This volume encompasses latest research presented on the 6th edition of the Disaster Management Conference. The research published in this book is contributed by academics and experts on public health, security and disaster management in order to assess the potential risk from various disasters and discuss ways to prevent or alleviate damage.
As human population has continued to concentrate in urban areas, the number of people and the value of property affected by disasters, both natural and human-generated, have grown as well. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, and forest fires have all taken their toll so have such anthropogenic disasters as pipeline failures, industrial spills, and terrorist attacks. The contents of this volume consist of papers presented at the fourth in a series of conferences convened to assess the potential risk from various disasters and discuss ways to prevent or mitigate damage. The papers have been contributed by experts on public health, security, and disaster management from academia, industry, and government. Topics covered include Disaster Analysis; Disaster Monitoring and Mitigation; Emergency Preparedness; Risk Mitigation; Risk and Security; Safety and Resilience; Socio-economic Issues; Health Risk; Human Factors; Multi-hazard Risk Assessment; Case Studies.
The increase in the number of large-scale natural disasters in recent years has been alarming.Major fl oods, hurricanes, earthquakes and many others have affected millions of people, with great destruction of property and loss of life, while forest fires, pipeline failures, and bombings have had equally devastating affects over a smaller scale. It is clear that future threats stem both from human failures and from terrorism, as well as from less predictable natural phenomena. The increased threats make the convening of the Second International Conference on Disaster Management and Human Health Risk important for the sharing of knowledge among experts on public health, security, and disaster management. This book contains their contributions to the conference. Topics covered will include Emergency preparedness; Risk mitigation; Natural disasters; Man-made disasters; Learning from disasters; Disaster analysis, monitoring and mitigation; Global risks and health; Pandemic and biological threats; Surveillance and early warning systems; Public health preparedness; Socio-economic issues; and Service sustainability.
Today the world faces unparalleled threats from human-made disasters that can be attributed to failure of industrial and energy installation as well as to terrorism. Added to this is the unparalleled threat of emerging and re-emerging diseases, with scientists predicting events such as an influenza pandemic.
In the devastation that follows a major disaster, there is a need for multiple sectors to unite and devote new resources to support the rebuilding of infrastructure, the provision of health and social services, the restoration of care delivery systems, and other critical recovery needs. In some cases, billions of dollars from public, private and charitable sources are invested to help communities recover. National rhetoric often characterizes these efforts as a "return to normal." But for many American communities, pre-disaster conditions are far from optimal. Large segments of the U.S. population suffer from preventable health problems, experience inequitable access to services, and rely on overburdened health systems. A return to pre-event conditions in such cases may be short-sighted given the high costs - both economic and social - of poor health. Instead, it is important to understand that the disaster recovery process offers a series of unique and valuable opportunities to improve on the status quo. Capitalizing on these opportunities can advance the long-term health, resilience, and sustainability of communities - thereby better preparing them for future challenges. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters identifies and recommends recovery practices and novel programs most likely to impact overall community public health and contribute to resiliency for future incidents. This book makes the case that disaster recovery should be guided by a healthy community vision, where health considerations are integrated into all aspects of recovery planning before and after a disaster, and funding streams are leveraged in a coordinated manner and applied to health improvement priorities in order to meet human recovery needs and create healthy built and natural environments. The conceptual framework presented in Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters lays the groundwork to achieve this goal and provides operational guidance for multiple sectors involved in community planning and disaster recovery. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters calls for actions at multiple levels to facilitate recovery strategies that optimize community health. With a shared healthy community vision, strategic planning that prioritizes health, and coordinated implementation, disaster recovery can result in a communities that are healthier, more livable places for current and future generations to grow and thrive - communities that are better prepared for future adversities.
The text offers a comprehensive and unique perspective on disaster risk associated with natural hazards. It covers a wide range of topics, reflecting the most recent debates but also older and pioneering discussions in the academic field of disaster studies as well as in the policy and practical areas of disaster risk reduction (DRR). This book will be of particular interest to undergraduate students studying geography and environmental studies/science. It will also be of relevance to students/professionals from a wide range of social and physical science disciplines, including public health and public policy, sociology, anthropology, political science and geology.
Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales. SREX was approved and accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 18 November 2011 in Kampala, Uganda.
Disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, heat waves, nuclear accidents, and large scale pollution incidents take lives and cause exceptionally large health problems. The majority of large-scale disasters affect the most vulnerable populations, which are often comprised of people of extreme ages, in remote living areas, with endemic poverty, and with low literacy. Health-related emergency disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) [1] refers to the systematic analysis and management of health risks surrounding emergencies and disasters; it plays an important role in reducing hazards and vulnerability along with extending preparedness, response, and recovery measures. This concept encompasses risk analyses and interventions, such as accessible early warning systems, timely deployment of relief workers, and the provision of suitable drugs and medical equipment, to decrease the impact of disaster on people before, during, and after disaster events. Disaster risk profiling and interventions can be at the personal/household, community, and system/political levels; they can be targeted at specific health risks including respiratory issues caused by indoor burning, re-emergence of infectious disease due to low vaccination coverage, and gastrointestinal problems resulting from unregulated waste management. Unfortunately, there has been a major gap in the scientific literature regarding Health-EDRM. The aim of this Special Issue of IJERPH was to present papers describing/reporting the latest disaster and health risk analyses, as well as interventions for health-related disaster risk management, in an effort to address this gap and facilitate major global policies and initiatives for disaster risk reduction.
The contents of this book consist of papers presented at the 5th International Conference on Disaster Management and Human Health: Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes, part of a series of conferences convened to assess the potential risk from various disasters and discuss ways to prevent or alleviate damage. These latest developments, contained in this volume, have been contributed by academics and experts on public health, security and disaster management in order to exchange knowledge and experience on the way to handle the increasing risk of natural and human-made disasters. As the human population has continued to concentrate in urban areas the number of people and the value of property affected by both natural and man-produced disasters has also grown. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes and forest fires have all taken their toll, as have man-made catastrophes such as industrial spillages and terrorist attacks. The included paper cover various subject areas, including: Disaster analysis; Disaster monitoring and mitigation; Emergency preparedness; Risk mitigation; Risk and security; Resilience; Socio-economic issues; Health risk; Human factors; Multi-hazard risk assessment; Case studies; Learning from disasters and man-made disasters.
