Efforts before the disaster, efforts after the disaster

Improving Disaster Response Efforts With Decision Support Systems

As evidenced by Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005, disaster response efforts are hindered by a lack of coordination, poor information flows, and the inability of disaster response managers to validate and process relevant information and make decisions in a timely fashion. A number of factors contribute to current lacklustre response efforts. Some are inherent to the complex, rapidly changing d...

Recommendations to improve post-disaster HIA: planning before the disaster.

The underlying goal of disaster aftercare is to contribute to the restoration of control at both individual and societal level. A disaster HIA may contribute to a pro-active government response by providing information on the needs of the victims and, consequently, on the relief facilities required to support individual and collective post-disaster care activities. It may also serve to recogniz...

Optimizing the Mobilization of Wireless Communications Systems for Disaster Response Efforts

Monitoring and evaluation of disaster response efforts undertaken by local health departments: a rapid realist review

BACKGROUND Local health departments are often at the forefront of a disaster response, attending to the immediate trauma inflicted by the disaster and also the long term health consequences. As the frequency and severity of disasters are projected to rise, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) efforts are critical to help local health departments consolidate past experiences and improve future respon...

Functional Mapping: Spatial Inferencing to Aid Human-Robot Rescue Efforts in Unstructured Disaster Environments

In this paper we examine the case of a mobile robot that is part of a human-robot urban search and rescue (USAR) team. During USAR scenarios, we would like the robot to have a geometrical-functional understanding of space, using which it can infer where to perform planned tasks in a manner that mimics human behavior. We assess the situation awareness of rescue workers during a simulated USAR sc...