Risk Reduction Activities Research Articles

ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Background: Communication breakdown is one of the major problems that occur during disaster event, despite its importance in disaster management. In recent years, the social media, which has gained its popularity and expanded its function, provides a promising solution in disaster management over traditional communication. This paper aims to determine the role of social media in disaster management cycle and to create a framework for the application. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted systematically using PubMed, Google Scholar, Science-direct and Scopus with keywords of role of social media OR social media AND disaster event OR natural disaster. The literature searched was limited to documented natural disaster for the past ten years, open source articles, original article and reported in English language. Primary screening of title and abstract involved 128 articles, from there, 90 articles were excluded. Secondary eligibility screening of the remaining 38 articles, resulted in 14 articles which were then synthesized and reviewed in this manuscript. Result: A framework was produced pertaining to role of social media according to disaster management cycle. In mitigation phase the role of social media includes incorporation of risk reduction and preventative activities. Further into preparedness phase, social media provides disaster warnings, implement crisis communication activities and signal/detect disaster. Further to response phase, the role includes deliver and analyse news coverage of disaster, provide and receive disaster respond information, send and receive request for assistance and reconnect family members. Finally, in the recovery phase, social media raises donation and awareness, encourage volunteerism and provide/receive information on recovery and rebuilding process. This review highlighted the dynamic and complexity of social media functions in providing better communication approach during disaster management. Conclusion: Social media certainly has the capacity to become an alternative mode of communication to complement traditional communication during disaster. However, drawbacks from using social media and its implications in disaster management need to be considered as well. Keywords: social media; social network, disaster, communication

Acceptability of Localized Cancer Risk Reduction Interventions Among Individuals at Average or High Risk for Cancer.

Individuals at high risk for cancer, including those already diagnosed with premalignant lesions, can potentially benefit from chemopreventive interventions to reduce cancer risk. However, uptake and acceptability have been hindered due to the risk of systemic toxicity and other adverse effects. Locally delivered chemopreventive agents, where direct action on the primary organ may limit systemic toxicity, are emerging as an option for high-risk individuals. While a number of clinical trials support the development of chemopreventive agents, it is crucial to understand the factors and barriers that influence their acceptability and use. We conducted 36 focus groups with 198 individuals at average and high risk of breast/ovarian, gynecologic, and head/neck/oral and lung cancers to examine the perceptions and acceptability of chemopreventive agents. Participants' willingness to use chemopreventive agents was influenced by several factors, including perceived risk of cancer, skepticism around prevention, previous knowledge of chemopreventive agents, support from trusted sources of health information, participation in other cancer-related risk-reduction activities, previous experience with similar modalities, cost, regimen, side effects, and perceived effectiveness of the preventive intervention. Our findings indicate that individuals may be more receptive to locally delivered chemopreventive agents if they perceive themselves to be at high risk for cancer and are given the necessary information regarding regimen and side effects to make an informed decision. Clinical trials that collect additional patient-centered data including side effects and how these interventions fit into an individual's lifestyle are imperative to improve uptake of chemopreventive agents.

Experiences of people with physical disabilities before, during, and after tropical cyclones in Queensland, Australia

This study investigated experiences of people with physical disabilities in recent severe cyclones affecting Queensland, Australia. The aim was to explore factors that influence the capacity of people with physical disabilities to prepare, evacuate, and recover from cyclone events, to inform disability inclusive disaster risk reduction activities. A qualitative study consisting of semi-structured interviews was conducted with twenty people with physical disabilities who had experienced a recent severe tropical cyclone in northern Queensland, Australia. Thematic analysis using an inductive approach was used to interpret interview findings. The study demonstrated that the interaction between the health condition and key environmental factors (cyclone impact, logistical support, and psychosocial support) and personal factors that mediate those environmental factors (readiness, managing one's own health, financial autonomy, and personal resilience) influenced the capacity of people with physical disabilities to manage their wellbeing before, during, and after cyclone events. Disability inclusive disaster risk reduction strategies need to focus on strengthening key environmental and personal factors that have a fluctuating influence on each individual's ability to manage their wellbeing at the different time points over the course of a cyclone event. Hence, people with physical disabilities and their supports need to be actively involved in disaster planning and implementation to minimise vulnerability and optimise resilience for this population during cyclones.

Aspirin: Does it Have a Role for Chemoprevention of Hepatocellular Carcinoma?

Aspirin: Does it Have a Role for Chemoprevention of Hepatocellular Carcinoma?

Flooding in the James Bay region of Northern Ontario, Canada: Learning from traditional knowledge of Kashechewan First Nation

Traditional Knowledge has the potential to increase our understanding of many kinds of ecological phenomenon including floods. This article offers insights into the nature of spring flooding and its impacts in the southwestern James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada from the perspectives of residents of Kashechewan First Nation. This article highlights the important contribution of Kashechewan First Nation's traditional knowledge to understanding and reducing disaster risks in this flood-prone region. Through a collaboration with Kashechewan First Nation, traditional knowledge was documented in 2016 during 17 in-depth interviews, participatory flood mapping workshops, on-site walks, and photography. The results of this study show that spring flooding has occurred seasonally over many generations in the region and has not increased significantly over time. However, the timing and extent of spring flooding has changed in recent years with warming temperatures in the region (i.e., earlier spring, snowmelt, and rapid runoff) and impacts are exacerbated by landscape and resource developments (e.g., inadequate infrastructure, substandard ring-shaped dyke wall, and downriver winter ice road) which have increased the frequency and scale of spring ice breakup and ice jams. These ecological changes have created the increased risk of flooding for the community of Kashechewan. The methodological approach which used participatory techniques may be useful for ongoing flood monitoring and disaster risk reduction activities in southwestern James Bay and elsewhere among the Canadian Indigenous communities.

Disease burden attributable to endocrine-disrupting chemicals exposure in China: A case study of phthalates

While it has been acknowledged that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is associated with human diseases, the overall disease burden attributable to the exposure to a specific EDC has rarely been evaluated. Based on existing models for assessing probabilities of causation and a comprehensive review of available data, we analyzed the burden of three diseases, i.e., male infertility, adult obesity, and diabetes, among the general Chinese population resulting from exposure to phthalates. Our estimation indicates that exposure to phthalates is associated with ~2.50 million cases of the three diseases across China in 2010, causing ~57.2 billion Chinese Yuan (equivalent to ~9 billion US dollars) of health care costs in a year. Male infertility has the largest number of cases, followed by adult obesity and diabetes. Based on these phthalate-specific estimates, we further estimated that the total disease cost due to exposure to the overall EDCs amounted to ~429.43 billion Chinese Yuan in China in 2010, accounting for 1.07% of nationwide gross domestic product (GDP). When comparing our results with an earlier estimate for the European Union (EU) member countries, we find that exposure to phthalates leads to quite a similar disease burden per unit of GDP in both regions. Our study illustrates the considerable socio-economic impact of EDC exposure on human society, implying the imperative need for global risk reduction actions on EDCs, especially in view of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Clinician Response to Aberrant Urine Drug Test Results of Patients Prescribed Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain.

Urine drug testing (UDT) is recommended for patients who are prescribed opioid medications, but little is known about the various strategies clinicians use to respond to aberrant UDT results. We sought to examine changes in opioid prescribing and implementation of other risk reduction activities following an aberrant UDT. In a national cohort of Veterans Affairs patients with new initiations of opioid therapy through 2013, we identified a random sample of 100 patients who had aberrant positive UDTs (results positive for nonprescribed/illicit substance), 100 who had aberrant negative UDTs (results negative for prescribed opioid), and 100 who had expected UDT results. We examined medical record data for opioid prescribing changes and risk reduction strategies in the 12 months following UDT. Following an aberrant UDT, 17.5% of clinicians documented planning to discontinue or change the opioid dose and 52.5% initiated another strategy to reduce opioid-related risk. In multivariate analyses, variables associated with a planned change in opioid prescription status were having an aberrant positive UDT (odds ratio [OR], 30.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.92-160.10) and higher prescription opioid dose (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.01-1.02). The only variable associated with implementation of other risk reduction activities was having an aberrant positive UDT (OR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.16-0.55). The majority of clinicians enacted some type of opioid prescribing or other change to reduce risk following an aberrant UDT, and the action depended on whether the result was an aberrant positive or aberrant negative UDT. Experimental studies are needed to develop and test strategies for managing aberrant UDT results.

A Sentinel-1-based clustering analysis for geo-hazards mitigation at regional scale: a case study in Central Italy

In the last decade satellite remote sensing has become an effective tool for monitoring geo-hazard-induced ground motions, and has been increasingly used by the scientific community. Direct and indirect costs due to geo-hazards are currently rising, causing serious socio-economics and casualty losses. Therefore, creating a priority list turns out to be essential to highlight the most relevant ground deformations and to better focus risk management practices at regional scale. The Sentinel-1 constellation, thanks to the 6-days repeatability and the free availability of the data, allows to easily update the geo-hazard-induced ground motions, compared to other kind of satellite sensors. In this work, a hot-spot-like method is presented by filtering a large stack of Sentinel-1 images processed by means of the SqueeSAR algorithm. Three periods, with six months repetitiveness, have been analysed in order to evaluate the behaviour and evolution of deformation clusters. The target area is Tuscany Region, located in the central part of Italy and affected by a wide gamma of geohazards, ranging from landslides to large subsidence areas. The final output is a geo-database of ground motions that can be used by regional authorities to prioritize and to effectively plan local risk reduction actions.

Implementation of disaster risk reduction and management policies in a school setting in Lao PDR: a case study

BackgroundLao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) formulated the National Strategic Plan for Disaster Risk Management to reduce risks to the communities. This plan was eventually integrated into the school curriculum, but its implementation has never been evaluated. This study aimed to clarify the present situation to inform better implementation strategies on disaster risk reduction and management in a school setting focused on fire disasters in Lao PDR.MethodsA case study was conducted in Vientiane and five provinces in 2017. Key informant interviews were conducted among 52 policy implementers from the Disaster Management Committee (DMC), the education, and fire service sectors at national, provincial, district and school levels. Observations were done among eight secondary schools, and questionnaires were answered by 869 grade 7 students. Interview transcripts underwent content analysis using the 12 influential components of successful policy implementation and the 3 pillars of comprehensive school safety framework. The level of student knowledge on fire prevention and response was examined.ResultsThree themes emerged: policy content and dissemination, factors which affect policy implementation, and impacts of policy implementation facilitating factors include effective coordination and ownership among the national DMC members for scaling up disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities, and strong support from the central government. Barriers include unclear provisions in the national legislation, unclear mandates especially on leading the program, poor monitoring system, insufficient human resources, and lack of public-private partnerships. All the study schools conducted DRR classes and designated a disaster assembly point. More than 80% of the students correctly answered items on fire response.ConclusionThe policy was widely disseminated and implemented in all levels across sectors among the study sites except for some rural areas. Although there is a lack of national legislation and clear mandates, strong leadership, and ownership of the implementers facilitated policy implementation. All the study schools conducted fire prevention activities. Most students knew how to appropriately respond to fire. A comprehensive school-based DRR program would be beneficial in improving student knowledge and practices on DRR.

258. Preliminary survey on incidents and near-missed in Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Purpose This work presents the preliminary results of a survey made amongst medical physicists on a voluntary basis about the incidents and near-misses they observed in their MRI sites. The purpose is to share as much as possible personal experience, in order to identify the most common risk factors. Methods This preliminary survey merges the results of two information sources: (1) collection of adverse events and near miss reports carried out among 120 participants of an MRI safety course held in Bolzano in 2013, (2) recent survey amongst medical physicists member of the AIFM working group on Advanced QC in MR, through two specifically conceived models. One model was on minor adverse events concerning patient abnormal heating. The other was on near missed adverse events concerning MRI unsafe or conditional objects. The data were collected anonymously. Results The total reported events were 28. The most common involved projectile objects. On a total of 23 of those events, 2 involved oxygen cylinders, 5 floor polishers, 16 other objects. The persons directly responsible of the reported events were: 7 cleaner people, 5 from anaesthesia units, 7 RM personnel, 2 specialised external personnel, 4 generic external personnel, 3 others (see Fig. 1). The reporters estimation, when present, indicated the following as potential remedies: training (16 cases), metal detector use (2 cases), other (5 cases). Conclusions The implementation of a database of adverse events in MR, to be shared amongst physicists responsible for safety and related staff training, could represent a valuable tool for implementing risk reduction actions efficiently.

Strengthening National Platforms for Effective Use of Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction

The Guiding Principles of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 state that “(a) Each State has the primary responsibility to prevent and reduce disaster risk, including through international, regional, subregional, transboundary and bilateral cooperation,” and “(b) Disaster risk reduction requires that responsibilities be shared by central Governments and relevant national authorities, sectors and stakeholders, as appropriate to their national circumstances and systems of governance.” The need for a multi-sectoral national mechanism for disaster reduction was recognized during the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) 1990–2000, and the responsibility was inherited to the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 56/195, which was adopted in December 2001, called upon Governments to establish national platforms or focal points for disaster reduction. At the Global Forum on Science and Technology for Disaster Resilience, held in Tokyo in November 2017, a plenary session focusing on National Platforms was organized and ways for the effective integration of the knowledge and expertise available within the national science and technology community in the national disaster risk reduction activities were discussed. This paper examines how the idea of national platform for disaster reduction evolved since the beginning of IDNDR. This paper further reviews and illustrates the previous discussions on National Platforms from 2005 to 2015 as well as existing guidelines on National Platforms. Based on the discussions carried out during the Forum, five recommendations adopted by the Forum are introduced.

Leaveism in English and Welsh police forces: baseline reference values.

Leaveism is a recently coined term for alternative attendance behaviours to sickness absence and sickness presence. Initial studies suggest that leaveism might mask the true extent of sickness in organizations and represent a response to perceived job insecurity, the belief that sickness absence could harm promotion prospects, and low job gratification. To generate baseline reference values for leaveism in English and Welsh police forces to facilitate benchmarking and risk-reduction activities. Officers represented by the Police Federation of England and Wales contributed survey data on the incidence of three leaveism dimensions in the year to February 2016. We applied descriptive statistics to characterize leaveism and Pearson's χ2 tests to examine differences in incidence rates by socio- and occupational-demographic factors. Annual leave or rest days were used to take time off from work due to physical health complaints by 8499/14 451 (59%) of respondents and psychological health complaints by 5983/14 326 (42%) (dimension 1). Work was taken home that could not be completed in normal working hours by 7515/14 959 (50%) of respondents (dimension 2), and 5974/14 963 (40%) reported having worked while on annual leave in order to catch up with work (dimension 3). Incidence rates on dimensions 2 and 3 differed markedly by rank, with higher ranks reporting higher rates. These sector-wide findings suggest that leaveism is a cause for concern. Further research is required to identify sector-specific causes of leaveism with a view to informing interventions to tackle the problem.

The Purpose of the Statistical Database on the Great East Japan Earthquake

The Statistical Database on the Great East Japan Earthquake (SDJE) has been developed as an information resource to assist in research and preparations for future disasters in Japan and other countries. The SDJE was initiated in January 2016 by the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) of Tohoku University. As a university in the affected area of the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE), Tohoku University acknowledges with gratitude the participation in GEJE relief and recovery activities of organizations and people from elsewhere in the country and abroad, and in response has undertaken a number of initiatives to provide scientific information and the lessons from the GEJE. For example, IRIDeS hosts and acts as the secretariat of the Global Centre for Disaster Statistics and has now developed this new database. The SDJE provides comprehensive data on the GEJE in both English and Japanese, drawing widely on data originally provided by the national and local governments and private organizations, including considerable contents taken from the white papers of Japan’s Cabinet Office and other national ministries. The data coverage extends from the time of the GEJE to currently produced materials. In addition, a “Link Collection” of Japanese statistics related to disasters is provided to support statistical analysis of the social and economic effect of the GEJE, for example through correlation analysis, and to assist researchers to better understand the context of the disaster and the disaster statistics. It is hoped that many people worldwide will find the content of the database useful for disaster risk reduction activities.

Vulnerability Characteristics of Tsunamis in Indonesia: Analysis of the Global Centre for Disaster Statistics Database

Regional disaster data are important for understanding the characteristics of disasters and for identifying potential mitigation measures. However, many countries have no official disaster database that includes information such as numbers of deaths or damaged buildings for each disaster event. The Global Centre for Disaster Statistics (GCDS) was established to assist countries and organizations in the collection of disaster data. At present, a significant amount of tsunami disaster data are available from Indonesia, which will be used to demonstrate its application for analyzing vulnerability characteristics of historical tsunamis. There are 53 data points covering 13 tsunami events between the year 1861 and 2014. Based on data availability, five tsunami events, namely the 1977 Sumba, the 2004 Indian Ocean, the 2006 Java, the 2010 Mentawai, and the 2011 Great East Japan, were selected. Numbers of deaths and damaged buildings were used in combination with hazard data to estimate vulnerability, defined as the ratio between maximum flow depth against death and building damage ratios. Numbers of evacuees were initially used to estimate actual numbers of exposed population but it was later discovered that this parameter overestimated the exposed population in certain cases. As a result, this study presents the vulnerability characteristics of people and buildings in Indonesia, exposed to unusual or extreme tsunamis, mostly in a condition without or with limited access to official warnings. In brief, a maximum flow depth of 5 m caused an approximate 100% death ratio in the majority of Indonesian tsunamis in this study. On the other hand, death ratio in the 2011 Japan tsunami was limited to 10% because of the early warning and high disaster awareness. Effective disaster risk reduction activities such as official warnings, evacuations, and tsunami education were observed for certain locations. Lastly, adding hazard and population data at the village level is recommended for improving the collection of future tsunami disaster data for the GCDS database.

High human influence on beach response to tropical cyclones in small islands: Saint-Martin Island, Lesser Antilles

Using multi-date satellite imagery and field observations, this paper assesses the inferred impacts of September 2017 cyclones on the beaches of Saint-Martin Island. Twenty-two beaches out of 30 predominantly exhibited shoreline retreat, with the highest retreat value (−166.45 m) recorded on the north-eastern coast. While erosion predominated on beaches and at the sand dune front, inner areas generally exhibited accretion, with sand sheets (up to 135 m from the pre-cyclone vegetation line) indicating landward sediment transfer. Natural back-reef beaches exhibited the formation of new beach ridges, marked (up to 2 m) upward growth and alongshore beach extension. The high spatial variability of inferred impacts is attributed to the cyclone's track, coast exposure, beach configuration and, importantly, human-driven environmental change. Whereas vegetation removal exacerbated marine inundation and inhibited the vertical accretion of beaches, shoreline hardening aggravated wave-induced sediment loss while also inhibiting sediment deposition. Four beach response modes are distinguished. Based on findings, we identified three major areas of action for risk reduction and adaptation to climate change. Depending on beach response and site specificities, relocation and the determination of set-back lines, coastal buffer restoration, or engineered structures' upgrading should be prioritized.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HURRICANES IN THE UNITED STATES - A REVIEW

ABSTRACT Hurricanes are unpredictable phenomena which are associated with a significant amount of economic losses and can leave a long-lasting damaging effect on the local communities. This study reviews the existing research on economic impact of hurricane damages in the U.S. Although majority of the studies in the literature found the negative impact of hurricane damages dissipate over the years, the economic losses generally depend on the existing state of economic growth of the country and/or the economic conditions of the city/community when the hurricane hits. The study concludes that pre-disaster risk reduction activities are more effective than post-disaster recovery effort in reducing property loss and damages from hurricane. Keywords Hurricane, Disaster, Economic, Community, Impact, Coastal, Property, Damages, Climate, Population, FEMA

Use of scenario ensembles for deriving seismic risk

High death tolls from recent earthquakes show that seismic risk remains high globally. While there has been much focus on seismic hazard, large uncertainties associated with exposure and vulnerability have led to more limited analyses of the potential impacts of future earthquakes. We argue that as both exposure and vulnerability are reducible factors of risk, assessing their importance and variability allows for prioritization of the most effective disaster risk-reduction (DRR) actions. We address this through earthquake ensemble modeling, using the example of Nepal. We model fatalities from 90 different scenario earthquakes and establish whether impacts are specific to certain scenario earthquakes or occur irrespective of the scenario. Our results show that for most districts in Nepal impacts are not specific to the particular characteristics of a single earthquake, and that total modeled impacts are skewed toward the minimum estimate. These results suggest that planning for the worst-case scenario in Nepal may place an unnecessarily large burden on the limited resources available for DRR. We also show that the most at-risk districts are predominantly in rural western Nepal, with ∼9.5 million Nepalis inhabiting districts with higher seismic risk than Kathmandu. Our proposed approach provides a holistic consideration of seismic risk for informing contingency planning and allows the relative importance of the reducible components of risk (exposure and vulnerability) to be estimated, highlighting factors that can be targeted most effectively. We propose this approach for informing contingency planning, especially in locations where information on the likelihood of future earthquakes is inadequate.

Intermediate predator na\xefvet\xe9 and sex-skewed vulnerability predict the impact of an invasive higher predator

The spread of invasive species continues to reduce biodiversity across all regions and habitat types globally. However, invader impact prediction can be nebulous, and approaches often fail to integrate coupled direct and indirect invader effects. Here, we examine the ecological impacts of an invasive higher predator on lower trophic groups, further developing methodologies to more holistically quantify invader impact. We employ functional response (FR, resource use under different densities) and prey switching experiments to examine the trait- and density-mediated impacts of the invasive mosquitofish Gambusia affinis on an endemic intermediate predator Lovenula raynerae (Copepoda). Lovenula raynerae effectively consumed larval mosquitoes, but was naïve to mosquitofish cues, with attack rates and handling times of the intermediate predator unaffected by mosquitofish cue-treated water. Mosquitofish did not switch between male and female prey, consistently displaying a strong preference for female copepods. We thus demonstrate a lack of risk-reduction activity in the presence of invasive fish by L. raynerae and, in turn, high susceptibility of such intermediate trophic groups to invader impact. Further, we show that mosquitofish demonstrate sex-skewed predator selectivity towards intermediate predators of mosquito larvae, which may affect predator population demographics and, perversely, increase disease vector proliferations. We advocate the utility of FRs and prey switching combined to holistically quantify invasive species impact potential on native organisms at multiple trophic levels.

Cause-related marketing for disaster risk reduction in the tourism industry: A comparative analysis of prevention- and recovery-related campaigns

Abstract An increasing number of companies are using Cause-related Marketing (CrM) to fund-raise in support of disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities. This study presents a comparative analysis of two CrM campaigns promoted by a tourism firm in order to improve disaster prevention and recovery of the destination. The results highlight that European tourists belonging to generation Y process prevention- and recovery-related stimuli in different ways. Prevention-related campaigns appear to be generally more effective than recovery-related campaigns. Interestingly, taking in consideration only less-involved to the cause consumers, the intention to participate to the campaign slightly increases in the presence of recovery-related instead of prevention-related cause suggesting further investigation focused on this trend. Theoretical contributions refer to the increased understanding of how tourists elaborate the concept of prevention and recovery from a message framing theory perspective. The paper concludes with managerial implications and opportunities to leverage disaster-oriented CrM campaigns in order to protect hazard-exposed communities.

Enhancing earthquake resilience of communities: an action by women’s groups in Nepal

Purpose Nepal is exposed to frequent earthquakes. There is a felt need for promoting disaster risk reduction action at community level, promoting existing community cohesion for use in disaster preparedness and replication of positive experiences. Involvement of women has been identified as one of the effective ways to motivate and mobilize communities to reduce disaster risks and enhance disaster preparedness. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Frontline program was implemented in the four communities of Chandragiri municipality during 2015 with support from GNDR. Preparing the local risk profile and the action plans to reduce those identified risk was the main approach of the Frontline program. Findings During the Frontline survey, the community identified earthquake as the top threat in the community and non-structural mitigation as one of the priority actions. The members of the women network started advocating for earthquake safe communities and implementing the risk reduction measures. This action has developed understanding of the process, scientifically and systematically, and boosted their confidence with important new technical skills and new leadership roles in their community to mitigate the earthquake risk. Originality/value This case study records the experience of the women’s group in Nepal using their NSM learning in their own houses to reduce vulnerability. They started vulnerability reduction with their own kitchens and bedrooms by fastening their cupboards, frames, freezes, gas cylinders, etc. This led to implementing the mitigation measures in their locality and outside their community. This has been a step toward achieving a safer community through safer houses and schools.