This special issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is being published as a result of the tragic events that occurred on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) campus in April 2007. Such events vividly underscore the need for specialized training to ensure the most appropriate and effective response on the part of the medical and public health...

A major flood in 1997 forced the evacuation of Grand Forks, North Dakota and caused damage of USD 1 billion. Despite this recent disaster there is only marginal evidence of an increase in disaster recovery planning by businesses that experienced the flood. This finding is consistent with the results of other business-related disaster research. Statistical tests of survey results from 2003 indic...

sir, the big flooding in thailand in 2011 is one of the problematic flooding in asia. it causes several destroying to many things in the disaster areas. an important concern is on the effect on the setting with the radioactive elements usage. in thailand, there are some places with radioactive elements including to the university, hospital as well as radioactive research center. luckily, during...

Environmental health has a significant role to play in all stages of disaster management, from planning through to recovery. The conceptualizetion of the environmental health role by environmental health practitioners and other disciplines involved with disaster management is the focus of this review. To provide context for this discussion, we present an overview of disasters and disaster manag...

The purpose of this study was to explore Hong Kong nurses' perceptions of competencies required for disaster nursing. Focus group interviews and written inquiry were adopted to solicit nurses' perceived required competencies for disaster care. A total of 15 nurses were interviewed and 30 nurses completed the written inquiry on their perceived competencies related to disaster nursing. The Intern...

The local public health agency (LPHA) workforce is at the center of the public health emergency preparedness system and is integral to locally driven disaster recovery efforts. Throughout the disaster recovery period, LPHAs have a primary responsibility for community health and are responsible for a large number of health services. In the face of decreasing preparedness funding and increasing f...

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015) is a global strategy for addressing disaster risk and resilience that has been ratified by member countries of the United Nations. Its guiding principles emphasise building resilience through inter-sectoral collaboration, as well as partnerships that facilitate community empowerment and address underlying risk factors. Both public health a...