Business plays important roles in community functioning. However, disaster research has been disproportionately focused on units of analysis such as families, households and government agencies. This paper synthesises the major findings within the business development research field and the disaster research field. It constructs a framework for evaluating business vulnerability to natural disas...

This report distills the finer points of public awareness and social marketing in urban disaster risk management practice in Asia. It reviews more than dozen case studies of country demonstration projects that have been implemented as a part of Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Program (AUDMP). It draws principles, methodologies, examples and lessons learned from each public awareness and social ...

OBJECTIVE To fulfill the health teaching and promotion responsibilities of public health nurses, a teaching intervention was devised to prepare low-income, low-resource families to survive a worst-case disaster scenario. The purpose of this study is to introduce that plan. DESIGN Teaching sessions were held to increase awareness about disaster preparedness and to provide the resources necessa...

ICT is emerging as a process of knowledge-sharing without any physical and geographical constraints. ICT has successfully been used to disseminate knowledge during a constrained situation (i.e. disaster). In other words, ICT can be used to connect the public during a time of crisis. In Malaysia, the National Security Council (NSC) is one of the agencies responsible for managing disasters. Havin...

OBJECTIVE This article reports on State Defense Forces (SDFs) as tools for providing coordinated, disciplined, trained, and uniformed volunteers to augment civilian disaster response and advance public health. METHODS This report draws on and describes the example of the Texas State Guard's Medical Brigade and its Operation Lone Star. RESULTS Although SDFs have downsides, since they are lar...

BACKGROUND Environmental public health disasters involving hazardous contaminants may have devastating effects. While much is known about their immediate devastation, far less is known about long-term impacts of these disasters. Extensive latent and chronic long-term public health effects may occur. Careful evaluation of contaminant exposures and long-term health outcomes within the constraints...

The reactor accident at Chernobyl caught many European nations by surprise since most risk management institutions were unprepared for an accident of the magnitude and transnational character of Chernobyl. Although confusion and contradictory advice from these institutions dominated the risk management efforts in the early aftermath of the disaster, the dose savings achieved by protective actio...

Local preparedness against earthquakes has been recently highlighted in research and policies on disaster management and risk reduction promotion in Iran. To advance the understanding of public preparedness and how it can be applied in diverse localities, further information is required about the predictors of people’s adoption of mitigation activities and earthquake preparedness. A synth...

This article provides a tool to help assess, visualise and communicate different levels of exposure, vulnerability and risk in Brazil. The Disaster Risk Index in Brazil may sensitise public and political decision-makers towards the important topic of disaster risk and climate change adaptation. This article aims to explore the feasibility and usefulness of such a national risk index that consid...