Disaster Relief Services Research Articles

Government disaster relief services and disaster conflict

This study aimed to determine whether disaster victims' satisfaction with the government's disaster relief services affects disaster conflicts. Subsequently, according to the type of disaster and scale of damage, differences in the impact of disaster relief services on disaster conflict were compared and analyzed. The analysis data are collected from 2311 disaster victims through the “establishment of safe service for disaster victims” by the National Disaster Management Research Institute affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in South Korea. A structural equation model and multi-group analysis were used to analyze the data, and the main analysis results are as follows. First, as quantitative and qualitative satisfaction with disaster relief services increased, trust in the government improved. Second, the higher the trust in the government as a disaster management entity, the lower the likelihood of experiencing conflicts with the government. The difference in the relationship between satisfaction with disaster relief services and disaster conflict was revealed according to the type of disaster experienced by the disaster victims and the scale of damage. This study fills the existing academic gap and expands academic externalities related to disaster management by verifying the effects of the aforementioned disaster relief services and conflicts between residents and the government.

Change to persist - The adaptation of European Red Cross societies to changing patterns of volunteering

Non-profit organizations active in disaster relief depend on the engagement of volunteers. Yet, society changes, and so do engagement patterns of volunteering. We examine in this paper how Red Cross societies across Europe perceive these processes and adapt to changes. As major aid organizations, Red Cross societies need to attract volunteers in various fields between disaster relief and social services. They are consequently particularly vulnerable to changes in volunteer engagement. Organizational learning is one way to mitigate this vulnerability by adapting to these changes. We analyze these organizational learning processes with a mixed-methods research design that embraces a quantitative survey as well as in-depth interviews with various Red Cross societies. The study, which refers to the 4I-Theory, demonstrates how perceived adaptation pressure is a key driver of organizational change. Red Cross societies experiencing this pressure spark an adaptation process, scrutinizing and potentially changing their structures and standards to stay the same regarding their essential characteristics.

Situation report (SITREP) visualization for effective management of disaster incidents in Sri Lanka

During and after any disaster, a situation report (SITREP) is prepared, based on the Daily Incident Updates (DIU), as an initial decision support information base. It is observed that the decision support system and best practices are not optimized through the available formal reporting on disaster incidents. The rapidly evolving situation, misunderstood terms, inaccurate data and delivery delays of DIU are challenges to the daily SITREP. Multiple stakeholders stipulated with different tasks should be properly understood for the SITREP to initiate relevant response tasks. To fill this research gap, this paper identifies the weaknesses of the current practice and discusses the upgrading of the incident-reporting process using a freely available software tool, enabling further visualization, and producing a comprehensive timely output to share among the stakeholders. In this case, “Power-BI” (a data visualization software) is used as a 360-degree view of useful metrics—in a single place, with real-time updates while being available on all devices for operational decision-making. When a dataset is transformed into several analytical reports and dashboards, it can be easily shared with the target users and action groups. This article analyzed two sources of data, namely the Disaster Management Center (DMC) and the National Disaster Relief Service Center (NDRSC) of Sri Lanka. Senior managers of disaster emergencies were interviewed and explored social media to develop a scheme of best practices for disaster reporting, starting from just before the occurrence, and following the unfolding sequence of the disasters. Using a variety of remotely acquired imageries, rapid mapping, grading, and delineating impacts of natural disasters, were made available to concerned users.

A quadrant shrinking heuristic for solving the dynamic multi-objective disaster response personnel routing and scheduling problem

In the aftermath of natural disasters there is a need to provide disaster relief services. These services are offered by diverse disaster relief personnel teams that are specialized in the provision of the required services, e.g., teams that set up temporary shelters, teams that are providing medical services. These services are provided during a rolling horizon and the demand and supply characteristics of the disaster relief system evolve dynamically over time. In this paper we are presenting a dynamic variant of the multi-objective disaster relief personnel routing and scheduling (DDRPRS) problem, which considers efficiency, fairness and transportation risk objectives. We introduce a Quadrant Shrinking Method (QSM) based heuristic algorithm to approximate the Pareto Optimal Solutions of the DDRPRS problem under consideration. The proposed algorithm considers the performance of the solutions over the entire planning horizon and their robustness over time in terms of their efficiency, fairness and transportation risk. We apply the proposed heuristic for routing and scheduling personnel involved in evacuation and medical operations using data from the 2018 Lombok Earthquake in Indonesia. Our heuristic implementation covers both the dynamic and static variants of the disaster relief personnel routing and scheduling problem. Computational results show that the proposed heuristic can generate in a short time sufficiently large number of Pareto Optimal Solutions which cover the entire Pareto frontier as indicated by the diverging behaviours of the Pareto Optimal Solutions and the associated hypervolume metrics.

DIGITAL CELLULAR TECHNOLOGIES AND GNSS WITH UAV IN SAR MISSIONS FOR PUBLIC PROTECTION AND DISASTER RELIEF SERVICES


 
 
 The objective of this paper is to analyze Digital Cellular Technologies (DCT) and European Global Navigation Satellite System (EGNSS)-Galileo with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in Search and Rescue (SAR) missions dedicated for Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) services. Using desk research methodology authors will evaluate current activities being done in SAR operations in PPDR services, such as police, firefighters, military based on the new technology solutions for SAR operations that support those forces to find trapped victims or fugitives quickly and effectively, thus, improving their time-to-reaction. In conclusion authors stated that the DCT mobile SAR system based on Galileo presents the most sophisticated technology and features that go beyond the state of the art taking into consideration operation safety, reliability and commercial costs in comparison to other systems.
 
 

Hearing Minority Voices: Institutional Discrimination Towards LGBTQ in Disaster and Recovery

Within the themes of CASCADE NET, this paper focusses on less heard voices and the need to develop new social spaces. Disaster vulnerability identifies diversity in society through a lens of constraints to solutions, on such bases as demography, socio-economic status, cultural, ethnic and gendered minorities within society, and marginalized groups as well as physical proximity to a hazard. The focus of disaster risk reduction is on building resilience through the strengths and capacities in society, but it has a tendency to homogenize characteristics of resilience to the community level, thereby flattening and hiding diversity. LGBTQ people are largely ignored as minority groups with specific information needs. Specific response and recovery processes and actors exacerbate the vulnerability of the LGBTQ minority, especially in evacuation, support, counselling, and rehousing. The role of faith-based organizations (FBO) in providing these services during disaster relief and recovery is examined in this paper. This paper identifies and critiques the attitudes and practices of some FBO towards LGBTQ groups in their provision of disaster relief services.

Queer and present danger: understanding the disparate impacts of disasters on LGBTQ+ communities.

LGBTQ+ communities comprise 16 million individuals in the United States, yet this population is often rendered invisible within disaster policies. Bias in federal disaster response programmes, a lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ families, and the prevalence of faith-based organisations in disaster relief services together heighten the risks that LGBTQ+ individuals face. This paper describes the ways in which this reality combines with the contextual vulnerability of LGBTQ+ communities, whereby existing inequalities and marginalisation are exacerbated during disasters and in their aftermath. As a result, the immediate trauma of a disaster, such as physical injury or the loss of loved ones or possessions, is compounded in multiple ways for LGBTQ+ individuals, making them less likely to benefit from disaster relief services. To address these inequalities, the paper concludes with a set of policy recommendations to inform prevention, mitigation, and recovery planning, as well as to reduce the impacts of disasters on LGBTQ+ individuals.

Common Cyber Situational Awareness: An Important Part of Modern Public Protection and Disaster Relief

European Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) services such as law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medical and disaster recovery services have recognized that the lack of interoperability of technical systems limit the cooperation between authorities. Also Finnish PPDR authorities and politicians have recognized the importance of a common situational awareness in preparation for the future. When the purpose is to work effectively towards a common goal or solve various challenges, accurate and reliable information as a basis for situational awareness is needed. Cyber situational awareness is the part of situational awareness which concerns the “cyber” environment. Such situational awareness can be reached, e.g., by the use of data from IT sensors that can be fed to a data fusion process or be interpreted directly by the decision-maker. This study was conducted on the ground by visiting situation and command centers located in the Turku area in Southwestern Finland. The Southwestern Finland Police department, the Southwest Finland Emergency Services, the Hospital District of Southwest Finland and the Finnish Border Guard in Turku have their own situation/ command centers. The main purpose of the study was to find out local level factors which affect to utilization of situational awareness system. The aim was also to research the level of preparedness in regional administration including local PPDR departments. The main results can be summarized so that the operational field work of the PPDR authorities should be more standardized so that implementing new technology would be profitable. The lack of cooperation between situation centers prevent to create common situational awareness. In the future, cyber situational awareness can play an important role in emergency and crisis management because the scene of PPDR will increasingly often be a cyber-physical system.

Optimal Throughput for Multicast over MANET-Satellite Networks

The convergence of MANET and satellite networks has been considered as one of the potential solutions to provide emergency communication and disaster relief services. However, unreliable MANET and satellite links may influence seriously to data transmission. In this paper, we study the application of packet-level coding for enhancing network throughput for multicast services over integrated MANET-satellite networks. First, we characterize the performance of multicast networks in terms of the probability of packet delivery under different packet-level codes. We then formulate and solve the coding optimization problem for typical values of computational resources at the network nodes given some target probability of successful delivery to the receivers. Finally, several simulation results show significant gains in the average achievable rate at the receivers with respect to routing for representative scenarios with different types of network devices given a strictly-high probability of successful delivery of the multicast networks. Furthermore, the devices with higher computational resources can obtain significantly better throughput gain.

Government Disaster Relief Services and Disaster Conflict

Government Disaster Relief Services and Disaster Conflict

Factors influencing emergency medical competencies of health centers and fire stations in areas that are vulnerable to earthquakes.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the emergency medical competency (EMC), perceived by the fire station and health center staff, in the areas where of emergency medical vulnerability where earthquakes had occurred.MethodsThis study was conducted between December 2019 and February 2020. A proper questionnaire was created to evaluate EMC in disaster situations and administered to the fire station and the health center groups. Descriptive variables of each group were calculated. The Kendall rank correlation analysis was used to measure the relationships between the demographic variables, disaster-related variables, and EMC. The factors influencing the EMC for both groups were investigated in the linear regression analysis.ResultsFor a total of 200 respondents, the mean scores of EMC were 99.85±21.24 and 95.24±20.05 for the fire station (n=96) and the health center (n=104) groups, respectively (P=0.121). EMC was significantly correlated with age, years of service, job position, natural disaster experience, disaster relief service experience, and joint disaster response exercise (P<0.050). Linear regression analysis revealed that the duration of joint disaster response exercise (β=0.640, t=11.696) in Model 1 (F=136.806, P<0.001), the duration of joint disaster response exercise (β=0.627, P<0.001), and disaster rescue service experience (β=0.124, P<0.001) in Model 2 (F=72.431, P<0.001) were independently associated with EMC improvement.ConclusionOur findings indicate that the disaster preparedness program with a longer duration of joint disaster response exercise and more frequent disaster rescue service experience is necessary for improved and systematic response to a disaster.

The Influence of Neighboring Jurisdictions Matters: Examining the Impact of Natural Disasters on Local Government Fiscal Accounts

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of natural disasters on emergency and disaster relief service (EDRS) expenditure in the governmental funds for sixty-six counties in the state of Florida between 2009 and 2013. Specifically, it will explore whether the fiscal responses of local governments in these fiscal accounts are spatially dependent by using the spatial Durbin model. It finds that EDRS expenditures in the general fund and in the special revenue fund of one county are influenced by the levels of damage in neighboring counties. This study also finds a spillover effect of intergovernmental revenues from state and federal governments on these EDRS expenditures in fiscal accounts. These results suggest that the provision of public goods (such as disaster relief activities) may generate spatial spillover at the local level in the context of US federalism. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of accounting for spatial factors in the study with respect to local jurisdictions’ fiscal reactions to natural disasters.

Multi-Period Maximal Covering Location Problem with Capacitated Facilities and Modules for Natural Disaster Relief Services

The paper aims to study a multi-period maximal covering location problem with the configuration of different types of facilities, as an extension of the classical maximal covering location problem (MCLP). The proposed model can have applications such as locating disaster relief facilities, hospitals, and chain supermarkets. The facilities are supposed to be comprised of various units, called the modules. The modules have different sizes and can transfer between facilities during the planning horizon according to demand variation. Both the facilities and modules are capacitated as a real-life fact. To solve the problem, two upper bounds—(LR1) and (LR2)—and Lagrangian decomposition (LD) are developed. Two lower bounds are computed from feasible solutions obtained from (LR1), (LR2), and (LD) and a novel heuristic algorithm. The results demonstrate that the LD method combined with the lower bound obtained from the developed heuristic method (LD-HLB) shows better performance and is preferred to solve both small- and large-scale problems in terms of bound tightness and efficiency especially for solving large-scale problems. The upper bounds and lower bounds generated by the solution procedures can be used as the profit approximation by the managerial executives in their decision-making process.

Environmental social work : accounting for women's tragedies in the face of climate change-induced disasters in Chimanimani District, Zimbabwe

This paper aimed to explore the repercussions of Cyclone Idai on women in Chimanimani District, Zimbabwe. There is a ubiquitous consensus in literature on gender and climate change that natural disasters have a different gender impact on men and women. In 2019, Zimbabwe was hit by torrential rains coupled with strong winds that triggered floods and mudslides, which resulted in loss of lives, displacements, destruction of infrastructure and disruption of livelihoods. This unprecedented disaster left some footprints of psychosocial distress, trauma, emotional malaise and health repercussions in the lives of its victims in Chimanimani where women were the hardest hit. The daunting impact of Cyclone Idai on women in Chimanimani falls within the context of the environmental social work practice where social workers foster healing and recovery, effective coping mechanisms and assessment of the aftermath of disasters to individuals and communities. This study was qualitative in nature, guided by the multi-case study design which operates within the traditional framework of exploratory research. A total number of twenty-five participants from Nyatanda and Pondo Rescue Camps comprising of women survivors of the disaster and social workers were purposively sampled to participate in the study. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were adopted as data collection methods. The findings were analysed through the thematic content analysis. This study established that the gendered impacts of Cyclone Idai on women received little attention in post-disaster assessment, recovery, evaluation and intervention. Nonetheless, this paper argues that in post-disaster analysis, women/girls should be identified as special populations at risk for disaster relief and recovery services and social workers have adequate expertise to execute such assignments.

Association between psychological morbidities and information provision, reliability, and satisfaction among disaster victims: A cross-sectional study

Providing information about disaster relief services and recovery processes reduces the damage from disasters and enables disaster victims to respond to disasters effectively. The present study aimed to clarify the associations between provision, reliability, satisfaction of information and satisfaction with media coverage and the risk of psychological morbidities (post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression, and anxiety). This was a cross-sectional survey - 1337 disaster victims who had experience of disasters within 2 years, such as earthquakes were enrolled in the 3rd Disaster Victims Panel Survey, 2018. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the associations between psychological morbidities and provision, reliability, and satisfaction of information. Reliability of information was assessed with a dichotomized variable and satisfaction with information or media was assessed 4 levels with ‘neutral’ by a single retrospective self-report item. The risks of depression (odds ratio [95% CI] = 1.478 [1.078–2.028]; p = 0.015) and anxiety (1.879 [1.262–2.798]; p = 0.002) were significantly higher in uninformed victims. Those who received reliable information were less likely to report depression (0.538 [0.381–0.758]; p < 0.001) and anxiety (0.362 [0.229–0.573]; p < 0.001), and those who received unreliable information were more likely to report PTSD (1.714 [1.045–2.810]; p = 0.033) and depression (1.742 [1.029–2.950]; p = 0.039). Satisfactory information was related to lower risks of depression (0.543 [0.380–0.778]; p = 0.001) and anxiety (0.352 [0.215–0.575]; p < 0.001). Disaster victims who were unsatisfied with media coverage had higher risks of PTSD (5.363 [3.672–7.833]; p < 0.001), depression (5.911 [3.377–10.347]; p < 0.001) and anxiety (5.840 [2.837–12.022]; p < 0.001). Providing information and providing reliable and satisfactory information might reduce the risk of psychological morbidities. Our results suggest that providing reliable and satisfactory information during disasters could reduce the psychiatric burden of disasters.

Cooperative unmanned aerial vehicles with privacy preserving deep vision for real-time object identification and tracking

Human tracking is an important challenge in a wide variety of applications, including but not limited to, surveillance, military operations, and disaster relief services. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) allow the surveying of dangerous or impassable areas from a safe distance. They also provide a machine-based capability, which may not only solve resource constraint issues, but can also improve effectiveness and efficiency in the tracking task. The effectiveness of tracking is directly related to the angle of view and degree of freedom of the camera system. In this paper, we introduce a decentralized, distributed deep learning algorithm for Real-Time Privacy-preserving Target Tracking Re-Identification (RPTT-ReID) used by cooperative UAVs in complex and adversarial environments involving motion, crowded scenes, and varied camera angles. The efficiency of RPTT-ReID makes it amenable to edge computing applications. The proposed algorithmic approach resolves shortfalls with current tracking algorithms, specifically challenges in maintaining tracking when subjects cross paths, switch identity, or are occluded in a frame of view. We demonstrate the power of our approach both in single and multi-UAV scenarios to track movable targets by extracting the facial embedding information in crowds, in order to ensure the privacy of individuals captured by the UAVs without compromising the capability for target re-identification. We validate RPTT-ReID on a challenging video dataset of crowded scenes. Our experimental evaluation shows that the proposed approach is capable of tracking and re-identifying people in crowds despite blended trajectories with minimum and maximum accuracy of 79.91 ± 0.2% and 93.27 ± 0.1% respectively. The proposed approach is 18% faster than previous methods for tracking in crowded urban environments.

Supporting Disaster Relief Efforts Internationally: A Call to Counseling Psychologists

The increased occurrence of natural and human-made disasters has led to a greater call for culturally sensitive engagement in disaster mental health. In this article, we aim to stimulate culturally focused participation and competence among counseling psychologists who engage in disaster mental health work. Framed within an ecological and systemic interaction of individual, cultural, community, and structural factors, the article is based on two cross-cultural competency models emphasizing, cultural intelligence, language proficiency, cognitive complexity and flexibility, and highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, in the planning and delivery of disaster relief services. In particular, we address (a) specific cultural challenges, (b) skills and competencies needed, and (c) recommendations for online resources, that are relevant to counseling psychologists who seek to promote emotional resiliency in individuals and communities impacted by a disaster.

The construction and implementation of disaster relief medical teaching system

To cultivate a strong comprehensive ability and literacy of the rescue medical talent, our school built a one popular two professional three open trinity of the teaching system, opened the first aid course for freshmen and set up basic disaster rescue medicine professional courses for the senior medical students. Three student volunteer service teams carried out first aid training for the social population. The teaching system was combined with a disaster relief knowledge, ability and professional accomplishment and carried out multi-form disaster rescue simulation scenarios practice teaching, disaster relief school teaching and service society combined, which were all the characteristics of this teaching system. After five years of practice, medical students' disaster relief capacity and quality improved significantly. Key words: Disaster rescue; Teaching system; Medical students

Breaking Rules to be Compassionate: The ‘Skillful Means’ of Buddhist Relief after the Wenchuan Earthquake Disaster

In the aftermath of the 2008 Great Wenchuan Earthquake, China, the ancient Buddhist Luohan Monastery became an important locus for disaster relief services. This included becoming a temporary maternity ward as the nearby hospital was badly damaged. This paper examines the monastery's relief efforts as a case of socially engaged Buddhism. It pays particular attention to the ways in which the head monk of the monastery, Shi Suquan, negotiated tensions between responding to the desperate needs of nearby residents and long-standing religious rules and taboos which, on the surface at least, stood in opposition to certain forms of relief practices. The paper argues that he used Buddhist doctrines, particularly the Mahāyāna concept of ‘skillful means,’ to renegotiate the taboos by privileging the ethical imperative of compassionate action.

Have I Ever Done Anything Like This Before? Older Adults Solving Ill-Defined Problems in Intensive Volunteering.

This study examined the ways in which individuals over 50 years old solved problems while volunteering in intensive humanitarian and disaster relief service. Thirty-seven men and women in the sample were sponsored by three religious organizations well known for providing humanitarian and disaster relief service. Semistructured interviews yielded data that were analyzed qualitatively, using McCracken's five-step process for analysis. We found that volunteers used three different abilities to solve problems: drawing upon experience to create strategies, maintaining emotional stability in the midst of trying circumstances, and applying strategies in a context-sensitive manner. These findings illustrate that these factors, which are comparable to those used in solving everyday problems, are unique in the way they are applied to intensive volunteering. The volunteers' sharing of knowledge, experience, and support with each other were also noticeable in their accounts of their service. This sharing contributed strongly to their sense of emotional stability and effectiveness in solving problems.