Number Of Casualties Research Articles

Selection of urban flood shelter locations based on risk assessment

Within the framework of global climate change, there is a recurring occurrence of floods and waterlogging disasters, which pose significant risks to human lives and overall safety. The phenomenon of urbanization has led to an increased vulnerability of cities to flood disasters. Evacuation serves as a viable strategy for adapting to climate change, managing intense precipitation events, and mitigating the impact of flood disasters. Hence, the meticulous choice of shelters has emerged as a crucial element in enhancing the effectiveness of evacuations. Nevertheless, the process of choosing shelters sometimes neglects to consider the potential for flooding and has not undergone thorough testing. Hence, the objective of this research is to systematically choose shelters within the central metropolitan region, incorporate flood risk considerations into the shelter site model, and assist cities in mitigating the consequences of floods resulting from climate change. To begin with, employ a two-dimensional shallow water model in order to replicate instances of intense precipitation and produce data on flood inundation. Subsequently, the simulation results are utilized to assess the flood risk using the entropy weight approach. This risk is then incorporated into the multi-objective optimization model to determine the optimal shelter placement. Ultimately, the ABM model was employed to create a simulation of crowd evacuation in urban areas, confirming the efficacy of shelter selection and thoroughly examining the influence of various shelters on the efficiency of community emergency evacuation. The study's findings indicate that a total of 26 shelters were chosen within the study area using a multi-objective methodology, ensuring the inclusion of all affected populations. The utilization of multi-objective models in the selection of shelter places has been shown to enhance evacuation efficiency, as confirmed by the ABM model. The simulation findings indicate a decline in the population's death rate from 1.94% to 0.98%, an increase in the evacuation rate from 97.4% to 98.4%, and a reduction in the number of casualties by 133 individuals.

World Trauma Day: An Opportunity for Change

Abstract World Trauma Day started in 2011 in New Delhi due to the high number of road traffic casualties. Poor outcomes of traumatic injuries are often caused by inefficient pre-hospital emergency response and lack of resources. The day is held on the 17th of October to raise awareness of the need for trauma care. Education is also a powerful tool. Both trauma prevention and trauma management can be taught to school-age children, the public, and health professionals. Providing the public with basic trauma care knowledge, including how to effectively administer first aid in an emergency, can save lives. The next 17th of October is, therefore, a unique opportunity to celebrate achievements in Global Trauma Care, as well as push for improvement on areas we are still lacking. It is a necessary advocacy moment to bring attention to the gap in access to safe and timely trauma care, stakeholder awareness raising and health policy change.

¡Raza Sí! ¡Guerra No!

On August 29, 1970, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Los Angeles to protest the Vietnam war as part of the National Chicano Moratorium. In response to highly disproportionate numbers of Chicano casualties listed among the wounded, protestors from all factions of the Chicano Movement marched to demand an end to the war. By the end of the day, the police had killed three protestors while dozens more were critically injured. The massacre at the Chicano Moratorium was a low point in the civil rights history of the United States, but it is also clear evidence of how numerous actors, institutions, and events unified the Chicano movement towards one goal during the Vietnam War. Its violent suppression by the Los Angeles Police Department also situates the event in a larger history of government supported violence against minorities and civil rights groups. This paper tracks the development of the Chicano identity, civil rights movement, and the development of anti-war sentiment from the early twentieth century up to the 1970 moratorium.

Detailed Landslide Traces Database of Hancheng County, China, Based on High-Resolution Satellite Images Available on the Google Earth Platform

Hancheng is located in the eastern part of China’s Shaanxi Province, near the west bank of the Yellow River. It is located at the junction of the active geological structure area. The rock layer is relatively fragmented, and landslide disasters are frequent. The occurrence of landslide disasters often causes a large number of casualties along with economic losses in the local area, seriously restricting local economic development. Although risk assessment and deformation mechanism analysis for single landslides have been performed for landslide disasters in the Hancheng area, this area lacks a landslide traces database. A complete landslide database comprises the basic data required for the study of landslide disasters and is an important requirement for subsequent landslide-related research. Therefore, this study used multi-temporal high-resolution optical images and human-computer interaction visual interpretation methods of the Google Earth platform to construct a landslide traces database in Hancheng County. The results showed that at least 6785 landslides had occurred in the study area. The total area of the landslides was about 95.38 km2, accounting for 5.88% of the study area. The average landslide area was 1406.04 m2, the largest landslide area was 377,841 m2, and the smallest landslide area was 202.96 m2. The results of this study provides an important basis for understanding the spatial distribution of landslides in Hancheng County, the evaluation of landslide susceptibility, and local disaster prevention and mitigation work.

Analysis of road traffic accidents and casualties associated with electric bikes and bicycles in Guangzhou, China: A retrospective descriptive analysis

IntroductionElectric bicycles (e-bikes) and bicycles in large Chinese cities have recently witnessed substantial growth in ridership. According to related accident trends, this study analyzed characteristics and spatial distribution in the period when e-bike-related accidents rapidly increased to propose priority measures to reduce accident casualties. MethodsFor e-bike- and bicycle-related accident data from the Guangzhou Public Security Traffic Management Integrated System, linear regression was used to examine the trends in the number of accidents and age-adjusted road traffic casualties from 2011 to 2021. Then, for the period when e-bike-related accidents rapidly increased, descriptive statistics were computed regarding rider characteristics, illegal behaviors, road types, collision objects and their accident liability. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni's multiple comparison test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Finally, the density distribution of accidents was presented, and Moran's I (MI) was used for assessing spatial autocorrelation. Hotspots were identified based on an optimized hotspot analysis tool. ResultsBetween 2011 and 2021, the number of accidents and casualty rate (per 100,000 population) increased for e-bikes but decreased for bicycles. After 2018, e-bike-related accidents increased rapidly, and bicycle-related accidents plateaued. Accident hotspots were concentrated in central city areas and suburban areas close to the former. Three-quarters of accidents occurred in motorized vehicle lanes. Most occurred on roads without physically segregated nonmotorized vehicle lanes. More than three-fifths of the accidents involved motor vehicles with at least four wheels. The prevalence (per 100 people) of casualties among e-bike rider victims and cyclist victims accounted for 92.0 % and 96.5 %, respectively. A total of 71.6 % of e-bike-related accidents involved migrant workers. Riding in motorized vehicle lanes was the most common illegal behavior. ConclusionsAlthough e-bike-related and bicycle-related accidents presented similar characteristics, the sharp increase in e-bike-related accidents requires attention. To improve e-bike safety, governments should develop appropriate countermeasures to prevent riders from riding on motorways, such as improving road infrastructure, adjusting the driver's license system and addressing priority control areas.

Investigation of earthquake-damaged and affected structures

Recent earthquakes in Zinda Jan district, Herat province during the fall season of 2023 resulted in more than 2000 casualties and the destruction of numerous houses and buildings in the villages of Zinda Jan. From a technical perspective, notable factors in this tragedy include traditional and improper construction methods, the formation of structures with metal frames, concrete structures, and load-bearing walls without proper earthquake design. Based on surveys in the affected villages of Zinda Jan, the buildings can be categorized into four types: traditional mud-brick houses, masonry structures, concrete buildings, and metal structures. In the research, more than 95% of mud-brick houses were destroyed due to their lack of resilience against earthquakes, causing the highest number of casualties. Timber-framed structures and load-bearing walls ranked second, causing the most damage after mud-brick houses. However, fortunately, fewer roofs collapsed, resulting in the preservation of human lives. In the studied areas, concrete buildings and metal structures are also noticeable, with some of these structures suffering severe damage while a few remained intact without significant damage. This study discusses the vulnerability of buildings and houses, as well as the reasons for the incurred damages, which have yielded desirable results. It is undeniable that shortcomings in planning, design, calculations, execution, and supervision all played a role in this major incident because only a few structures remained undamaged in this earthquake.

The integration of multi-domain capabilities in land forces units combined arms operations

Current conflicts, ongoing across the globe, have highlighted the need for a new form of warfare that reduces the number of casualties and the degree of destruction and, at the same time, mitigates the effects of hybrid means, ubiquitous in the doctrine of all actors. This new approach to warfare utilizes multi-domain operations as a means of achieving success. Although multi-domain operations have been conducted in the past, the concept that encompasses the process of these operations is novel, and there are still significant adjustments that need to be made to make it operational for all actors. This article aims to study the integration of multi-domain operations into land operations by identifying the strengths and limitations of their development process, the conditions and principles of their integration at the land forces level, resulting from a comparative analysis of US and Russian Federation approaches, as well as from lessons learned from current conflicts.

What Does the Military Health System Need to Support Future Combat Operations? Lessons From Aeromedical Evacuations From 2008 to 2020.

Aeromedical evacuations from the past few decades have yielded massive amounts of data that may inform the Military Health System (MHS) on patient needs, specifically for understanding the inpatient and outpatient needs of evacuees. In this study, we evaluate inpatient and outpatient trends based on aeromedical evacuation data from recent conflicts. We anticipate that evacuations requiring MHS inpatient beds are primarily trauma-related and necessitate an increased need for inpatient trauma care. We conducted a descriptive analysis of aeromedical evacuations using the U.S. Transportation Command Regulating and Command & Control Evacuation System database. We queried the database for aeromedical evacuations originating from the U.S. EUCOM and ending in the CONUS, from January 1, 2008 to June 4, 2020. With the resultant data, evacuee demographics were characterized by gender, age, active duty (AD) versus non-AD, and branch of service. Following this, the proportion of battle injury to disease and non-battle injury was categorized by both patient age ranges and year. Additionally, evacuations were stratified by their ICD codes, as well as the primary specialty responsible for care. Lastly, evacuations were categorized by inpatient and outpatient care status. The final dataset yielded 32,485 unique patients. The majority of evacuees were male (86.9%) with a mean age of 29.0 ± 9.6 years. Evacuees were primarily AD Military (96.7%), with the majority of those personnel being in the Army (70.2%). The total number of evacuations steadily increased from 2008 (n = 3,703) until a peak in 2010 (n = 4,929), which was also the peak year for battle injury (n = 1,472). Battle injury was also most prevalent in the 21 to 24 age group (24.7%) and declined in older age groups. Regarding diagnoses, the leading categories were injury/poisoning (33.1%), psychiatric (28.1%), and musculoskeletal (12.1%). As for specialty care of evacuees, psychiatry received the largest share of total evacuations (28.1%), followed by orthopedic surgery (22.7%) and general surgery (8.6%). Looking at proportions of inpatient and outpatient care, the majority of evacuees required outpatient care (65.6%) with a sizable minority requiring inpatient care (34.4%). Inpatient evacuations peaked in 2010 (n = 2,013), accounting for 40.8% of all evacuations that year. Orthopedic surgery had the largest share of inpatient evacuations (27.3%), followed by psychiatry (21.5%) and general surgery (18.2%). As for outpatient care, the specialties with the largest proportion of outpatient evacuations were psychiatry (33.6%), orthopedic surgery (20.3%), and neurology (9.8%). The results of this study reveal what the MHS can expect in future conflicts. Most evacuations are for psychiatric-/injury-/musculoskeletal-related diagnoses, typically requiring care by psychiatrists, orthopedic surgeons, or general surgeons. Outpatient care is important, though it is critical to bolster inpatient care requirements as future conflicts may bring extensive numbers of inpatient casualties. The MHS should program and plan resources accordingly, planning for the care of surgical/injured and psychiatric patients.

Are Two Bodies in a Trench a Mass Grave?

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS IMAGES OF MASS GRAVES FROM GENOCIDES, WHICH SOME MAY FIND DISTURBING The definitions for mass graves proposed in the past concentrated on the minimum number of casualties and whether they were in a connected body matrix. This meant that many graves practitioners encounter could not be classified properly. They were neither a single grave nor a mass grave. This article proposes four key measures to address the grave classification issue. Firstly, it introduces three simple criteria to assist in classification. Secondly, it suggests three new grave types (cluster, trench, and serial grave) to name the most common graves. Thirdly, a final grave type, the multiple grave, is added to describe any grave that does not fit into any of the other categories. Finally, this article suggests that the threshold between multiple and many casualties, i.e. how many casualties constitutes a mass grave, should be set for each individual conflict or context rather than aiming for a universal figure. These four measures are designed to be simple, intuitive and flexible enough to allow practitioners to use grave labels that make sense in their particular context for forensic and legal professionals as well as the general public.

Development of a time pressure-based model for the simulation of an evacuation in a fire emergency

The study of pedestrian behaviour in a fire emergency is essential for effectively reducing the number of casualties. However, most studies only consider the effect of fire on pedestrian behaviour and ignore the effect of a fire emergency on pedestrian psychology. In this study, we introduce a method of assessing the pedestrian time pressure within a cellular automaton model using the available safe egress time and required safe egress time in fire evacuations. Moreover, a more realistic reflection of the evacuation process in a fire emergency is obtained by introducing Pyrosim to compute the fire floor field and by proposing a sequential update method based on time pressure. To assess the model, we conduct sensitivity analyses on model parameters across various environmental configurations. Numerical simulation results show that fire accelerates the evacuation rate and radiated heat transfer and temperature have the greatest effects on the time pressure of pedestrians in a fire evacuation. The distribution of pedestrians is U-shaped owing to fire avoidance behaviour and in the later stage of evacuation, pedestrians keeping away from heated walls. The trend of time pressure over time has a bimodal distribution as pedestrians initially pass the fire and the environment then becomes untenable as the fire fully develops. In addition, the exit location affects the evacuation process, with a symmetrical positioning improving the evacuation efficiency. We verify the model in a series of physical experiments. The agreement between the numerical simulation results and experimental results demonstrates that the time pressure-based model is suitable for simulating the route choice behaviour and evacuation process in fire emergencies.

Is international cooperation effective in combating terrorism? Evidence from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

ABSTRACT Previous studies have theoretically demonstrated that international counter-terrorism cooperation can effectively combat terrorism and maintain regional stability and development. However, due to the limited availability of data, most studies lack empirical analysis. We employ differences-in-differences models to investigate whether the counter-terrorism cooperation actions of Shanghai Cooperation Organization can effectively inhibit the development of terrorism in member countries. We find that after the official launch of the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the number of terrorist activities in member countries decreased by 59.8% compared to other Belt and Road countries, and the number of casualties caused by terrorist activities decreased by 42.7%. Mechanism tests show that the breeding ground for terrorism can be eradicated by improving political governance and promoting economic development in member countries. In the context of counter-terrorism, apart from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union contribute to the reduction of terrorist attacks among their member states. We believe that by seeking international counter-terrorism cooperation based on common security interests, and actively utilizing a flexible and diverse range of counter-terrorism measures, we can curb the development of terrorism.

Forensic Gender Prediction by Using Mandibular Morphometric Indices: A Panoramic Radiograph Study.

Aim and objective This study aims to assess the accuracy of gender estimation using gonial and antegonial angles and determine the gender of the given samples using gonial and antegonial angles. Introduction An essential component of the human skull, the mandible, exhibits sexual dimorphism, making it a valuable tool in forensic and anthropological investigations for detecting sex. This procedure can be especially difficult in situations where there are large numbers of casualties, natural disasters, or widely dispersed remains. The mandible is an accurate indicator of age and sex because it responds to patterns of growth. Sex determination through the gonial angle and antegonial angle involves analyzing the angles formed by the lower jaw bone in individuals. Examining these angles contributed to remarkable accuracy. Materials and methods A total of 500 samples, 250 male and 250 female panoramic radiographs, were carefully chosen for the study. The chosen samples ranged in age from 20 to 30 years. Orthophantomograms were measured in Planmeca software (Planmeca Romexis®, Version 6.0, USA INC.) and the descriptive statistics (paired t-test) were performed in SPSS Statistics version 16.0 (SPSS Inc. Released 2007. SPSS for Windows, Version 16.0. Chicago, SPSS Inc.). Results Gonial angle for males obtained the highest value of 127.27±5.29, followed by females at 127.08±5.18. This was followed by the antegonial angle for males of 10.74±3.14, and the least value was obtained by females of 10.67±3.30. The p-value for the gonial angle showed no statistical significance for males or females (p=0.679). Antegonial angle showed statistical significance in both males (p=0.008) and females (p=0.001). Conclusion Among both the parameters considered, the antegonial angle showed significance in determining the gender of the given samples. Hence, to assess the accuracy of gender estimation, the antegonial angle can be used as a parameter.

A scenario-based robust approach for joint planning of multi-blood product logistics and multi-casualty type evacuation

This paper presents a two-stage hybrid robust programming model that integrates multiple blood products scheduling and multiple casualty types evacuation under facility disruptions risk and casualty number uncertainty. The model seeks to maximize the rescue efficiency and minimize the total operations cost. Under a set of disruption scenarios, we adopt a scenario-based robust method to address disruption risks at temporary medical centres and two robust uncertainty sets to deal with uncertain casualty numbers. We propose a proximal bundle algorithm to solve large-scale instances of the proposed hybrid robust model approximately. Extensive numerical experiments show that: (i) the trade-off between model robustness and solution robustness can help the decision-makers determine an appropriate risk-aversion weight; (ii) compared with the corresponding stochastic and scenario-based robust models, the hybrid robust model can obtain more robust solutions with a slight increase in cost; (iii) the proximal bundle algorithm can produce near-optimal solutions within reasonable computational times; (iv) some model parameters have significant impact on the total cost, which can help decision-makers set the appropriate parameters to achieve the desired outcome. Finally, we also use the real data of the 2008 Wenchuan County Earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, to illustrate the application of the model.

Education of Water Crisis Preparedness to Communities in Urban Slum Areas

The availability of clean water is a significant factor in ensuring human survival. When there is insufficient water to supply a population adequately, we say there is a water shortage. The water issue is impacting several metropolitan regions worldwide, including Indonesia. In Padang, 22 sub-districts are included in the list of slum sub-districts, including Pasar Ambacang. The current condition requires more community preparedness to face the water crisis. People must be adequately prepared for water crises or be taught how to use available water supplies efficiently. Increasing knowledge about community preparedness in facing the water crisis is essential because increasing public knowledge will increase community preparedness in facing the water crisis. The effort was carried out by distributing leaflets and giving lectures door to door. This exercise increased the percentage of the community prepared to deal with the water situation before and after receiving instruction. It can lessen the number of potential dangers and casualties during a disaster. If the community is prepared, it will be easier to carry out rescue actions when a disaster occurs.

Forging alliances: examining civil-military partnerships and their impact on war-time casualty care in Sri Lanka

Over the course of the 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government forces, LTTE’s ‘military’ capacity and strategy evolved from guerrilla-type ambushes using landmines to semi-conventional warfare with light arms and eventually to heavy artillery and improvised explosive devices. This evolution required both military and civil surgeons to enhance their knowledge and skills in managing high-energy war wounds to handle the large number of casualties admitted to health institutions. The Sri Lanka Medical Corps (SLMC) had been meticulously organized into echelons of care with graded capacity and capability to medivac battle injured personnel from point of injury to definitive care facilities. All injured personnel eventually found their way to Colombo Army Hospital and Ragama Rehabilitation Hospital for comprehensive rehabilitation. The civil war in Sri Lanka presented a significant influx of war-related injuries, demanding the creation of a comprehensive system seamlessly integrating both military and civilian elements. With a decade of peace, accompanied by shifts in injury epidemiology, the evolving landscape has mandated the exploration of innovative strategies to sustain and enhance the surgical skill-base for both military and civilian casualty care.

Disaster risk assessment based on the community’s vulnerability, capacity, and responses in facing an earthquake in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Bantul is one of the regencies in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) that are prone to earthquakes. In 2006, Yogyakarta was hit by a tectonic earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale, resulting in a death toll of 6,234 people, with 1,754 severely injured (e.g., spinal injuries) and in need of paraplegia rehabilitation. The high number of casualties indicates a high disaster risk, which means high disaster vulnerability and low disaster management capacity. The research aims to assess disaster risks based on the community’s vulnerability and capacity in facing the 2006 earthquake disaster in DIY. This study uses a mixed method, consisting of a survey with 44 disaster victims suffering from injuries that result in disabilities (paraplegia) and in-depth interviews with ten family members of the victims. The results show that disaster vulnerability will likely result in a physical risk, i.e., disaster injuries that leave the victims with paraplegia. Such vulnerability is caused by the community’s low capacity and poor response to disasters, including the 2006 earthquake. Another physical risk is the collapsing houses, which lead to economic risk as the community suffers losses of between 30 and 91 million rupiah. Meanwhile, the social risk is a change in the status of the victims from people without disabilities to people with disabilities. That said, social relations increase because the disaster victims with paraplegia have become active members of an organization.

CALCULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF FORCE AND POWER ON AUTONOMOUS SURFACE VEHICLE (ASV) AS MEANS OF MARINE ACCIDENT RESCUE

The strategic regional position makes Indonesia a world transportation crossing route with various modes of transportation through Indonesian territory to reach other islands, countries, or even continents. For this reason, a solution is needed to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries due to ship accidents that may occur. By reducing the evacuation time to a minimum, it will be possible to minimize the number of casualties and injuries if the ship has an accident. Considering that, in terms of usability and benefits, the Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) can be an alternative as a form of Search and Rescue (SAR) ship. Based on the results of the ASV Ship design that suits these needs, a force and power analysis was carried out in accordance with the applicable theory. Of the 2 designs with a monohull shape and with different hull variations, with the main dimensions of the ASV Sang Nagari (LH=4.55 m, LWL=4.348 m, B=1.272 m, D=0.804 m T=0.45 m) and ASV Sang Nadibumi (LH=4.55 m, LWL=4.311 m, B=1.352 m, D= 0.802 m, T=0.4 m) obtained a displacement of 1.063 tons and a resistance of 1 kN for ASV Sang Nagari and 1.202 tons and a resistance of 2.6 kN for ASV Sang Nadibumi at a standard speed of 10 knots. Based on the results of the force analysis, it is concluded that the two ASVs have 2 forces in static conditions, that is, weight force and upward lift force (FBouyant). Based on the results of the efficiency of ASV Sang Nagari has a higher efficiency of 0.002% with 56.422% than ASV Sang Nadibumi with 56.420%.. The ASV linear model made from linearization has the properties of a controllable and observable, so this model can be applied to navigation and control systems.

Resilience in terror and disaster medicine through consolidation of institutional memory - National Hospital Sri Lanka Easter Sunday 2019 experience

Suicide bombing generates a significantly larger number of casualties per attack than other uses of force by terrorist groups. Acts of terrorism are evolving and becoming more complex. Health emergency trauma care systems should advance and be resilient to withstand shocks of terror mass casualty event while catering routine community care. Easter Sunday emergency and trauma care response at the Accident Services National Hospital Sri Lanka accrued invaluable lessons to be learned and shared with global emergency care fraternity.

Managing a Mega Mass Casualty Event by a Civilian Emergency Medical Services Agency: Lessons From the First Day of the 2023 Hamas-Israel War.

On 7 October 2023, Israel faced an unexpected attack by Hamas, causing over 1,200 deaths and injuring more than 9,000 individuals. This report delves into the rapid medical response spearheaded by Israel's civilian Emergency Medical Service, Magen David Adom (MDA), during this crisis. Utilizing data from MDA's electronic database, 4,097 dispatch records from the day were analyzed. Of these, 39.3% were directly related to the attack. EMS teams faced multiple challenges, including handling an overwhelming number of casualties and navigating active combat zones, which impeded safe access to victims, posed significant risks to teams' safety, and constrained patient evacuation strategies. This incident underscores the importance of reinforcing healthcare resilience, particularly emphasizing the need for centralizing various aspects of response efforts. These include streamlined communication, national coordination of pre-hospital resources, and systemic management of patient evacuations. Moreover, providing substantial support for EMS personnel, who operated in highly challenging conditions, is imperative.

An investigation into the online language teaching and assessment practices during COVID-19

Due to a growing number of casualties, company and school closures, and a lack of social connections, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of unanticipated challenges. As a result, to cope with these challenges online education served as a great way for bridging the distances through digital tools. With the purpose of an effective and quality online learning, all stakeholders involving active implementers of educational programs, namely teachers and students in addition to administrators should be aware of its benefits and drawbacks. To this end, the current study attempts to uncover the perspectives of ELT instructors about online language teaching and assessment through a qualitative research design. The results showed that online language assessment and teaching was considered as inevitable by all participants, thus making it necessary to employ efficient methods for designing and administering online assessment, and interpreting the scores. On the contrary, a long list of challenges and problems were noted by the respondents including academic misconduct, difficulty of proctoring, open to manipulation, validity and reliability concerns. The study ends with practical implications for teacher training programs and further research ideas.