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Disasters
Kinds of Disasters Terms modified by Disasters Selected AbstractsTHE MORECAMBE BAY COCKLE PICKERS: MARKET FAILURE OR GOVERNMENT DISASTER?ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2004John Meadowcroft The tragic deaths of twenty-three young Chinese cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay on the Lancashire coast have been attributed to the machinations of global capitalism. In fact, these migrant workers came to the UK to escape the poverty created by socialism in China and were working under a regime of state-regulated access to the cockle beds. An alternative market-orientated regime of private property rights in the cockle beds might have prevented the tragedy. [source] DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND HUMANITARIAN AID , THE MEDICAL RESPONSE TO THE INDIAN OCEAN DISASTER: LESSONS LEARNT, RECOMMENDATIONS AND RACS ACTIONSANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 1-2 2006Bruce P. Waxman FRACS No abstract is available for this article. [source] Population-based Triage Management in Response to Surge-capacity Requirements during a Large-scale Bioevent DisasterACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2006Frederick M. Burkle Jr MD Both the naturally occurring and deliberate release of a biological agent in a population can bring catastrophic consequences. Although these bioevents have similarities with other disasters, there also are major differences, especially in the approach to triage management of surge capacity resources. Conventional mass-casualty events use uniform methods for triage on the basis of severity of presentation and do not consider exposure, duration, or infectiousness, thereby impeding control of transmission and delaying recognition of victims requiring immediate care. Bioevent triage management must be population based, with the goal of preventing secondary transmission, beginning at the point of contact, to control the epidemic outbreak. Whatever triage system is used, it must first recognize the requirements of those Susceptible but not exposed, those Exposed but not yet infectious, those Infectious, those Removed by death or recovery, and those protected by Vaccination or prophylactic medication (SEIRV methodology). Everyone in the population falls into one of these five categories. This article addresses a population approach to SEIRV-based triage in which decision making falls under a two-phase system with specific measures of effectiveness to increase likelihood of medical success, epidemic control, and conservation of scarce resources. [source] Crisis Discourses and Technology Regulation in a Weak State: Responses to a Pesticide Disaster in HondurasDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2003Kees Jansen Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in October 1998, leaving a trail of death, injury and devastating damage. As it tore through the country, the hurricane damaged a number of warehouses which contained pesticides, resulting in the discharge of more than 70 tonnes of pesticides into the environment. This article explores the responses of the Honduran state and international relief agencies to this event. It analyses the use of crisis discourses and their role in the reconstruction process, arguing that crisis discourses may legitimize political rule in the context of a weak state. It goes on to make the point that the shaping of crisis discourses is not the exclusive terrain of politicians but necessarily involves technical experts. [source] From Disaster to Sustainable Civil Society: The Kobe ExperienceDISASTERS, Issue 1 2004Rajib Shaw Nine years after the Kobe earthquake in Japan, social issues are still prominent, and the rehabilitation process is still ongoing. The earthquake caused two major changes in Japanese society: an increase in voluntary and non-government activities, and the enhancement of cooperation between local government and the residents' association. People's participation in the decision-making process was a significant achievement. To sustain the efforts generated after the earthquake, the Kobe Action Plan was formulated and tested in different disaster scenarios. The current study suggests that civil societies in urban areas are sustainable if, first, the activities related to daily services are provided by the resident's associations; and second, these are linked to economic incentives. Leadership plays a crucial role in collective decision-making. Creation of the support system is essential for long-term sustainability of civil-society activities. These observations are exemplified in the case study in Nishi Suma, one of the worst-affected areas in the Kobe city. [source] Elements of Resilience After the World Trade Center Disaster: Reconstituting New York City's Emergency Operations CentreDISASTERS, Issue 1 2003James M. Kendra In this paper we examine the reconstitution of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) after its destruction in the World Trade Center attack, using that event to highlight several features of resilience. The paper summarises basic EOC functions, and then presents conceptions of resilience as understood from several disciplinary perspectives, noting that work in these fields has sought to understand how a natural or social system that experiences disturbance sustains its functional processes. We observe that, although the physical EOC facility was destroyed, the organisation that had been established to manage crises in New York City continued, enabling a response that drew on the resources of New York City and neighbouring communities, states and the federal government. Availability of resources , which substituted for redundancy of personnel, equipment and space , pre-existing relationships that eased communication challenges as the emergency developed and the continuation of organisational patterns of response integration and role assignments were among the factors that contributed to resilience following the attack. [source] Nutritional Response to the 1998 Bangladesh Flood Disaster: Sphere Minimum Standards in Disaster ResponseDISASTERS, Issue 3 2002Max R. O'Donnell In this study we use a cross,sectional survey to evaluate the nutritional response to the 1998 Bangladesh Flood Disaster by 15 relief agencies using standards developed by the Sphere Project. The Sphere Project is a recent attempt by agencies around the world to establish universal minimum standards for the purpose of ensuring quality and accountability in disaster response. The main outcomes measured were resources allocated to disaster relief, types of relief activities and percentage of agencies meeting selected Sphere food aid and nutrition indicators. Although the process of nutritional response was measured, specific nutritional and health outcomes were not assessed. This review found that self,reported disaster and nutritional resources varied widely between implementing agencies, ranging from US$58,947 to $15,908,712. The percentage of resources these agencies allocated to food aid and nutritional response also varied, ranging from approximately 6 to 99 per cent of total resources. Agencies met between 8 and 83 per cent of the specific Sphere indicators which were assessed. Areas in which performance was poor included preliminary nutritional analysis; beneficiary participation and feedback; disaster preparedness during non,emergency times; monitoring of local markets and impact assessment. Agencies were generally successful in areas of core humanitarian response, such as targeting the vulnerable (83 per cent) and monitoring and evaluating the process of disaster response (75 per cent). The results here identify both strengths and gaps in the quality of humanitarian response in developing nations such as Bangladesh. However, they also raise the question of implementing a rights,based approach to disaster response in nations without a commitment to meeting positive human rights in non,disaster times. [source] Interest in Preventive Health Topics Changed in New York after the Disaster on September 11, 2001ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 4 2003Ingrid Llovera MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] Digital Disaster, Cyber Security, and the Copenhagen SchoolINTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2009Lene Hansen This article is devoted to an analysis of cyber security, a concept that arrived on the post-Cold War agenda in response to a mixture of technological innovations and changing geopolitical conditions. Adopting the framework of securitization theory, the article theorizes cyber security as a distinct sector with a particular constellation of threats and referent objects. It is held that "network security" and "individual security" are significant referent objects, but that their political importance arises from connections to the collective referent objects of "the state,""society,""the nation," and "the economy." These referent objects are articulated as threatened through three distinct forms of securitizations: hypersecuritization, everyday security practices, and technifications. The applicability of the theoretical framework is then shown through a case-study of what has been labeled the first war in cyber space against Estonian public and commercial institutions in 2007. [source] The Effects of Values on Worries Associated With Acute Disaster: A Naturally Occurring Quasi-Experiment,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2004Dwight D. Frink On April 12, 1995, a bomb exploded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, destroying a federal office building, killing 168 people, and upending American notions of safety and security in the heartland. Using data collected before, immediately after, and 1 year after the bombing from 3 samples living within 25 miles of the explosion in a naturally occurring quasi-experiment, research examined effects of values on people's worries in the context of a macrolevel traumatic event. High self-transcendence and conservation values correlated with higher macro-worries immediately after vs. before the explosion, but these worries were lower 1 year later. Findings indicate that values emphasizing broader social perspectives were associated with higher macrolevel worries, while values emphasizing one's own life and welfare were not. [source] Disability and posttraumatic stress disorder in disaster relief workers responding to september 11, 2001 World Trade Center DisasterJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2009Susan Evans Abstract Empirical evidence suggests that social and occupational disability plays a significant role in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this study was to assess the role of social/occupational disability and to identify predictors of the development of PTSD in a group of disaster relief workers (DRWs) who had been deployed to the World Trade Center (WTC) following September 11, 2001. Eight hundred forty-two utility workers completed a battery of comprehensive tests measuring PTSD and social occupational functioning. Results indicated a significant association between PTSD symptoms and impaired social/occupational functioning. Symptomatic workers were also more likely to have a history of trauma, panic disorder, and depression. Those with a history of trauma, depression, generalized anxiety disorder or panic reported significantly more disability than those without a psychiatric history. Careful screening of PTSD and social/occupational functioning in DRWs following a disaster is warranted so that early treatment can be undertaken to prevent a chronic and disabling course. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 65: 1,11, 2009. [source] Disaster and Preparedness: Lessons from Hurricane RitaJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2008Bradley W. Mayer This paper investigates the lessons learned and preparedness behaviours of businesses in the southeast Texas region affected by Hurricane Rita. The data were collected through an e-mail survey sent to businesses in the southeast Texas region affected by Hurricane Rita. Findings from the study indicate that the majority of businesses took only ,few' or ,some' preparedness measures before the hurricane. However, those businesses that experienced impacts and losses due to Hurricane Rita report that they are now taking greater preparedness measures. This study identifies specific areas that should be addressed in a disaster preparedness plan based on information gathered from organizations that went through a major disaster first-hand. [source] Small Business in the Face of Crisis: Identifying Barriers to Recovery from a Natural Disaster,JOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2006Rodney C. Runyan The crisis management literature has not dealt in depth with small business response to disasters. This study takes a qualitative approach to consider how small businesses respond to and recover from a large disaster, by interviewing stakeholders in five different communities in the Gulf Coast of the United States. Events that are considered to be crises in nature are usually characterized by high consequence, low probability, ambiguity, and decision making time pressure. Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath caused small business owners in the U.S. Gulf region to experience each of these. Findings include lack of planning by small business; vulnerability to cash flow interruption; lack of access to capital for recovery; problems caused by federal assistance; and serious infrastructure problems impeding recovery. [source] August 2003: Reflections on a French Summer DisasterJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2005Why were its medical consequences so serious? The heat wave of August 2003 caused a hecatomb in France. Its extent and consequences (INVS 2003) require analysis in order to understand why such a situation occurred and how to avoid that the same medical disaster will be caused in the future by identical climatic conditions. This natural disaster had no known precedent in France. The heatwave lasted for three weeks in August 2003 and led to 14800 deaths. However, the human toll of this catastrophe cannot be explained solely by the violence of the attack. Any analysis of this dramatic crisis, as for any public health threat, should take into account the agent involved, the population concerned, the specific relation between the agent and the target, and, based upon this, the crisis management needed. The analysis presented in this article, following the described line, shows that the crisis management was far from optimal. Learning from this situation should allow us to do better, next time such a climatic catastrophe occurs. A key factor is promoting adequate citizen response. [source] DNA Preservation in Skeletal Elements from the World Trade Center Disaster: Recommendations for Mass Fatality Management,JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 4 2009Amy Z. Mundorff M.A. Abstract:, The World Trade Center (WTC) victim identification effort highlights taphonomic influences on the degradation of DNA from victims of mass fatality incidents. This study uses a subset of the WTC-Human Remains Database to evaluate differential preservation of DNA by skeletal element. Recovery location, sex, and victim type (civilian, firefighter, or plane passenger) do not appear to influence DNA preservation. Results indicate that more intact elements, as well as elements encased in soft tissue, produced slightly higher identification rates than more fragmented remains. DNA identification rates by element type conform to previous findings, with higher rates generally found in denser, weight-bearing bones. However, smaller bones including patellae, metatarsals, and foot phalanges yielded rates comparable to both femora and tibiae. These elements can be easily sampled with a disposable scalpel, and thus reduce potential DNA contamination. These findings have implications for DNA sampling guidelines in future mass fatality incidents. [source] The Role of Forensic Anthropology in the Examination of the Daegu Subway Disaster (2003, Korea),JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 3 2009Dae-Kyoon Park M.D., Ph.D. Abstract:, Meticulous recovery of victims in the Daegu subway disaster was possible, because charred and fragmented victims were left in situ. Because bodies were piled one over another within the train, appropriate methodology during the recovery was critical to identifying the victims. The disaster area was thoroughly documented with notes, photographs, and schematic drawings of the various locations. The recovery team, comprising two medical examiners and one forensic anthropologist, decided when charred body parts and cremated bones were linked to the same individual based on the anatomy and forensic anthropological examination. Without these recovery procedures, it would not have been possible to efficiently harvest representative DNA sample from most of the victims' body parts. After the entire process of identification, 136 victims were positively identified, and six victims remained unidentified. This study supports the crucial role of forensic anthropologists in the recovery of victims, especially in fire scenes. [source] Communing with Disaster: What We Can Learn from the Jusen and the Savings and Loan CrisesLAW & POLICY, Issue 3-4 2000Edward Rubin Now that the Japanese economic miracle has soured into the Japanese economic meltdown, scholars are confronted with a new challenge: instead of trying to penetrate the secret of Japan's successes, they must try to unravel the enigma of its misfortunes. Professors Curtis Milhaupt and Geoffrey Miller (1997) have performed a great service in documenting one of the most dramatic of those misfortunes , the collapse of the jusen companies. Professor Shinsaku Iwahara (1997) has also performed an equally valuable service by placing this event in the larger context of Japanese politics and society. But despite its record setting scale, the jusen problem was not unprecedented; Japan merely followed in the footsteps of its economic mentor, the United States, which experienced a very similar financial meltdown about a decade earlier. This commentary briefly describes that event , the U.S. savings and loan crisis , and then draws some tentative conclusions on the basis of a comparison of the two events. [source] Queering the Disaster: A Presidential SessionNORTH AMERICAN DIALOGUE (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2007William L. Leap The 2007 SANA meetings on "Unnatural Disasters" used Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath as the focus of its scheduled sessions, and for scholarly and activist reflection on this theme. As the planning for the conference unfolded, we recognized that a very important component of the Katrina experience, related to our own work in North American anthropology, needed to be part of the conference program. New Orleans is a city with a long-standing queer counter-culture, many of whose participants are black and many of whom were hardest hit by the hurricane and flooding. We organized a session "Queering the Disaster," designed to document the queer presence in the Katrina experience, and, thereby draw attention to the need to include attention to marginal sexualities in anthropological studies of unnatural disasters [source] Duty in a Time of Disaster: A Concept AnalysisNURSING FORUM, Issue 2 2007Christine Kane-Urrabazo MSN TOPIC.,The concept of "duty" is explored particularly as it applies to disaster nursing. PURPOSE.,To identify the contributing factors to a nurse's sense of duty and the resulting consequences of such. Nursing implications of duty in a time of disaster are also discussed. SOURCES OF INFORMATION.,Professional literature, electronic resources, and nursing textbooks were used. The analysis was done using Walker and Avant's (1995) process. CONCLUSION.,The concept of duty has always been prevalent in nursing. As long as nurses have a sense of duty to their communities, nurse administrators will also have a moral obligation to protect their staff, especially in a time of disaster when nurses are compelled by a heightened sense of duty. [source] Understanding the Chain of Communication During a DisasterPERSPECTIVES IN PSYCHIATRIC CARE, Issue 1 2007Heather Shover MD TOPIC.,Every disaster begins on a local level and may, depending on size, evolve to a state of federal disaster response. Understanding California's State Disaster Plan and the importance of the chain of communication is a first step to understanding the Federal Disaster Response system. The chain of command is critical to making sure services and resources are utilized in a timely manner without duplication. PURPOSE.,This paper's intent is to define California's present emergency management system (EMS) infrastructure from local to state level and educate healthcare professionals for disaster activation. CONCLUSIONS.,It is imperative that all voluntary healthcare professionals learn the chain of command within the disaster response system. Each disaster response begins with the individual's preparedness at the local level and all disaster preparedness must incorporate training of health professionals, citizens, and families in local disaster drills. [source] From the Fabulous Baker Boys to the Master of Disaster: The White House Chief of Staff in the Reagan and G. H. W. Bush AdministrationsPRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2002DAVID B. COHEN Chiefs of staff in the modern presidency usually assume three major roles during their tenure: administrator, adviser, and guardian. Through original survey data, this article explores these roles by examining six chiefs of staff who served during the Reagan-Bush era: James Baker, Donald Regan, Howard Baker, Kenneth Duberstein, John Sununu, and Samuel Skinner. Based on the evidence, Howard Baker and James Baker were perceived as the most effective chiefs of staff in performing these three major functions. Not surprisingly, the Reagan administration prospered during both Bakers'tenures. [source] Parental Adjustment, Family Functioning, and Posttraumatic Growth Among Norwegian Children and Adolescents Following a Natural DisasterAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2010Gertrud S. Hafstad This study investigated the degree to which parental symptomatology and characteristics of the family environment related to posttraumatic growth (PTG) among children and adolescents who had been directly exposed to the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. One hundred five 6- to 17-year-olds (M = 11.9 years, SD = 3.3) and their parents (N = 67) were interviewed approximately 10 months and 2 years 5 months after the tsunami. The parents' self-reported PTG was a significant predictor of PTG in their children, suggesting that social processes play a role in the development of PTG in youth. Parental self-reported posttraumatic stress symptoms did not predict PTG in their children nor did youth's ratings of family cohesion, but parental tsunami-related sick leave related to lower levels of PTG reported by their children. Overall, these findings imply that elements of parents' functioning can affect children's positive adaptation after a disaster and highlight the need to assess potential parental influences and those of other sources of support in the child's environment after trauma. Attending to such factors holds salience for efforts to promote adaptation and facilitate PTG. [source] Responding to the Needs of Children and Families After a Disaster: Linkages Between Unmet Needs and Caregiver FunctioningAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2010Ryan P. Kilmer Disasters may negatively influence caregivers' ability to respond to the needs of their families. In this context, service organizations' response to families' needs may affect caregivers' symptoms and parenting. Interviews were conducted with caregivers affected by Hurricane Katrina approximately 1 year (T1; N = 68) and 2 years posthurricane (T2; N = 52). Caregivers reported high levels of service needs and unmet needs for themselves and their child(ren) and family at both time points. Regression analyses indicated that after accounting for hurricane exposure: (a) child unmet service needs significantly contributed to T1 caregiver distress, (b) caregiver service needs and child unmet needs were associated with higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms, and (c) caregiver unmet needs related to greater strain at T1. At T2, after accounting for T1 scores, service need variables did not contribute to distress or posttraumatic stress symptoms. Caregiver strain at T1 and T1 child service needs were associated with greater T2 strain. These findings highlight the importance of extending the availability of services beyond the initial postdisaster recovery period to better meet the needs of caregivers and families. [source] Communicating throughout Katrina: Competing and Complementary Conceptual Lenses on Crisis CommunicationPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 2007James L. Garnett Hurricane Katrina was as much a communication disaster as it was a natural and bureaucratic disaster. Communication gaps, missed signals, information technology failures, administrative buffering, turf battles, and deliberate and unintentional misinterpretations delayed and handicapped both the recognition of the crisis that Katrina posed and the response to its devastation. This essay views crisis communication through four conceptual lenses: (1) crisis communication as interpersonal influence, (2) crisis communication as media relations, (3) crisis communication as technology showcase, and (4) crisis communication as interorganizational networking. A conceptual framework is presented that compares these lenses with regard to agency, transparency, technology, and chronology. The planning, response, and recovery stages of the Hurricane Katrina disaster are viewed through these communication conceptual lenses, illustrating key facets of each perspective and adding to our deepening understanding of the events. Many of the problems we have identified can be categorized as "information gaps",or at least problems with information-related implications, or failures to act decisively because information was sketchy at best. Better information would have been an optimal weapon against Katrina. Information sent to the right people at the right place at the right time. Information moved within agencies, across departments, and between jurisdictions of government as well. Seamlessly. Securely. Efficiently , One would think we could share information by now. But Katrina again proved we cannot. ,U.S. House Select Bipartisan Committee With the floodwalls gashed and hemorrhaging billions of gallons of water into the city, it was only a matter of a few hours on Monday before the communications citywide began to fail , Communication was about to become the biggest problem of the catastrophe. ,Christopher Cooper and Robert Block, Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security Truth became a casualty, news organizations that were patting their own backs in early September were publishing protracted mea culpas by the end of the month. ,Matt Welch, "They Shoot Helicopters, Don't They?" [source] Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster (Fifth Edition) by Keith Smith and David N. PetleyTHE CANADIAN GEOGRAPHER/LE GEOGRAPHE CANADIEN, Issue 2 2010BRENDA MURPHY No abstract is available for this article. [source] A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement , By J. William Middendorf IITHE HISTORIAN, Issue 4 2009John J. Langdale III No abstract is available for this article. [source] The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from DisasterTHE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE, Issue 4 2005Marshall W. Fishwick No abstract is available for this article. [source] Capitalizing on Disaster: Taking and Breaking Public Schools , By Kenneth J. SaltmanANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2009Elizabeth Villarreal No abstract is available for this article. [source] The Political Economy of a Natural Disaster: The Boxing Day Tsunami, 2004ANTIPODE, Issue 2 2006Angela Keys First page of article [source] Burma's Economy 2009: Disaster, Recovery . . . and Reform?ASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 4 2009Sean Turnell This article analyzes the current state of Burma's economy and the possibilities for reform. The serial underperformer of the region, Burma's emergence in recent years as a significant regional exporter of natural gas has created the potential for economic progress. Thus far this potential has yet to be realized, however, in a country whose economic policy-making framework remains one of dirigisme. In 2008, Burma's economy was dealt a further blow when the country was struck by Cyclone Nargis. This article begins by examining the economic impact of Nargis before moving on to examine the longer-term reforms required to restore prosperity to this all-too-often forgotten country. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||