INTRODUCTION Given the variability, complexities, and available resources for local vulnerable populations, it is clear that preparing effectively for catastrophic events cannot be accomplished with a single, simple template. Inclusion of Community Human Service Organizations' (CHSO's) direct service delivery personnel ensures that emergency disaster planning efforts for vulnerable populations ...

background: evaluating the effectiveness of reengineering moheb (interventions and sociopsychological supports in disasters) project helps the managers of the welfare organization have feedback on the status of community empowerment against disasters. in this regard, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of reengineering moheb project to improve the knowledge, attitude, and performanc...

OBJECTIVE Children account for 30 percent of the US population; as a result, many victims of disaster events are children. The most critically injured pediatric victims would be best cared for in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. The Children's Hospital Association (CHA) undertook a survey of its members to determine their level of readiness to respond to a mass casualty disaster. DESIGN Th...

In the last few decades, we have witnessed global disasters that rendered national medical systems helpless. A few examples are the tsunami in southeast Asia, and earthquakes in Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, and India. 1–8 A large-scale disaster occurs when a nation cannot cope with the tragedy by itself and needs help from other nations. This is due to a lack of resources in face of the s...

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...

THE INCAPACITATING BLOWS dealt to the New Orleans, Louisiana, health care infrastructure by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are unprecedented in the United States. Much can be learned about disaster preparedness from the events that unfolded in New Orleans after Katrina swept the Gulf shoreline. Problem areas in the management of this disaster such as internal and external communication fai...

Significant strides have been made over the past 10 to 15 years to develop medical countermeasures (MCMs) to address potential disaster hazards, including chemical, biological, radiologic, and nuclear threats. Significant and effective collaboration between the pediatric health community, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, and federal partners, such as the Office of the Assistant Sec...

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...

BACKGROUND The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) sixty-fourth World Health Assembly in May 2011 adopted a resolution on ‘strengthening national health emergency and disaster management capacities and resilience of health systems’. Disaster management is a topical issue globally and countries are being encouraged to improve their disaster preparedness, along with growing international commitment...