Community Preparedness Research Articles

Continuously Updated Digital Elevation Models (CUDEMs) to Support Coastal Inundation Modeling

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) generates digital elevation models (DEMs) that range from the local to global scale. Collectively, these DEMs are essential to determining the timing and extent of coastal inundation and improving community preparedness, event forecasting, and warning systems. We initiated a comprehensive framework at NCEI, the Continuously Updated DEM (CUDEM) Program, with seamless bare-earth, topographic-bathymetric and bathymetric DEMs for the entire United States (U.S.) Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Coasts, Hawaii, American Territories, and portions of the U.S. Pacific Coast. The CUDEMs are currently the highest-resolution, seamless depiction of the entire U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the public domain; coastal topographic-bathymetric DEMs have a spatial resolution of 1/9th arc-second (~3 m) and offshore bathymetric DEMs coarsen to 1/3rd arc-second (~10 m). We independently validate the land portions of the CUDEMs with NASA’s Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on board the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) observatory and calculate a corresponding vertical mean bias error of 0.12 m ± 0.75 m at one standard deviation, with an overall RMSE of 0.76 m. We generate the CUDEMs through a standardized process using free and open-source software (FOSS) and provide open-access to our code repository. The CUDEM framework consists of systematic tiled geographic extents, spatial resolutions, and horizontal and vertical datums to facilitate rapid updates of targeted areas with new data collections, especially post-storm and tsunami events. The CUDEM framework also enables the rapid incorporation of high-resolution data collections ingested into local-scale DEMs into NOAA NCEI’s suite of regional and global DEMs. Future research efforts will focus on the generation of additional data products, such as spatially explicit vertical error estimations and morphologic change calculations, to enhance the utility and scientific benefits of the CUDEM Program.

Assessing preparedness for Alzheimer disease-modifying therapies in Australasian health care systems.

Assessing preparedness for Alzheimer disease-modifying therapies in Australasian health care systems.

Assessing the effectiveness of existing early warning systems and emergency preparedness towards reducing cyclone-induced losses in the Sundarban Biosphere Region, India

The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) in India is highly vulnerable to cyclones and tidal surges due to its geographical location and low-lying coastal morphology. This deltaic tract experiences frequent cyclones that incur loss of life and property. Despite this, the SBR lacks a systematic and effective disaster warning/management plan that benefits all residents/stakeholders. Hence, it is imperative to assess the mitigation measures currently in place to effectively counter the risks arising from an increasing frequency of tropical cyclones therein. This paper examines the efficiency of the existing early warning systems (EWS) and emergency preparedness in the SBR. Data was collected at the household level on EWS, community preparedness and the economic losses occurring due to cyclones in the last ten years through field surveys. The Poisson distribution model was used to understand the relation of losses with the EWS. Our results reveal that a lack of early warning awareness and delays in emergency preparedness have made coastal communities more vulnerable. The SBR lacks an adequate disaster management plan for minimizing such losses and policy interventions are urgently required to safeguard coastal communities during and in the aftermath of cyclones. Possible improvements in existing strategies for reducing cyclone vulnerability are suggested.

Factors Related to Community Preparedness in Dealing with a Mountain Disaster Erupting: A Literature Review

Indonesia is an archipelagic country with the longest volcano in the world. Indonesia has 127 active volcanoes or about 13% of the world's active volcanoes in Indonesia. That makes this country has the largest number of volcanoes in the world. To prevent the occurrence of many casualties during a volcanic disaster, community preparedness is needed in dealing with disasters. Therefore, this study wants to know the factors related to community preparedness in dealing with volcanic eruption disasters based on a literature review. There are several search engines to find relevant journal articles, including Google Scholar, Proquest, and Pubmed, then established inclusion and exclusion criteria using the PICOS method to select and evaluate the quality of papers related to the topic. The search keywords employed were "preparedness factors" and "volcanic eruptions" for Google Scholar and "preparedness factors" and "volcano eruption" for ProQuest and PubMed. The journal article search instrument or tool used is zetero. Through study literature, it shows that there are factors related to the community's preparedness to face a disaster of volcano eruptive; It is the factor of knowledge and attitude. There are several differences in the research findings for knowledge and attitude factors. One researcher establishes a link between preparedness and knowledge and attitudes, and several knowledge and attitude studies do not discuss the link between community preparedness and volcanic eruptions. Meanwhile, there is no mention of the relationship between community preparedness and volcanic eruptions in the policy and guiding considerations, disaster plans, early warning systems, or resource mobilization capabilities. There is a link between knowledge and attitudes toward community preparedness to face a volcanic eruption. In contrast, from 6 articles, there was no discussion about the relationships between policy factors and guidelines, disaster plans, early warning systems, and resource mobilization capacity for community preparedness to face a disaster of volcanic eruptions.

Correlations Between Knowledge About Landslides and Preparedness for Disasters: Cross-Sectional Study

Landslide events in Indonesia are often caused by high rainfall and unstable mountain slopes. With these conditions, the risk of landslides is higher if the rainy season occurs. Landslide disasters cause loss of life and property and disrupt the order of life. Reducing the risk of disaster impacts can be reduced by increasing preparedness in dealing with disasters. This study aimed to determine the relationship between knowledge about landslides and community preparedness in Hargowilis village. This type of research is a quantitative study with a cross-sectional research design. The sampling technique used in this study was purposive sampling, with a sample size of 102 heads of households in Hargowilis Kokap Kulonprogo village. The measuring instrument used is a landslide disaster knowledge questionnaire and a disaster preparedness questionnaire—statistical data analysis using the Chi-Square test. Based on the characteristics of the respondents, most of them were aged 50-59 years (25.6%0, the majority were male (82.4%), most of them had high school education (42.2%), and most of them were farmers (51%). Most knowledge about landslides is in the moderate category (46.1), and the Preparedness Level is mostly in the high category (64.7). Landslide disaster with disaster preparedness in the village of Hargowilis Kokap Kulonprogo There is a significant relationship between knowledge of landslide disasters and disaster preparedness in the village of Hargowilis Kokap Kulonprogo. This research can provide information about the relationship between knowledge and preparedness for landslide disasters so that people can understand the importance of having sufficient knowledge and good preparedness in dealing with this disaster.

Building Public Health Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Capabilities Through Disaster Citizen Science: Perspectives From Local Health Department, Academic, and Community Representatives.

Disaster citizen is the use of scientific methods by the public to address preparedness, response, or recovery needs. Disaster citizen science applications with public health relevance are growing in academic and community sectors, but integration with public health emergency preparedness, response, and recovery (PHEPRR) agencies is limited. We examined how local health departments (LHDs) and community-based organizations have used citizen science to build public health preparedness and response (PHEP) capabilities. The purpose of this study is to help LHDs make use of citizen science to support PHEPRR. We conducted semistructured telephone interviews (n = 55) with LHD, academic, and community representatives engaged or interested in citizen science. We used inductive and deductive methods to code and analyze interview transcripts. US and international community-based organizations and US LHDs. Participants included 18 LHD representatives reflecting diversity in geographic regions and population sizes served and 31 disaster citizen science project leaders and 6 citizen science thought leaders. We identified challenges LHDs and academic and community partners face in using citizen science for PHEPRR as well as strategies to facilitate implementation. Academic and community-led disaster citizen science activities aligned with many PHEP capabilities including community preparedness, community recovery, public health surveillance and epidemiological investigation, and volunteer management. All participant groups discussed challenges related to resources, volunteer management, collaborations, research quality, and institutional acceptance of citizen science. The LHD representatives noted unique barriers due to legal and regulatory constraints and their role in using citizen science data to inform public health decisions. Strategies to increase institutional acceptance included enhancing policy support for citizen science, increasing volunteer management support, developing best practices for research quality, strengthening collaborations, and adopting lessons learned from relevant PHEPRR activities. There are challenges to overcome in building PHEPRR capacity for disaster citizen science but also opportunities for LHDs to leverage the growing body of work, knowledge, and resources in academic and community sectors.

Community Preparedness in Facing Flood Disaster in Martapura Timur District, Banjar Regency

This study is to examine community preparedness as an effort to mitigate flood disasters. Research related to community preparedness in dealing with disasters is needed to manage disasters in the future. Thus, this is the first step in building a disaster-aware community. So that when a disaster occurs, the community has the attitude and ability to understand how to prepare for a flood disaster. This type of research is quantitative, with data analysis used with quantitative descriptive methods. Data collection is used by directly collecting the results of questionnaires prepared in advance to the public and collecting documents related to research variables using survey methods. The research was conducted in Martapura Timur District, Banjar Regency. This study analyzes the community s preparedness data in dealing with floods by using data analysis of the percentage of community preparedness to face flood disasters. Community preparedness is calculated based on an interval classification of community preparedness scores based on five parameters: knowledge and attitudes, policies and guidelines, emergency response plans, disaster warning systems, and the ability to mobilize resources. The results of the scoring analysis regarding community preparedness in dealing with flood disasters in Martapura Timur district show that the highest answer score is mainly between the 8-15 interval with a frequency of 192 research respondents with a percentage of 56% of the total 344 research respondents. These results show that community preparedness in facing flood disasters is low.

To live or to die: cultural and social factors influencing flood preparedness in Nigerian cities

ABSTRACT There is an array of studies documenting community preparedness to flooding in towns and cities, particularly those in countries of the developing global south. However, fewer studies have investigated how cultural and social factors influence flood preparedness. In this article, we discuss the role of cultural and social attributes and how these can influence a community’s preparedness to extreme flood events, with a focus on selected urban communities in Nigeria. Study revealed that despite, the effects of floods on the urban poor residents, they are actively involved and engaged in finding ways to build their adaptive capacity and resilience against flood events by deploying different strategies inspired through cultural and social attributes.

Individual and community preparedness to disasters and pandemics in Idaho Falls: A cross sectional analysis.

Communities form an integral component of disaster and pandemic preparedness. This study aimed to explore disaster/pandemic preparedness-with a special focus on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-at the household and community level among residents within 50 miles of Idaho Falls. A structured online survey questionnaire was distributed, resulting in 924 responses from participants over 18 years of age. The results highlighted that 29 and 10 percent of participants were not prepared to deal with disasters and pandemics, respectively. Most participants trusted healthcare professionals (61 percent) for information about COVID-19, followed by scientists (46 percent) and local health departments (26 percent). The overall preparedness to disasters/pandemics at the community level was 50 percent. Males, participants older than 35 years, and participants with paid employment had higher odds of being prepared for disasters, whereas higher education was associated with higher preparedness for pandemics. This study highlights the need for better household and community disaster and pandemic preparedness.

An interdisciplinary agent-based evacuation model: integrating the natural environment, built environment, and social system for community preparedness and resilience

Abstract. Previous tsunami evacuation simulations have mostly been based on arbitrary assumptions or inputs adapted from non-emergency situations, but a few studies have used empirical behavior data. This study bridges this gap by integrating empirical decision data from surveys on local evacuation expectations and evacuation drills into an agent-based model of evacuation behavior for two Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) communities that would be inundated within 20–40 min after a CSZ earthquake. The model also considers the impacts of liquefaction and landslides from the earthquake on tsunami evacuation. Furthermore, we integrate the slope-speed component from least-cost distance to build the simulation model that better represents the complex nature of evacuations. The simulation results indicate that milling time and the evacuation participation rate have significant nonlinear impacts on tsunami mortality estimates. When people walk faster than 1 m s−1, evacuation by foot is more effective because it avoids traffic congestion when driving. We also find that evacuation results are more sensitive to walking speed, milling time, evacuation participation, and choosing the closest safe location than to other behavioral variables. Minimum tsunami mortality results from maximizing the evacuation participation rate, minimizing milling time, and choosing the closest safe destination outside of the inundation zone. This study's comparison of the agent-based model and the beat-the-wave (BtW) model finds consistency between the two models' results. By integrating the natural system, built environment, and social system, this interdisciplinary model incorporates substantial aspects of the real world into the multi-hazard agent-based platform. This model provides a unique opportunity for local authorities to prioritize their resources for hazard education, community disaster preparedness, and resilience plans.

Use of analytic hierarchy process and four-component instructional design for improving emergency response exercises

Emergency response exercises are a common means for improving the preparedness and resilience of organizations and communities in the face of disasters. It is important to develop an instructional design that can facilitate evaluation and the learner's approach. This study introduced a model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process to optimize instructional designs for emergency response exercises. This study aimed to propose a procedure to identify the necessary exercise targets and select suitable implementation methods by objectively summarizing the knowledge of emergency management professionals. This model was tested using fire and rescue exercises in a traditional market and an apartment complex in early 2021 in Hai Phong, Vietnam. Our model enables practitioners to determine the need for improvement in any element, allowing for continuous improvements in exercise programs.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Capacity Building Training for High School Students in Martapura, Banjar Regency

The Banjar Regency area is prone to flooding and is one of the disaster areas that can cause casualties and stress that triggers an increase in cardiovascular disease sufferers. This condition requires community preparedness for emergencies. The purpose of this community service activity is to train partners skills in cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills to be able to help victims of cardiac or respiratory arrest. The first implementation of this community service activity is carrying out an initial test to recognize emergency signs in heart and lung attacks, then providing an introduction to the concept of heart and lung emergency through lecture methods, discussion, and sharing related to real events of cardiopulmonary arrest in the community, then the final stage is evaluation of student abilities. The target of this community service activity was 40 students who are members of the High School Youth Red Cross in Martapura City, Banjar Regency. The results of this community service activity students understand material related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and providing basic life support counseling has a significant effect on student knowledge. Through this activity, students are expected to be able to provide a pre-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation simulation, and students can disseminate information to those closest to them.

Informing COVID-19 Response and Health Equity Agenda: Collection of Public Health Reports Articles on Emerging Viral Epidemics in the United States, 1878-2021.

Public Health Reports (PHR) is the oldest public health journal in the United States and has reported on viral epidemics since the 19th century. We describe the creation and analysis of a collection of historic PHR articles on emerging viral epidemics in the United States to inform public health response to COVID-19 and future epidemics. We searched databases from 1878 through 2021 using custom search strings and conducted a manual search for articles published under previously used names for PHR. We evaluated all articles based on inclusion/exclusion criteria and coded the final list for virus/disease, article type, public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and PubMed citation count. We identified 349 relevant articles including 130 commentaries/reviews/editorials, 79 epidemiologic reports, 75 research articles, and 65 case study/practice articles. The collection focused on influenza (n = 244), COVID-19 (n = 75), dengue (n = 14), and other emerging viruses, such as Zika and Ebola (n = 25). The collection included 48 articles on health disparities/health of various disadvantaged populations, highlighting such disparities as race and ethnicity (n = 22), socioeconomic status (n = 17), and age (n = 15). When we categorized articles by CDC public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities, we found that 207 addressed surveillance and epidemiologic investigation, 36 addressed community preparedness, and 28 addressed medical countermeasure dispensing and administration. The articles addressing surveillance and epidemiologic investigation, nonpharmaceutical interventions, and community preparedness had the most PubMed citations (799, 334, and 308, respectively). PHR's historic articles on US emerging viral epidemics covered a range of virus/disease types, emergency preparedness and response capabilities, and contribution types and were widely cited in the scholarly literature. This publicly available and continuously updated collection is a valuable resource for pandemic planning and response.

Sow the seeds of tsunami ready community in Indonesia: Lesson learned from Tanjung Benoa, Bali

UNESCO/IOC established the Ocean Decade Tsunami Program within the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science 2021–2030. The program is based on two overarching aspects: (1) exploring technological advances to reduce uncertainty and improve the timeliness of tsunami detection, and (2) promoting community preparedness efforts, including implementing the 100% Tsunami Ready for all at-risk coastlines by 2030. In Indonesia, there are 5744 prone to tsunamis villages. Tanjung Benoa, Bali, became the first village in Indonesia to have been recognized by UNESCO/IOC as a Tsunami-Ready. The process went through various stages and involved many parties. In search of leveraging elements to accelerate the process of implementing Tsunami Ready in Indonesia, we took the initiative to study and identify dynamic factors in Tanjung Benoa that are generic in nature and can be applied to other villages. We pinpoint 4 factors that must interplay dynamically within the science-policy-practice continuum interaction in advocating Tsunami Ready in Tanjung Benoa. Those factors are local leaders, stakeholders’ engagement, capacity intervention, and community readiness.

Gambaran Kesiapsiagaan Mayarakat Menghadapi Bencana Gunung Meletus di Dukuh Gebyog Samiran Selo Boyolali

Throughout 2018, Indonesia experienced 10 volcanic eruptions. The volcanic eruption became one of the domicile disasters in 2018. In 2019 there were 7 volcanic eruptions in the last 1 year. Volcanic eruptions that threaten and disrupt people's lives and livelihoods are caused by natural or non-natural factors that result in casualties, environmental damage, loss of property, and psychological impacts. Boyolali Regency is one of the districts that are prone to volcanic eruptions in Central Java Province. The number of relative disasters continues to increase from year to year in Boyolali City which has a location prone to volcanic disasters, especially in Selo Village. The purpose of this study was to describe the preparedness of the community to face the Mount Meletus disaster in Gebyog Samiran Village, Selo Boyolali. The type of research used is a descriptive research and the method used is a descriptive survey. The sampling technique in this study uses simple random sampling with a sample of 53 respondents. The results showed that based on the characteristics of the respondents, the majority were in the age range of 41-60 years (39.6%), female sex was (62.3%), education level was in elementary school (54.7%), and worked as a farmer (50.9%). Meanwhile, the majority of residents were in the ready category (37.7%). The description of community preparedness to face the Mount Eruption disaster in Gebyog Hamlet, Samiran Selo Boyolali, is mostly in the ready category (52.8%).

Utilization of Information and Communication Technology in the Tax Administration System to Increase Taxpayer Compliance

Adaptation to changes based on information and communication technology (ICT) causes obstacles and community preparedness for the 5.0 age, also known as society 5.0. This necessitates the digital revolution of all disciplines, including taxation. Government efforts to promote taxpayer compliance include creating a contemporary tax administration system encompassing organizational structure, business processes, information and communication technology, human resource management, and applying good governance. In addition to the tax administration system, taxpayer knowledge also influences the level of taxpayer compliance. This study's objective is to investigate the use of ICT in a modern tax administration system to enhance taxpayer compliance. The main theory in this research is positive accounting theory which was developed by Watt & Zimmerman in 1986. This study employs a qualitative approach and descriptive methodologies. This study demonstrates that the incorporation of ICT is a component of the modernization of the tax administration system. Application of the e-tax system, which comprises E-Registration, E-SPT, E-Filing, E-Payment, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Chatbots, and Biometric Identification, can constitute the use of ICT in the tax administration system. Ease of service, particularly in filling out SPT electronically, or e-SPT, is the method for boosting taxpayer compliance with the modernization of the tax administration system utilizing ICT.

Geographic information systems applications in India's public health are we moving towards the right direction?

Governments worldwide focus particularly on digital healthcare sensors for leveraging data and technology like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to improve governance and service delivery. Geoinformatics technology can help with epidemiological research and outbreak response, minimizing the health consequences in communities beforehand, during, and then after epidemic episodes. We can all agree that location and time play a crucial role in carrying out an efficient public health response. Since location information is essential for every stage of planning, response, and recovery, GIS helps the location-based support of public health preparedness programmes like support for decisions, resource allocation, communication and collaboration, and civic participation. GIS scales to situations ranging from adverse weather to pandemics. Public health professionals can coordinate their efforts with those of other organizations and external stakeholders due to maps and apps. The public health preparedness community may achieve significant strides by incorporating GIS data, models, communication and engagement centres, and location-centric apps. GIS technology can help with this efficient method for gathering data, performing analysis, where they are most needed, interacting with decision-makers, and finally achieving health equity can be created with the aid of a location-based strategy. During COVID-19, this reality was disseminated more extensively through the news media and the national, state, and local governments. This paper evaluates the application of GIS in the Indian public health system and the various aspects of public health where GIS may emerge as a game-changer for future policy decisions.

Frightened or familiarised? Permanent residents' and second‐home owners' risk perceptions of extreme weather events

AbstractThe number and severity of extreme weather events have been increasing globally. Given the vulnerabilities of second homes to natural disasters, it is important to learn how their owners consider the related risks. This paper investigates the extreme weather‐event risk perceptions and their preconditions between second‐home owners and local people in the Little Beskid mountains in Poland. The results show that, despite significant differences in social, demographic and presence–absence terms, the two populations were very similar with respect to risk perception. It then lays the ground for community preparedness and successful recovery from extreme weather hazards.

The role of digital literacy capability of Babinsa Kodim 0705/Magelang to improve community preparedness for natural disasters

The intensity of disaster events that occur in the Kodim 0705/Magelang area is high. Therefore, Babinsa, who serves in the Kodim 0705/Magelang area as the spearhead who is in direct contact with the community in villages, has a central role in increasing community preparedness in the village under his guidance. To support the implementation of this task, Babinsa must have digital literacy capabilities in the face of natural disasters that occur. This research aims to analyze the role of the digital literacy capability of Babinsa, who serve in the Kodim 0705/Magelang area, in improving community preparedness in the village under their guidance in the face of natural disasters. The method used in this research is the library research method, where in this method the collection of reference sources related to the problem that is the topic of research is carried out, and then from the reference sources it is carefully understood so that the research results are obtained. The results showed that the Chapter’s digital literacy capability plays a very important role when faced with natural disasters, and advances in digital technology can improve commun ity preparedness to deal with natural disasters.

People's Response to Disaster: A Population Based Study of the Victims of 2018 Flood in Kerala, South India.

Natural disasters cause much hardship and suffering, loss of property, and increased morbidity and mortality amongst those affected. Timely and effective response for relief and rescue services go a long way in mitigating these consequences. This population-based cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic flood that occurred in Kerala, South India, in 2018, documents the experiences of the victims, the community's preparedness, and response to the disaster. Flood waters reached levels of over four feet within the premises of 55% of the houses and nearly 97% had water flooding inside their homes. More than 93% of the households were evacuated to safer locations and relief camps. The elderly and those with chronic illnesses were the worst sufferers, unable to access medical aid. Many families (62%) received help from neighbors. However, the loss of lives was minimal, and could be attributed to the immediate response of the local community in rescue and relief work. This experience underscores the vital importance of the local community as first responders, and their preparedness for disasters.