OBJECTIVE Open-source information consists of a range of publicly available material, including various periodicals, news reports, journal publications, photographs, and maps. Although intelligence agencies regularly use open-source information in developing strategically important intelligence, the disaster community has yet to evaluate its use for planning or research purposes. This study exa...

Given the personal and societal costs associated with acute impairment and enduring post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the mental health response to disasters is an integral component of disaster response planning. The purpose of this paper is to explore the compatibility between cognitive-behavioral psychology and the disaster mental health model, and explicate how cognitive-behavioral per...

Floods are one of the most dangerous and common disasters worldwide, and these disasters are closely linked to the geography of the affected area. As a result, several papers in the academic field of humanitarian logistics have incorporated the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for disaster management. However, most of the contributions in the literature are using these systems for ...

Copyright © 2014, Kashan University of Medical Sciences; Published by Kashan University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In the last issue of Nursing and Midwifery Studies Journal, ...

This article explores whether the use of LiDAR data in detecting transport network obstructions shortens the time required to reach disaster sites. It presents a method for doing this using LiDAR data collected in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA) before and after Hurricane Katrina. It involves identifying all the LiDAR data points that lie within transport links (e.g., highways or streets) and perf...

Early interventions that reduce the societal burden of mental health problems in the aftermath of disasters and mass violence have the potential to be enormously valuable. Internet-based interventions can be delivered widely, efficiently, and at low cost and as such are of particular interest. We describe the development and feasibility analysis of an Internet-delivered intervention designed to...

1 The Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015–2030 highlights concerns on human health and well-being that are common to disaster risk reduction, climate change and sustainable development. 2 A substantial emphasis on health is a welcome development, given the relative lack of attention to health issues in its predecessor, the Hyogo framework for action 2005–2015. 3 The Hyogo framewor...

In this paper, we reply to Taylor's (2015) peer commentary on consent-in-escrow. Specifically, we clarify the utility of this novel approach, the way in which it minimizes risks to participants, and how it differs from existing opt-out methods. We further explore its potential use in fields beyond disaster research.

Organizations need to provide effective policies in aligning their social media use with organizational goals to realize the expected benefits of social media. However, while social media use has been studied, social media policy research is lacking. This study aims to examine impacts of social media policy and active use on value creation. Drawing on the Model of IT/Business Value, we assessed...

Effective disaster risk management relies on science-based solutions to close the gap between prevention and preparedness measures. The consultation on the United Nations post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction highlights the need for cross-border early warning systems to strengthen the preparedness phases of disaster risk management, in order to save lives and property and reduce the o...