The role of spatial data and related technologies in disaster management has been well-known worldwide. One of the challenges concerned with such a role is access to and usage of reliable, accurate and up-to-date spatial data for disaster management. This is a very important aspect to disaster response as timely, up-to-date and accurate spatial data describing the current situation is paramount...

Communication facilities can totally be destroyed by natural and / or manmade disasters. A critical problem after disaster is getting the first hand knowledge of the destructions and also establishing some communication links among the survivors. This paper focuses on the vital need for providing communications facility to the victims, immediately after the disaster and prior to the arrival of ...

People have the tendency to associate disaster with emergencies only, and disaster management with emergency response. Disaster management however, goes beyond rescue operations, and involves actions directed at reducing risk and vulnerabilities in case disaster occurs. These actions require functional structures that coordinate different organizations, consolidate different skills and precipit...

Disaster management and the health sector ought to be natural allies, but there are few examples of the collaborative planning and application of disaster healthcare involving emergency managers and care practitioners. The different origins, culture, and priorities of the various agencies tasked with disaster healthcare mean that communication and coordination between them is often lacking, lea...

The goal of integrated disaster risk management is to promote an overall improvement in the quality of safety and security in a region, city or community at disaster risk. This paper presents the case for a thorough overhaul of the institutional component of integrated disaster risk management. A review of disaster management institutions in the United States indicates significant weaknesses in...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the acute impact of disasters on diabetic patients, we performed a geospatial analysis of emergency department (ED) use by New York City diabetic adults in the week after Hurricane Sandy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using an all-payer claims database, we retrospectively analyzed the demographics, insurance status, and medical comorbidities of post-disaster ED patients wi...

The authors examined symptoms of posttraumatic stress in 3rd-5th grade children during the school year after Hurricane Andrew. From a conceptual model of the effects of traumatic events, 442 children were evaluated 3, 7, and 10 months postdisaster with respect to (a) their exposure to traumatic events during and after the disaster, (b) their preexisting demographic characteristics, (c) the occu...