Level Of Disaster Preparedness Research Articles

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES OF STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS IN ILOLO: BASIS OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

This research was conducted to determine the disaster risk reduction management capabilities of the State Universities and Colleges and Local Government Units in the Province of Iloilo and formulate a development program based on the result. A total of 160 respondents were involved in this study. In gathering the needed data, a valid and reliable researcher-made instrument in the form of a questionnaire checklist was utilized considering all the variables included in the study. The data gathered were analyzed using the mean, the-Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney set at a .05 alpha level of significance. The findings revealed that the disaster preparedness, disaster response, prevention and mitigation, and rehabilitation and recovery of the four State Universities and Colleges as a whole and classified as an institution was “very satisfactory” while the Local Government Units as a whole and classified as to location was “excellent.”
 Significant differences existed in the disaster preparedness, disaster response, prevention, mitigation, and rehabilitation and recovery capability levels of the SUCs classified as to institution and LGUs classified as to location. The State Universities and Colleges and Local Government Units’ capability levels in disaster preparedness and disaster response were significantly different while no significant differences in prevention and mitigation and rehabilitation and recovery were found. The challenges encountered by residents during disasters were inadequate.
 
 Keywords:
 DRRM, Universities, Colleges, LGU

Evaluating the level of disaster preparedness of Tunisian University Hospitals using the Hospital Safety Index: a nationwide cross-sectional study.

Mid-way through the 'Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030', many nations are spending time, money and effort to enhance their level of preparedness facing disasters, on the other hand communities, countries and even continents are being left behind. This study was conducted aiming at evaluating the level of disaster preparedness and response of Tunisian University Hospitals. This is a cross-sectional nationwide study conducted in Tunisia, from November 2020 to April 2021. Including 9 Tunisian University Hospitals and using the Hospital Safety Index. The data were analysed using the 'Module and safety index calculator'. This study showed that 7 out of the 9 University Hospitals were assigned the 'B' category of safety with overall safety indexes that ranges between 0.37 and 0.62. Also, 4 out of 9 University Hospitals had safety scores less than 0.20 regarding their emergency and disaster management. This is the first study to evaluate disaster preparedness and response of university hospitals in Tunisia and in north Africa. It showed that the lack of knowledge, resources and willingness, are the most important issues that needs to be addressed in order to enhance the preparedness of Tunisian hospitals.

Disaster (Un)preparedness under cyclone Idai: Revisiting women activities in water and sanitation at tongogara refugee camp, Zimbabwe

Disasters and crises have been part of the human experience since time immemorial. They may be unpredictable, but important steps can be taken before a disaster occurs to minimize the threat of damage. This study seeks to explore the level of disaster (un)preparedness through women activities in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme during Cyclone Idai at Tongogara Refugee Camp (TRC) in Chipinge, Zimbabwe. The study argues that refugee women, more than men, were more vulnerable to the effects of Cyclone Idai due to unequal distribution of the scarce WASH facilities at the camp. Drawing on the findings from qualitative research where data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observations, women were found to be more susceptible to the impacts of Cyclone Idai than men, due to inequity in resource distribution. Using a feminist political ecology framework to analyze the role of women during disasters, the study identified five themes; gender equality, access to WASH, health, decision making and participation that helped to show the state of preparedness and response by women. The results reveal a high level of unpreparedness on the part of the government in implementing disaster mitigation measures as very little was done in the pre-Cyclone Idai disaster period in terms of training and information dissemination at TRC. The study concludes that in emergency situations, women are more exposed than men, hence the need for a gender sensitive response strategy.

Utilizing Flat Coil-Based Vibration Sensor on A Bamboo Drum as Disaster Preparedness Media For Students

People's awareness of earthquakes is very deficient, and their earthquake mitigation is also relatively scant. The research objectives are: 1) Designing a flat coil-based vibration sensor on a Security Pos Drums as a Disaster preparedness media for Muhammadiyah Elementary School students; 2) Analyzing how high the level of disaster preparedness for Muhammadiyah Elementary School students through a flat coil-based vibration sensor on the Security Post Drums. This study uses two methods, i.e., 1) The experimental method was used to design the flat coil-based vibration sensor installed on the Security Post Drums. The vibration frequency measured by the flat coil sensor is the low frequency. The Security Post Drums work by striking it once or more, and then the vibration propagates to the sensor so the siren will blare; and 2) Qualitative and quantitative method used to measure students' preparedness in Muhammadiyah Elementary School. The samples applied are 26 students taken by random sampling method. The data on students' preparedness was collected using a questionnaire instrument. The research variable of the preparedness consisted of 5 aspects, i.e., 1) knowledge on types of disasters; 2) steps taken at the beginning of a disaster; 3) steps undertaken right after the disaster occurred; 4) materials need to prepared when disaster struck, and 5) preparedness in dealing disaster. The assessment was carried out using the Likert scale. The results of this research are 1) the disaster preparedness media for Aisyiyah Elementary School students has been designed in a flat coil-based sensor integrated with security post drums); 2) the level of disaster preparedness for Aisyiyah Elementary School students increased. This improvement was indicated that the posttest score (ranges from 60 until 68.18) was more significant than the pretest score (ranges from 49 until 58) on the overall five aspects.

Bangladeshi nursing students' perceived preparedness and readiness for disaster management

This study assesses Bangladeshi nursing students' perceived preparedness and readiness for disaster management activities and examines the influencing factors for the disaster readiness of the students. A self-administered descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among nursing students of eight nursing education institutes and hospitals in Dhaka city using the modified Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) in Bengali (the lingua frank in the country). Three hundred and eighty respondents' data were analyzed using SPSS 25 software. Overall, student nurses' perceived levels of disaster preparedness (mean = 3.12; SD = 0.59), disaster response-ability (mean = 3.65; SD = 0.60), and disaster recovery-ability (mean = 3.45; SD = 0.69) were moderate; however, their perceived readiness for disaster management was low. The levels of disaster preparedness were significantly higher in respondents of public nursing institutes than in the respondents of private nursing institutes (p = 0.006). In addition, significant moderate positive correlations were found among the respondents' disaster preparedness, response-ability, and recovery-ability scores (p ≤ 0.01). Moreover, ordinal logit regression analysis showed that disaster response-ability (OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.27–3.05), disaster recovery-ability (OR = 1.59; 95% CI: 1.10–2.29), and gender (OR = 1.90; 95% CI: 1.10–3.28) had a statistically significant influence on the readiness for disaster management of the nursing students. Furthermore, more than half of the respondents recommended more workshops and training on disaster management to increase their disaster management capacity. In addition, one-fourth of them suggested more drills and practical knowledge for enhancing their disaster management capacity. As tomorrow's frontline health workers, student nurses should be well prepared and ready to effectively manage future disasters and emergencies in Bangladesh.

Disaster Preparedness and Sensitivity Level among Higher Education Institution Students

Disaster preparedness is an important factor that plays a major role in diminishing the causalities in case of any disasters. In the Philippines, Davao Region also frequently experiences various disasters due to geological, morphological, and climate characteristics. Earthquakes, flooding, and landslides are the premise fields of these disasters. Furthermore, devastating earthquakes and floods that are seen as a result of global climate change shaved to significant loss of both life and property in the region. It is imperative to increase the knowledge and attitude of people regarding natural and man-made disasters in order to make them able to cope with their adverse effects. In this paper, an attempt has been made to access the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of college students in the region. Results revealed the need to highlight the need for disaster safety education among students. Descriptive statistics are used in the analysis and evaluation of the data. By revealing the level of awareness at the higher education level, the result of the study could be a potential basis for disaster mitigation education intervention that includes relevant topics on disaster preparedness and resiliency. Results revealed that an information source repertoire has to be strengthened and reconsidered to meet information insufficiencies and explore more structural factors to address the gap as it is evident in the result that the students who have taken disaster training are reported to have more positive opinions compared to those who have none.

Nurses' knowledge levels and preparedness for disasters: A systematic review

ObjectiveNurses, who play a key role in disasters, should be sufficiently prepared and have good knowledge in responding to disasters to reduce the negative consequences on the population affected by disasters as disasters increase globally. The study aimed to investigate the results of peer-reviewed publications that measure nurses' level of knowledge and preparedness for disasters. MethodThe systematic review model was used in this study. Scientific studies on disaster preparedness of nurses in Turkish and English between 2015-and 2019 were systematically examined. Sciencedirect, Ulakbim and Medline/PubMed databases were used for the literature search. In the study, the keywords ‘disaster’, ‘disaster preparedness', ‘disaster competencies', ‘disaster nursing’, ‘disaster information’ and ‘nurse’ was searched. Seventeen (17) research articles conducted with nurses suitable for the study were included and analyzed. ResultsStudies commonly report that nurses are not sufficiently prepared for disasters and are not confident in responding to disasters effectively. It was seen that the factors that increase the preparedness for disaster response are previous disaster response experience and disaster-related education level. ConclusionThe results of this systematic review show that it is necessary to develop better education and training programs to strengthen the knowledge and skills of nurses, especially in disaster preparedness.

Youth Volunteering for Disaster Preparedness in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

The increasing number of disaster in Malaysia has resulted in the increasing demand for volunteers. The needs for volunteers is to ensure the disaster management system can operate well during emergency breaks. This study aimed on youth’s volunteerism for disaster preparedness in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The 240 respondents for this research are youths whom live in Port Dickson with the range age between 15-35 years old. Convenience and Purposive Sampling techniques were used with questionnaire as the instrument. To answer the research questions, Correlation and Regression Analysis were conducted. Based on the research findings, the level of disaster preparedness among youths is at moderate point. The other variables tested namely as education, altruism, personal development, social interaction and family volunteering show there is significant relationship in improving the level of volunteerism among youth for disaster preparedness. The result show that education as the most contributors to youth’s volunteerism for disaster preparedness. This summarize that in ensuring high level of youth involvement, all parties must work together to educate the youngsters on the importance of volunteering to prepare for disaster breaks. It will help to strengthen the disaster support system as the youths are well prepared for emergency time. The result from this research will benefited the policy makers, national security and disaster agencies and NGOs and related parties in term of developing volunteerism enthusiastic among youths in Malaysia.

The Levels of Physician Disaster Preparedness Based on the Tsunami Vulnerability Zones in Banda Aceh

Disasters caused by natural hazards may harm the health sector. It needs physician preparedness as a significant step in disaster risk reduction efforts and is expected to obtain an adequate response when a disaster occurs. This study aimed to determine the level of physician preparedness at the public health center (PHC) to face a tsunami caused by an earthquake based on the vulnerability zones. This research method is observational analytic with a cross-sectional design using a questionnaire developed by LIPI-UNESCO/ISDR adjusted to the core competencies and sub-competencies for disaster medicine and public health. The samples were collected in total sampling. The results show that most respondents have a preparedness index with categories almost prepare and not prepare, each of 12 respondents from a total of 42 people who participated in this study (28.56%). The physician from zone III has the best preparedness, and the physician from zone I are at least prepared for disasters. Statistical analysis using the Kruskal Wallis test obtained p-value 0.646 (p 0.05). The conclusion was found that there was no significant difference between the levels of physician preparedness at the PHC facing tsunami disasters based on the tsunami vulnerability zone in Banda Aceh.

Level of emergency and disaster preparedness of public hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.

From time to time, the magnitude and type of health emergencies and disasters are increasing. Hospital emergency and disaster preparedness, on the other hand, is still in its early stages in many low- and middle-income countries. In Ethiopia, research on hospital disaster preparedness is severely limited. As a result, the purpose of this study was to determine the level of hospital emergency and disaster preparedness at public hospitals in the east Gojjam zone of Northwest Ethiopia. A census method was used to include ten hospitals in the East Gojjam zone in a cross-sectional descriptive study. An adopted World Health Organization observation checklist was used to assess disaster and emergency preparedness. Each question was assigned a score out of three points, with one indicating low readiness and three indicating the highest level of preparation. Finally, the level of preparedness was classified as "low" if the average percentage score ranged from 33.3% to 66.6 %, and as "high" if the percentage score ranged from 66.7 % to 100 %. The results were then presented in the form of texts, tables, and percentages. The evaluated hospitals' overall level of emergency and disaster preparedness falls into the low category, with an average calculated preparedness score of 54.75 %. The domain with the lowest preparedness is logistics and finance (43.33 %), while the domain with the highest preparedness is patient care and support services (60 %). According to the findings of this study, the level of emergency and disaster preparedness in the hospitals studied is low. It is therefore recommended that the ministry of health, regional health bureaus, and hospital administrators collaborate to develop an appropriate intervention strategy to address this issue.

Afete Dirençlilikte Bireylerin Afetlere Hazırlığının İncelenmesi: Erzincan İli Örneği

Bu araştırmanın amacı, afete dirençlilikte bireylerin afetlere karşı hazırlık düzeylerini belirlemek ve bu durumu etkileyen çeşitli değişkenleri saptamaktır. Tanımlayıcı tipte bir araştırmadır. Araştırma, 15 Aralık 2021 ile 15 Ocak 2022 tarihleri arasında Erzincan İli’nde yaşayan ve araştırmaya katılmayı kabul eden 384 kişi ile gerçekleştirildi. Veriler, ‘Afete Hazırbulunuşluk Ölçeği’ kullanılarak Google Form aracılığıyla elektronik ortamda toplandı. Verilerin değerlendirilmesinde SPSS programı kullanılarak frekans, Mann Whitney U ve Kruskal Wallis H testleri kullanıldı. Bireylerin %44’ünün 18-24 yaş aralığında olduğu, %63,3’ünün kadın, %49,2’sinin bekar, %31,5’inin lisans mezunu, %79,7’sinin ekonomik durumunu orta düzeyde olduğu, %35,9’unun daha önce hiç afet yaşamadığı ve %53,6’sının afetlerle ilgili eğitim almadığı saptandı. Bireylerin afet hazırbulunuşluk puan ortalaması 31.83±4,89 olarak belirlendi. Sonuç olarak araştırmaya katılan bireylerin afet hazırbulunuşluk düzeylerinin orta düzeyde olduğu tespit edildi. Ayrıca yaş, medeni durum, öğrenim durumu ve afetlerle ilgili eğitim alma durumu afet hazırbulunuşluk düzeyini etkilediği belirlendi. Bireylerin afetlere karşı hazırlık düzeyini artırmak ve sonuç olarak bir afet dirençliliği oluşturmak için özellikle genç nüfusa odaklanan bir afet eğitiminin düzenli olarak yapılması önerilmektedir.

Awareness and preparedness for disasters amongst residents in dry, hilly, and delta regions of Myanmar

Background: Because of Myanmar's location, many residents are in disaster risk zones. This study aimed to explore the disaster-related awareness and preparedness of the residents from the dry, hilly, and delta regions.Methods: This research was a survey design, a cross-sectional approach, and used a survey questionnaire. By applying the RCDP clusters and hazard profile, 13 (19%) villages from hilly, 100 (53%) villages from dry, and 27 (28%) villages from the delta region were proportionately and randomly selected. From which,1800 household heads were randomly culled. The data collected through the face-to-face interview were entered into EpiData and analyzed in STATA 15.Results: All samples of residents were composed of 6.7% from hilly, 76.5% from dry, and 16.8% from the delta region. residents of 72.4% and 71.5% (dry region), 54.3% and 53.4% (hilly region), and 88.6% and 87.6% (delta region) were aware of the types and associated risks of the common disasters, respectively. Regarding disaster preparedness, approximately one-third have prepared for evacuation, emergency response, disaster kits, safe areas (shelter), reconstruction/rehabilitation, about one-fifth for emergency response operations, risk assessment, and risk reduction planning, and less than 10% for capacity building, awareness-raising, and information management. More than 50% have planned for preparedness after returning homes. Overall, good awareness and preparedness proportions were 38.2% and 13.9%.Conclusions: Overall, the three regions' disaster awareness and preparedness levels were unsatisfactory, which highlights that National natural disaster management committee should effectively apply the information media, provide training/advocacies and support safe community initiatives.

Psychometric properties of the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) Thai version among Thai registered nurses

Nurses are the largest professional group in healthcare, and play a significant role in disaster management. Knowledge about nursing skills in disaster preparedness is needed to improve understanding and provide appropriate interventions for the nursing workforce. However, there is no standardized tool to evaluate disaster preparedness among Thai nurses. This study therefore aimed to translate the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) into Thai and examine the psychometric properties of the translated version. The study had two phases. Phase 1 consisted of the back-translation and monolingual test for cross-cultural aspects. Phase 2 consisted of expert testing for internal consistency and content validity, and exploratory factor analysis. Cluster random sampling and stratified random sampling were used to provide a sample of 770 registered Thai nurses to complete the instrument.Content validity was assessed by five experts, resulting in a good content validity index. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.973. The item analysis showed that 45 items had an acceptable internal consistency using the corrected item–total correlations. One item was deleted. Construct validity was determined using exploratory factor analysis. It found six factors: post-disaster management, disaster skills, knowledge of preparedness, knowledge specific to response, acquiring disaster education, and sources of disaster knowledge. These factors explained 67.134% of the total variance. The psychometric properties indicated that the Thai version of the DPET had adequate reliability and validity to evaluate the level of disaster preparedness among Thai nurses. The instrument should be tested further to ensure standardization.

Self-perceived disaster preparedness in minority older adults: A cross-sectional study.

Evidence suggests that people of color, especially African Americans and non-White Hispanics, residing in low-income communities are the most vulnerable to natural disasters. This study assessed individual level of self-perceived disaster preparedness, disaster response actions, and sociodemographic predictors of disaster preparedness among older minority adults in Houston, Texas. Working with Houston-area community-based organizations and senior-living centers, a cross-sectional survey, available in English and Spanish, was disseminated between November 2020 and January 2021. Five hundred and twenty-two older minority adults aged 55+ completed the electronic survey. The main outcome measure was the level of self-perceived preparedness regarding emergencies and disastersie, prepared vs not prepared-among the study participants. Overall, about 58 percent of older minority adults did not perceive themselves to be prepared. Compared to individuals reporting annual incomes below $25,000, individuals reporting annual incomes between $25,000 and $74,999 were more likely to report being prepared [odds ratio (OR) = 2.28, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) = 1.29, 4.05]. Individuals who tested positive or had a close family member test positive for COVID-19 experienced 2.16 times higher odds of having self-perceived disaster preparedness than those who did not [OR = 2.16, 95 percent CI = 1.37, 3.42]. None of the other covariates were statistically significant. While we observed no differences in self-perceived disaster preparedness between African American and Hispanic older adults, our findings suggest the importance of prior experience/exposure to previous disasters and the role of socioeconomic status in self-perceived disaster preparedness in minority older adults.

Knowledge, attitude, practice and perceived barriers of natural disaster preparedness among Nepalese immigrants residing in Japan

BackgroundNatural disasters have increased during the last several decades all over the world. Due to its geographical and climate conditions, Japan has long been vulnerable to several natural disasters. Coping with disasters is a major challenge overall and even harder for foreigners residing in Japan. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine the perceived knowledge, attitude, practice and perceived barriers of disaster preparedness among Nepalese immigrants in Japan.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among Nepalese immigrants residing in Japan with an online survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated and then administered. The participants were recruited via Facebook for this survey. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the factors associated with the perceived knowledge, attitude and practice of Nepalese immigrants regarding disaster preparedness.ResultsA total of 404 respondents were analyzed in this study and among them two-third were male. We found that the mean score of disaster preparedness practice was lowest than the knowledge and attitude (mean pm SD = 15.86 pm 5.52) as evidenced by the majority of the participants not being prepared for disaster situations and a limited proportion had ever taken necessary natural disaster preparedness measures. Japanese language was identified as the major barrier in assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding disaster preparedness and was significantly associated with the knowledge level of disaster preparedness after adjusting for some socio-demographic covariates. (aOR: 1.84, 95% CI: (1.04 – 3.25)).ConclusionsThis study observed that the perceived knowledge and practices regarding natural disasters are very poor while barriers to access these are substantial among Nepalese immigrants in Japan. As Japanese language was identified as a major barrier, the availability of language translation services in every health care sector also in the government offices of Japan might encourage people to learn more about disaster preparedness.

Assessment of Disaster Preparedness Level of Medical Students of a University, Turkey

Introduction: In disaster-prone countries, preparedness is a very important factor in reducing the damages of disaster. The aim of this study is to determine the disaster preparedness knowledge level of a university’s medical students and to evaluate the relationships between possible related factors and disaster preparedness knowledge. Material and Method: This study is a cross-sectional study. The subject of research is measuring the level of disaster preparedness knowledge. The working period in which the online survey is applied is December 1-December 31, 2020. It was aimed to participate that attend the first and second grades of the medical faculty studying in the main campus of a University in Turkey. In order to compare the knowledge level of disaster preparedness among medical students, it was planned to include other faculty students as a control group. In the study, 75 medical students and 20 students from other faculties participated. A high score indicates good disaster preparedness. Chi-square, Mann Whitney U, and Kruskal Wallis were used in the statistical analyses. Results: The median value for disaster preparedness level score for all participants was 51.0 (min: 23.0; max: 63.0). Disaster preparedness knowledge level median score (54.0 [29.0-63.0]) was higher in women than men (48.5 [23.0-62.0]) (p<0.05). The median score of disaster preparedness knowledge level (53.0 [23.0-63.0]) of the second and upper grade was higher than the median score (49.0 [29.0-62.0]) of the first-year students (p<0.05). The median score of disaster preparedness knowledge level (55.0 [34.0-62.0]) was higher than the others (49.0 [23.0-63.0]) in those living in the city where their family resides (p<0.05). Conclusion: It can be said that the level of disaster preparedness for all participants is good. It is recommended to conduct a similar study in a larger study group.

The Level of Disaster Preparedness among the Employees of Selected Hospitality Establishments in Naval Biliran

The Level of Disaster Preparedness among the Employees of Selected Hospitality Establishments in Naval Biliran

A fuzzy hybrid decision-making framework for increasing the hospital disaster preparedness: The colombian case

The recent increase in the number of disasters over the world has once again brought to the agenda the question of preparedness of the hospitals, which are the most necessary units of healthcare pillar to resist these disasters. The COVID-19 epidemic disease, which has affected the whole world, has caused a large number of people to die in some countries simply because of the inadequate and incomplete planning and lack of readiness of hospitals. For this reason, determining the disaster preparedness level of hospitals is an important issue that needs to be studied and it is important in terms of disaster damage reduction. In this study, a fuzzy hybrid decision-making framework is proposed to assess hospital disaster preparedness. The framework covers three important decision-making methods. For the first phase, Intuitionistic Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (IF-AHP) is used to assign relative weights for several disaster preparedness criteria considering uncertainty. Secondly, Intuitionistic Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (IF-DEMATEL) is applied to identify interrelations among these criteria and feedback. Finally, via the VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method, priorities of hospitals regarding disaster readiness are obtained. A case study involving the participation of 10 Colombian tertiary hospitals is carried out to show the applicability of this fuzzy hybrid approach.

Evaluating Disaster Risk Reduction Preparedness Strategies in Primary Schools in Kenya: Gaps, Challenges and Implications

Globally disasters have increased unprecedentedly creating havoc on households and communities despite well-documented awareness levels. Governments and people levels of disaster preparedness have remained unabated in many countries in Africa. However, disasters’ impact can be reduced if people are sensitized about fundamental steps and strategies to reduce risks. Documented literature shows that if taken seriously, disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures are likely to cost less compared to the cost of loss of livelihoods, possessions and the cost of managing its consequences including loss of life. Preparing teachers and the schools for disasters is very important in creating sustainable strategies that can be integrated in day-to-day school activities. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, this paper presents the evidence on the potential of preparedness and readiness of public primary schools to cope during and after a pandemic. With a sample of 240 teachers and 24 headteachers from 80 schools in 8 Sub-Counties distributed across Kenya, the findings show that the effectiveness of a school DRR mitigation measures can be a great indicator of how a school and its inhabitants: teachers and children can be prepared or not in times of a disaster. Disaster risk reduction strategies must be both supply-driven and demand-driven for buying in and to motivate teachers and learners to avoid disasters. This study brings out what the gaps and challenges are in primary schools in Kenya and suggests what can be done at both national and regional levels to help the schools cope with disasters.

The Application of Hospital Safety Index for Analyzing Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the primary healthcare center (PHC) as a whole-of-society approach to health that aims at ensuring the highest possible level of health and well-being and their equitable distribution by focusing on people’s needs as early as possible along the continuum from health promotion and disease prevention to treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care, and as close as feasibly possible to people’s everyday environment. PHCs are expected to remain operational when disasters occur. This study aimed to assess the PHC disaster preparedness level in Indonesia using The Hospital Safety Index (HSI) from WHO/PAHO. Eleven PHCs located in four provinces in Indonesia, i.e., Jakarta, Yogyakarta, North Sumatera, and West Java, were selected. Data were collected through interviews, focus-group discussions (FGDs), observations, and document reviews. The parameters assessed were all types of hazards, structural or construction safety, nonstructural safety, and functional attributes. The results show that the overall score of HSI for PHCs in Jakarta (0.674) and North Sumatera (0.752) fell into the “A” category, meaning that these PHCs would likely remain operational in the case of disasters. Meanwhile, the overall HSI scores for PHCs in West Java (0.601) and Yogyakarta (0.602) were between 0.36 and 0.65, or in “B” category, meaning that these PHCs would be able to recover during disasters but several services would be exposed to danger. The results suggested that there are several gaps that need urgent interventions to be applied for the structural safety of buildings, water supply systems, fuel storage, disaster committee organization, furniture and fittings, offices and storage equipment, as well as increasing the capacity of workers through a structured and systematic training framework for disaster readiness. The results from this study can be used for prioritizing budgets and resource allocation, cost planning, providing specific solutions for local and national government, and efforts to achieve disaster risk reduction.