Explaining implementation behaviour of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)

This paper explains the perceived implementation behaviour of counties in the United States with respect to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The system represents a massive and historic policy mandate designed to restructure, standardise and thereby unify the efforts of a wide variety of emergency management entities. Specifically, this study examined variables identified in the NIMS and policy literature that might influence the behavioural intentions and actual behaviour of counties. It found that three key factors limit or promote how counties intend to implement NIMS and how they actually implement the system: policy characteristics related to NIMS, implementer views and a measure of local capacity. One additional variable—inter‐organisational characteristics—was found to influence only actual behaviour. This study's findings suggest that the purpose underlying NIMS may not be fulfilled and confirm what disaster research has long suggested: the potential for standardisation in emergency management is limited.     

The public health system response to the 2008 Sichuan province earthquake: a literature review and interviews

This paper describes and analyses the public health system response to the deadly earthquake in Sichuan province, China, in May 2008. Drawing on an experiential learning project consisting of a literature review and field research, including a series of interviews with medical and public health professionals, policy‐makers and first responders, a conceptual framework was developed to describe the response. This approach emphasises the pre‐existing preparedness level of the medical and public health systems, as well as social, economic and geo‐political factors that had an impact on mitigation efforts. This framework was used to conduct post‐disaster analyses addressing major response issues and examining methods employed during the public health response to the disaster. This framework could be used to describe and analyse the emergency response to other disasters.     

Implementation of a medical command and control team in Switzerland

In case of a major incident or disaster, the advance medical rescue command needs to manage several essential tasks simultaneously. These include the rapid deployment of ambulance, police, fire and evacuation services, and their coordinated activity, as well as triage and emergency medical care on site. The structure of such a medical rescue command is crucial for the successful outcome of medical evacuation at major incidents. However, little data has been published on the nature and structure of the command itself. This study presents a flexible approach to command structure, with two command heads: one emergency physician and one experienced paramedic. This approach is especially suitable for Switzerland, whose federal system allows for different structures in each canton. This article examines the development of these structures and their efficiency, adaptability and limitations with respect to major incident response in the French‐speaking part of the country.     

淮南市防震减灾决策系统的建立

在机制上将一个地市(淮南市)的地震预报与防震决策融为一个动态整体,从而建立起一个实用性强的防震减灾决策系统,使城市各种防震对策的生成有了更科学的基础。成为市政府在防震减灾决策中不可缺少的工具。     

城市应急联动系统的研究

叙述了建设城市应急联动系统的必要性,分析了城市应急联动系统国内外发展现状,提出了系统的4种运作模式即集权模式、授权模式、代理模式、协同模式,强调了系统基础设施建设应包含的重要内容,设计了系统技术支撑体系和系统基本功能。最后得出应加快我国城市应急联动系统的统一协调和建设的结论。     

Disaster management in the Caribbean: Perspectives on institutional capacity reform and development

This paper is a reflective contribution on the issues and processes that have influenced and informed the development and institutionalization of disaster management practice and policy in the Caribbean over the last two and a half decades. It takes the viewpoint of a ‘participant observer’ and seeks to not only describe the events and triggers but also to raise some key questions necessary to chart the way forward.     

Collaborative emergency management: better community organising, better public preparedness and response

Community coordination requires communication and planning of precautions to take when faced with a severe threat of disaster. The unique case of the four Florida hurricanes of 2004--Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne--is used here to assess community responses to repeated threats of hurricanes. The paper examines how effectiveness in coordinating community disaster response efforts affects future public preparedness. The findings suggest that pre-season planning, open communication between emergency managers and elected officials, and the use of technology all had a significant impact on community responses. The repeated threat scenario indicates that emergency managers must work vigilantly to keep residents informed of the seriousness of a situation. The study describes how emergency managers in Florida countered public complacency during four hurricanes in six weeks. The strategies identified as useful by public managers in the context of hurricanes are applicable to other natural and man-made disasters.     

基于计算机网络技术的天津市防震减灾技术系统

随着计算机的普及和网络技术的不断成熟,建立以计算机网络为依托的防震减灾地震快速响应系统已成为可能。“九五”期间,天津市地震局就计算机网络技术在防震减灾技术系统建设中的应用方面进行了尝试。通过计算机通信网络的建立,将地震监测预报、震后快速速报、早期趋势判定等工作环节有机地联系起来,在实际中发挥了重要作用。     

Preparedness for emergency response: guidelines for the emergency planning process

Especially since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, governments worldwide have invested considerable resources in the writing of terrorism emergency response plans. Particularly in the United States, the federal government has created new homeland security organisations and urged state and local governments to draw up plans. This emphasis on the written plan tends to draw attention away from the process of planning itself and the original objective of achieving community emergency preparedness. This paper reviews the concepts of community preparedness and emergency planning, and their relationships with training, exercises and the written plan. A series of 10 planning process guidelines are presented that draw upon the preparedness literature for natural and technological disasters, and can be applied to any environmental threat.     

城市水源地突发性水污染事故思考

在介绍水源地突发性水污染事故的概念、类型和包括突发性、不确定性、多样性、扩散性、危害性和艰巨性等基本特点的基础上,从水源地应急监测系统、资料匮乏、后续处置、结构单一和协调机制等方面分析了水源地的安全性,构建了包括应急处理系统、法律法规体系、预警系统、动态监测、联动机制和应急预案等方面的水源地突发性水污染应急对策系统。     

数字江苏中的防震减灾数字系统

为推进经济的可持续与跨越式发展，配合 “数字江苏” 的建设，最大限度地减轻地震灾害所造成的损失，在 “数字江苏” 中建设防震减灾数字系统势在必行。 本文从防震减灾在可持续与跨越式发展战略中的地位和作用、防震减灾数字系统的组成、 “数字江苏” 中如何包含防震减灾数字系统、防震减灾数字系统建设进程及展望等几方面进行了探讨。     

Understanding communication and coordination among government and service organisations after a disaster

The purpose of this study is to discover how coordination and communication between the government and service organisations responsible for the relief effort following Hurricane Katrina contributed to the poor outcomes for the communities impacted by the storm. Two hypotheses were tested in this study: communication was positively correlated with the degree of coordination immediately following Katrina; and miscommunication was negatively correlated with the degree of coordination after the storm. Quantitative content analysis of media reports was used to analyse the data and test the hypotheses. Both communication and miscommunication were found to be positively correlated with coordination. The results of this study suggest that increasing interorganisational communication and establishing clearly defined roles for organisations must be a high priority in revamping organisational protocol on disaster response if any new approach is to be successful.     

Re-framing risk: the changing context of disaster mitigation and preparedness

This issue of Disasters explores the roles of NGOs and other actors in disaster mitigation and preparedness and also reviews broad international trends in risk management and disaster prevention. The need to address risk, and with that the motivation to improve disaster mitigation and preparedness, has tended to fall between the cracks of grander frameworks of development co-operation and humanitarian assistance. Despite the seemingly glaring need to reduce the horrific impact of floods, droughts and wars, disaster mitigation and preparedness have neither the allure of directly 'saving lives', nor of providing an 'escape from poverty'. There are, however, signs that risk management is becoming a mainstream concern. Factors such as the need to address factors that do not fit into traditional slots on the relief-development continuum, the rising economic costs of disasters and a growing acknowledgement that aid will never cover more than a small fraction of the costs of disasters are all leading to new approaches, priorities and institutional configurations. A realisation that dealing with risk and insecurity is a central part of how poor people develop their livelihood strategies has begun to position disaster mitigation and preparedness within many poverty alleviation agendas. A number of long-standing challenges remain; most of all, the complexities of maintaining the political will that is needed to ensure that risk management becomes more than a passing fad.     

地震动入射角度对地下结构地震响应的影响

考虑土-结构接触面效应和场地初始静应力影响,基于大型商用有限元软件ANSYS和粘弹性人工边界条件,采用动力松弛法的分析思路,建立了一种地震动斜入射条件下地下结构的接触非线性动力反应分析模型和方法,并讨论了地震动入射角度对地下结构动力反应的影响。结果表明:地震波斜入射使得结构的整体反应发生明显变化;随着入射角度的增加,节点的水平向应力反应明显增大,竖向应力峰值较小,增大程度也相对较小;节点的位移峰值随输入加速度峰值的增大也有一定的变化。因此,在分析近源地震作用下的地下结构动力响应时,需要考虑地震动的非一致输入问题。     

日美地震灾害紧急对应对中国灾害应急体制建立的启示

通过对美国1994年洛杉矶北岭地震反1995年日本阪神大地震时日美政府的地震灾害紧急应对过程,尤其是地震后的24小时内政府的初期对应,分析了日美地震灾害应急体制的特征,并就如何建立和完善中国灾害应急体系做了探讨。日美政府之所以在大地震发生时能有效地进行了紧急应对,在于健全的灾害应急体制。中国正处于经济和社会高度发展时期,面对各种各样的灾害和事故,要真正将灾害的损失降低到最低程度,必须尽快建立和健全以灾害应急规划体系、防灾情报系统、应急救灾指挥系统和专业化灾害援助队伍体系等为主的灾害应急管理体制。     

Disaster journalism: fostering citizen and community disaster mitigation,preparedness, response,recovery, and resilience across the disaster cycle

Natural and human‐caused disasters pose a significant risk to the health and well‐being of people. Journalists and news organisations can fulfil multiple roles related to disasters, ranging from providing warnings, assessing disaster mitigation and preparedness, and reporting on what occurs, to aiding long‐term recovery and fostering disaster resilience. This paper considers these possible functions of disaster journalism and draws on semi‐structured interviews with 24 journalists in the United States to understand better their approach to the discipline. A thematic analysis was employed, which resulted in the identification of five main themes and accompanying subthemes: (i) examining disaster mitigation and preparedness; (ii) facilitating recovery; (iii) self‐care and care of journalists; (iv) continued spread of social media; and (v) disaster journalism ethics. The paper concludes that disaster journalism done poorly can result in harm, but done well, it can be an essential instrument with respect to public disaster planning, management, response, and recovery.     

甘肃省冬春季人工增雨雪作业指挥系统

为了提高甘肃省人工增雨雪的水平和效果，准确、及时地把握作业气象条件，使人工增雨雪在抗旱减灾中取得更好的社会、经济效益，研制建立了“甘肃省冬春季人工增雨雪作业指挥系统”。该系统包括作业信息系统、作业指挥系统和效果检查系统共3个分系统。详细介绍了各分系统的组成和功能。     

Temporary disaster debris management site identification using binomial cluster analysis and GIS

An essential component of disaster planning and preparation is the identification and selection of temporary disaster debris management sites (DMS). However, since DMS identification is a complex process involving numerous variable constraints, many regional, county and municipal jurisdictions initiate this process during the post‐disaster response and recovery phases, typically a period of severely stressed resources. Hence, a pre‐disaster approach in identifying the most likely sites based on the number of locational constraints would significantly contribute to disaster debris management planning. As disasters vary in their nature, location and extent, an effective approach must facilitate scalability, flexibility and adaptability to variable local requirements, while also being generalisable to other regions and geographical extents. This study demonstrates the use of binomial cluster analysis in potential DMS identification in a case study conducted in Hamilton County, Indiana.     

Individual relocation decisions after tornadoes: a multi‐level analysis

This study examines how multi‐level factors affected individuals' relocation decisions after EF4 and EF5 (Enhanced Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale) tornadoes struck the United States in 2013. A telephone survey was conducted with 536 respondents, including oversampled older adults, one year after these two disaster events. Respondents' addresses were used to associate individual information with block group‐level variables recorded by the American Community Survey. Logistic regression revealed that residential damage and homeownership are important predictors of relocation. There was also significant interaction between these two variables, indicating less difference between homeowners and renters at higher damage levels. Homeownership diminished the likelihood of relocation among younger respondents. Random effects logistic regression found that the percentage of homeownership and of higher income households in the community buffered the effect of damage on relocation; the percentage of older adults reduced the likelihood of this group relocating. The findings are assessed from the standpoint of age difference, policy implications, and social capital and vulnerability.     

Health effects of relocation following disaster: a systematic review of the literature

This paper reviews the literature on the effects of post-disaster relocation on physical and mental heath, and develops a conceptual framework to guide future research. Forty articles were selected for full-text review and incorporation into the conceptual framework. Twenty-four articles were reviewed for results and methodology. These overwhelmingly tracked mental health outcomes. Only four (16 per cent) focused on physical health. Eight of ten showed an association between relocation and psychological morbidity. Certain outcomes (such as mortality, injury and cardiovascular disease risk factors) revealed inconsistent results, but these were rarely studied. Despite the frequency of post-disaster relocation and evidence of its effect on psychological morbidity, there is a relative paucity of studies; the few examples in the literature reveal weak study designs, inconsistent results, and inattention to physical health impacts and the challenges facing vulnerable populations. Further research guided by theory is needed to inform emergency preparedness and recovery policy.