Measuring the geological disaster-risked situation, is a typical non-deterministic decision-making issue in disaster prevention and emergency response science for military engineering. Based on the given geological disaster risk analysis mechanism, geological disaster risk monitoring matrix was established, and risk characters’ value was obtained by mining the hidden information in the monitori...

BACKGROUND There is a growing body of evidence that the impacts of climate change are affecting population health negatively. The Pacific region is particularly vulnerable to climate change; a strong health-care system is required to respond during times of disaster. This paper examines the capacity of the health sector in Pacific Island Countries to adapt to changing disaster response needs, i...

Philippines and the tornadoes that ravaged the Midwest at the close of 2013, we should all be examining our international and domestic response plans/ activities. That examination should include reflection on the tenets of Catholic social teaching which actually provide the underpinning for effective disaster response. As identified by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, there are...

Once again, the lack of universal terminology is hampering efforts to move disaster medicine forward—this time, as it relates to the longitudinal phases of a disaster. During a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting I attended in December, confusion ensued as meeting participants discussed the transition period between the response and development phases of a disaster. Participants generally a...

The importance of emergency response systems cannot be overemphasized today due to the many manmade and natural disasters in the recent years such as September 2001 and the recent Japan earthquake and tsunami disaster. The overall cost of the Japan disaster alone is estimated to have exceeded 300 billion USD. Transportation and telecommunications play a critical role in disaster response and ma...

We propose a stochastic optimization approach for the location and distribution problem of medical supplies to be used in disaster situations. We develop a robust decision support mechanism, which is serviceable under the wide variety of possible disaster types and magnitudes. In preparation for disasters, we develop a stochastic programming model to select the storage locations of medical supp...

Throughout history, disasters have had a defining impact on individuals, governments, and society as a whole. The terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 and several catastrophic hurricanes in the gulf region have brought disaster response and emergency management to a new level of visibility and importance in the United States. The increased media coverage of international disasters, such as...

BACKGROUND Registration of data from a major incident or disaster serves several purposes such as to record data for evaluation of response as well as for research. Data needed can often be retrieved after an incident while other must be recorded during the incident. There is a need for a consensus on what is essential to record from a disaster response. The aim of this study was to identify ke...

BACKGROUND Assistance from non-professional disaster volunteers (hereinafter, volunteers) is essential for disaster victims to recover physically and rebuild their lives; however, disaster victims in some areas are reluctant to accept assistance from volunteers. This study explored factors that may influence collaborative activities between volunteers and victims of earthquake disasters. METH...