new technology for the Pixar movies "The Incredibles (2004)" and "Cars (2006)", digital cinema, home theater, and animation. Elisabeth and Eric Freeman, authors and computer scientists, discuss digital rights management, movies on demand, disruptive technology, and their new book, Head First Design Patterns (O'Reilly, 2004). In the Animation section, Michael Meredith and Steve Maddock (University of Sheffield) present a technique that enhances an inverse kinematics solver such that when the results are applied to a computer character, they can generate a level of individualization tailored to both the character and the environment, e.g. a walking motion can become "stiffer" or can be turned into a limping motion. The article is accompanied by four exciting videos that demonstrate the authors techniques. Bill Tomlinson (University of California, Irvine) describes the differences between linear animation and interactive animation in several areas of character design: character intelligence, emotional expressiveness, navigation, transitions among animations, and multi-character interaction. In the Games section, Jesse Schell (Carnegie Mellon University) explores the common principles that underlie both story- and game-based entertainment. He argues that with the advent of computer games, story and gameplay, two age-old enterprises with very different sets of rules, are showing a similar phenomenon to the "wave-particle" duality in the physical world. Bride Mallon and Brian Webb (Queens University of Belfast) report results from a series of empirical studies exploring narrative dimensions of adventure and role-play in computer-game design. A phenomenological, reader-response methodology was used in their studies to identify narrative considerations appropriate to the game-players experiences. In the Interactive Television section, Lydia Loizides (Paphion Inc. &amp; National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) dispels the mistruths and misconceptions in the media concerning interactive TV. She shows some examples of advancement that iTV has made over the past decade, and ponders how quickly the industry can embrace and deploy interactive applications that will ultimately make watching television a more relevant and satisfying experience for the viewer. In the Book Reviews column, Georgios N. Yannakakis (University of Southern Denmark) reviews the book AI Game Development: Synthetic Creatures with Learning and Reactive Behaviors by Alex J. Champandard (New Riders, 2004). The book attempts to bridge the current gap between artificial intelligence research in academia and computer game development in industry. The language-independent open-source project FEAR (Flexible Embodied Animat aRchitecture http://fear.sourceforge.net/) is used extensively in the book for demos and examples. Edgar A. Maldonado and Joseph A. Zupko (The Pennsylvania State University) review the book Interactive Storytelling: Techniques for 21st Century Fiction by Andrew S. Glassner (A K Peters, 2004). The book analyzes games and storytelling, and describes the principal problems that developers face in their attempts to merge these two activities into an interactive form of entertainment. It would be interesting to compare and contrast the book and Jesse Schells paper "Understanding Entertainment: Story and Gameplay Are One" published in this issue. Last but not least, we join the world in expressing our deep sorrows and sympathy for the earthquake and tsunami victims in many parts of Asia and east Africa. We support the United Nations Childrens Fund www.unicefusa.org, the American Red Cross www.redcross.org, and other disaster relief agencies. The meaning of life for human beings is to serve one another for the survival of humanity and the advancement of civilization. Thank you for your continuing support. Please enjoy this exciting issue of the magazine. Sincerely, Newton Lee Editor-in-Chief ACM Computers in Entertainment Los Angeles— January 2005

Epidemiologic research and disasters.

INTRODUCTIONDisasters present a unique challenge for the epidemiologicresearch community. Disasters are almost always unexpect-ed and their aftermath is typically characterized by a strainon existing infrastructure and resources. These are not theconditions under which the epidemiologic research com-munity typically thrives. However, disasters by definitionaffect large numbers of people and a growing body ofevidence suggests that the consequences of disasters caninclude multiple health conditions (e.g., cardiovascular dis-ease, respiratory disease, mental health problems), can befar-reaching, and long-lasting (1–3). Although publichealth departments and federal organizations such as theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) providethe first-line of evaluation and intervention after suchevents, these agencies are typically overwhelmed by theimmediate needs after a mass disaster leaving much thatneeds to be done. The epidemiologic research communitythen has a unique role it can play after disasters, augmentingthe work of public health practitioners. To do so, epi-demiologists must identify the most acute areas where theycan be of assistance, build on existing resources, and designandimplement studies much more quickly thanis typical forepidemiologic work. In this commentary we present exam-ples from our own experience designing studies in theaftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks inNew York City and offer suggestions about the role aca-demic epidemiologists can fruitfully play after disasters.THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 TERRORIST ATTACKSIn the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,government and disaster relief agencies started offeringservices to the persons who were most directly affected bythe disaster, including those surviving and evacuating theimmediate zone of destruction, first responders, and thefamilies of the missing. However, for many weeks afterthe disaster, the magnitude of its effects remained unknownand best estimates were subject to continual revision. Froma public health point of view, it quickly became evident thatthere were three primary questions that warranted rapidassessment soon after the attacks: determining the impact ofthe attacks on those in and around Ground Zero, assessingthe potential impact of the smoke plume from the burningWorld Trade Center towers in the metropolitan area, anddocumenting the psychological consequences of the attacksin the general population.THE WORK OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMYOF MEDICINEIn the first few days after the attack, in consultation with theCommissioner of the New York City Department of Health,we decided that the best use of our skills and resources wouldbe to assess the psychological impact of the disaster on thepopulation.OtherresearchteamsthroughouttheCitystartedto tackle issues related to the persons in and around GroundZero and to the environmental consequences of the plume.We generated research aims, focusing on assessing theprevalence and correlates of symptoms of post-traumaticstress disorder (PTSD), panic attacks, depression, substanceuse and abuse,andsomatic complaints in the general popula-tion with a particular focus on these symptoms in specificgroups, such as ethnic minorities and children. Optimisticthat telephone communications would be restored quickly,we decided to use random digit phone survey methodologybased on our previous experience with the technique and theability of telephone surveys to efficiently sample the generalpopulation.Wedevelopedacollaborationwithresearchersatthe Medical University of South Carolina who had prior ex-perience in post-disaster research. A protocol was submittedfor institutional review board approval and the decision wasmade to have two-tiered mental health backup available,includingpsychiatristsavailableonpagertoofferassistancetosurvey respondents assessed to require immediate attention.Trainingofinterviewersandapilottestrefinedthesurvey(4).Withnoclearfundinginplace,westakedourcorefundingongetting the project started and applied for an administrativesupplement from existing National Institutes of Health(NIH) grants. We obtained partial funding through an NIHsupplement to an existing grant and from a foundation daysbefore the first survey started 5 weeks after the disaster.SUMMARY OF RESULTS DOCUMENTED INOUR WORK THUS FAROur first assessment showed that we were able to recruita sample that mirrored the 2000 Census and that 7.5% of

The compPAC Ventilator: Experience in Nepal

The compPAC is a new type of ventilator that is becoming popular with disaster-relief agencies around the world. Previous models were designed principally for resuscitation; however, with new refinements, the current model is particularly suitable for anesthesia in the field and other locations with limited resources. The safe use of the ventilator in these settings depends on an appreciation of the clinical issues relating to the conduct of anesthetic and practical issues such as equipment compatibility.

Estimating Watershed Level Flood Damage in the Red River Valley of the North

Flood damage estimates for two subwatersheds of the Red River Valley were found to be deficient in terms of availability, accuracy, and geographic detail. Data manipulation strategies were used to improve the quality of flood damage estimates in the two watersheds between 1989 and 1998. Extrapolating previous agricultural flood damage estimates for specific years based on hydrologic data increased such estimates by 340% in the Maple Watershed, North Dakota and by 200% in the Wild Rice Watershed, Minnesota. Conversely, identifying the township location of nonagricultural flood damage payments by FEMA along with a simple population based adjustment of other county level nonagricultural damage in each watershed, reduced nonagricultural flood damage estimates by 80% in the Maple Watershed and by 27% in the Wild Rice Watershed. It is recommended that disaster relief agencies increase the geographical specificity of their damage payment data. Until then, the data manipulation procedures of this present study have the potential to improve the temporal and spatial accuracy of watershed level flood damage estimates.

Disaster Mental Health Services

Disaster Mental Health Services

Assessment and quantification of hurricane induced damage to houses

Significant costs to the public and private sectors due to recent extreme wind events have motivated the need for systematic post-hurricane damage data collection and analysis. Current post disaster data are collected by many different interested groups such as government agencies, voluntary disaster relief agencies, representatives of media companies, academicians and companies in the private sector. Each group has an interest in a particular type of data. However, members of each group collect data using different techniques. This disparity in data is not conducive to quantifying damage data and, therefore, inhibits the statistical and spatial description of damage and comparisons of damage among different extreme wind events. The data collection does not allow comparisons of data or results of analyses within a group and also prohibits comparison of damage data and information among different groups. Typically, analyses of data from a given event lead to different conclusion depending upon the definition of damage used by individual investigators and the type of data collected making it difficult for members of groups to compare the results of their analyses with a common language and basis. A formal method of data collection and analysis-within any single group-would allow comparisons to be made among different individuals, hazardous events and eventually among different groups, thus facilitating the management and reduction of damage due to future disaster. This research introduces a definition of damage to single family dwellings, and a common method of data collection and analysis suited for groups interested in regional characterization of damage. The current state-of-data is presented and a method for data collection is recommended based on these existing data collection methods. A fixed-scale damage index is proposed to consider the damage to a dwelling's feature. Finally, the damage index is applied to three dwellings damaged by Hurricane Iniki (1992). The damage index reflects the reduced functionality of a structure as a single family detached dwelling and provides a means to evaluate regional damage due to a single event or to compare damage due to events of different severity. Evaluation of the damage index and the data available support recommendation for future data collection efforts.

Satisfaction with relief agencies during Hurricanes Erin and Opal.

From a larger study, ratings of satisfaction with disaster relief agencies in the aftermath of Hurricanes Erin and Opal showed high satisfaction from services provided by the American Red Cross/Salvation Army and somewhat lower ratings for the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 167 residents and business owners in the Florida Panhandle.

SATISFACTION WITH RELIEF AGENCIES DURING HURRICANES ERIN AND OPAL

From a larger study, ratings of satisfaction with disaster relief agencies in the aftermath of Hurricanes Erin and Opal showed high satisfaction from services provided by the American Red Cross/Salvation Army and somewhat lower ratings for the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 167 residents and business owners in the Florida Panhandle.

Have skills, will travel. Engineers for disaster relief

Disaster relief agencies are increasingly aware of their need for skilled engineers. Ensuring that such skills are available is the objective of the Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief

The Evolution and Structure of Natural Hazard Policies

Crises have always played a role in policy formation,' but the entire structure of disaster response was crisisdriven. When a disaster struck, people acted. Society's attitude toward natural disasters was fatalistic: they were part of nature's order, something that had to be accepted as part of life. Consequently, management of such events was not seen as part of the proper role for government. Until 1950, the Red Cross, a largely volunteer organization operating under federal charter, was the primary disaster relief agency. It was also the major source of funds for disaster recovery. Today, a very different system of disaster policy exists. With the passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936, Congress embarked upan a path of natural hazard control that has extended to the present, attempting to use the latest developments in science, engineering, and planning to prevent disasters or lessen their impact should they occur. The Disaster Relief Act of 1950 set in motion the first comprehensive, nationwide system of disaster response and relief. Yet, nearly one-half century after the first permanent disaster legislation was enacted, many basic policy questions remain to be answered: