The ability to measure emergency preparedness is critical for policy analysis in homeland security. Yet it remains difficult to know how prepared a response system is to deal with large-scale incidents, whether it be a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or industrial or transportation accident. This volume describes a method, based on the concept of system reliability, for evaluating the preparedness of emergency response systems.
Too often evaluation findings end up on the shelf! Why? Many interventions have several moving parts working together to achieve something each part cannot do independently. Unfortunately, many of the available evaluation approaches oversimplify this reality. A major reason for this is that evaluators do not have a blueprint to plan, and the associated methods to execute, an evaluation fit for this purpose. As such, they revert to using methods with which they are familiar, but are not suitable, for evaluating complex interventions. Consequently, the evaluation findings do not make sense to decisionmakers, so they are ignored. This book provides evaluators of all skill levels with a simple 3-step framework, System Evaluation Theory, that will lead to more actionable recommendations because the methods better capture the reality in which interventions operate; that is as a system. The book first reviews the limitations of program evaluation approaches that pointed to a need for a different way of thinking, one grounded in systems. After defining a system, the book explains how SET is intentionally aligned to evaluate a system’s two essential properties: interdependence and emergence. Individual chapters are dedicated to explaining how to execute each SET step. Throughout, the author draws on real-world examples and those from his own evaluations to help bridge the theory-practice divide. The reader is then shown how to use SET to develop actionable recommendations.
Handbook of HydroInformatics Volume III: Water Data Management Best Practices presents the latest and most updated data processing techniques that are fundamental to Water Science and Engineering disciplines. These include a wide range of the new methods that are used in hydro-modeling such as Atmospheric Teleconnection Pattern, CONUS-Scale Hydrologic Modeling, Copula Function, Decision Support System, Downscaling Methods, Dynamic System Modeling, Economic Impacts and Models, Geostatistics and Geospatial Frameworks, Hydrologic Similarity Indices, Hydropower/Renewable Energy Models, Sediment Transport Dynamics Advanced Models, Social Data Mining, and Wavelet Transforms. This volume is an example of true interdisciplinary work. The audience includes postgraduates and above interested in Water Science, Geotechnical Engineering, Soil Science, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Engineering, Applied Science, Earth and Geoscience, Atmospheric Science, Geography, Environment Science, Natural Resources, Mathematical Science, and Social Sciences. It is a fully comprehensive handbook which provides all the information needed related to the best practices for managing water data. - Contributions from global experts in the fields of data management research, climate change and resilience, insufficient data problem, etc. - Thorough applied examples and case studies in each chapter, providing the reader with real world scenarios for comparison. - Includes a wide range of new methods that are used in hydro-modeling, with step-by-step guides on how to use them.
The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) program of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides funds to major U. S. cities to help them develop plans for coping with the health and medical consequences of a terrorist attack with chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) agents. DHHS asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to assist in assessing the effectiveness of the MMRS program by developing appropriate evaluation methods, tools, and processes to assess both its own management of the program and local preparedness in the cities that have participated in the program. This book provides the managers of the MMRS program and others concerned about local capabilities to cope with CBR terrorism with three evaluation tools and a three-part assessment method. The tools are a questionnaire survey eliciting feedback about the management of the MMRS program, a table of preparedness indicators for 23 essential response capabilities, and a set of three scenarios and related questions for group discussion. The assessment method described integrates document inspection, a site visit by a team of expert peer reviewers, and observations at community exercises and drills.
The goal to improve the resilience of social systems – communities and their economies – is increasingly adopted by decision makers. This unique and comprehensive Handbook focuses on the interdependencies of these social systems and the technologies that support them. Special attention is given to the ways in which resilience is conceptualized by different disciplines, how resilience may be assessed, and how resilience strategies are implemented. Case illustrations are presented throughout to aid understanding.
Climate change is increasingly of great concern to the world community. The earth has witnessed the buildup of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, changes in biodiversity, and more occurrences of natural disasters. Recently, scientists have begun to shift their emphasis away from curbing carbon dioxide emission to adapting to carbon dioxide emission. The increase in natural disasters around the world is unprecedented in earth's history and these disasters are often associated to climate changes. Many nations along the coastal lines are threatened by massive floods and tsunamis. Earthquakes are increasing in intensity and erosion and droughts are problems in many parts of the developing countries. This book is therefore to investigate ways to prepare and effectively manage these disasters and possibly reduce their impacts. The focus is on mitigation strategies and policies that will help to reduce the impacts of natural disasters. The book takes an in-depth look at climate change and its association to socio-economic development and cultures especially in vulnerable communities; and investigates how communities can develop resilience to disasters. A balanced and a multiple perspective approach to manage the risks associated with natural disasters is offered by engaging authors from the entire globe to proffer solutions.
"Managing Emergencies and Crises: Global Perspectives is primarily for graduate level students and instructors who study and research on a wide range of socio-economic and political issues related to the management of 'natural' disasters from a 'social disaster' perspective. From a broad perspective this book covers various concepts including prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery, as well as vulnerability and risk assessment that need to be understood by those in the emergency management field"--
As the scale, frequency, and intensity of crises faced by the world have dramatically increased over the last decade, there is a critical need for a careful evaluation of knowledge of managing disasters. Managing Emergencies and Crises presents the experience of emergency management from a continental perspective by focusing on the emergency response systems, processes, and actors in the context of the United States and Europe. It explores the institutional, socio-cultural and political aspects of crisis response and management. Your students will examine questions such as: What does the experience of disaster response from Japan, Pakistan, Greece and Turkey to the UK and US tell us about the state-civil society cooperation in such environments? How effective are the existing prevention and preparedness mechanisms to protect societies against disasters? What specific roles are attributed to state, federal, international and private sector participants at a rhetorical level and how those actors actually carry out their ‘responsibilities’ and work with each other in the event of a crisis?
When communities face complex public health emergencies, state local, tribal, and territorial public health agencies must make difficult decisions regarding how to effectively respond. The public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) system, with its multifaceted mission to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, is inherently complex and encompasses policies, organizations, and programs. Since the events of September 11, 2001, the United States has invested billions of dollars and immeasurable amounts of human capital to develop and enhance public health emergency preparedness and infrastructure to respond to a wide range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events. Despite the investments in research and the growing body of empirical literature on a range of preparedness and response capabilities and functions, there has been no national-level, comprehensive review and grading of evidence for public health emergency preparedness and response practices comparable to those utilized in medicine and other public health fields. Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response reviews the state of the evidence on PHEPR practices and the improvements necessary to move the field forward and to strengthen the PHEPR system. This publication evaluates PHEPR evidence to understand the balance of benefits and harms of PHEPR practices, with a focus on four main areas of PHEPR: engagement with and training of community-based partners to improve the outcomes of at-risk populations after public health emergencies; activation of a public health emergency operations center; communication of public health alerts and guidance to technical audiences during a public health emergency; and implementation of quarantine to reduce the spread of contagious illness.
