Journal of Emergency Management最新文献

Introduction: Response to infectious diseases-related events may present a challenge to cooperative disaster management and emergency preparedness strategies. The primary objective of this investigation was to identify areas of strength and areas needing improvement in emergency management (EM) coordination between public health (PH) and infection prevention (IP) officials during disasters. A secondary objective was to evaluate education and training among EM, PH, and IP as they relate to increasing the number of mutually supportive relationships.

Methods: An eight-question survey was conducted among individuals working in New Jersey with responsibilities in PH, EM, and IP to identify themes and the current state of collaboration.

Results: The results of this survey suggested that more dedicated personnel in EM are needed for effective health system disaster planning.

Conclusion: Stronger disaster response action plans can only be achieved through improvements in collaboration among stakeholders in EM, PH, and IP. These partnerships are essential to control disease transmission and protect the public from preventable harm.

Introduction: At the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many healthcare institutions activated the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) to manage their pandemic response. The current literature includes numerous case reports describing individual institutional responses. This paper serves to synthesize the various lessons learned published in the current literature.

Methods: This systematic review consists of articles identified by searching three online databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The authors used the search themes "Hospital Incident Command System" and "COVID" to identify articles to screen for inclusion. Finally, 12 articles published between 2020 and July 2022 met the inclusion criteria and were selected for review.

Results: Eight articles (66.7 percent) discussed how the HICS improved communication within their organization. Eight articles (66.7 percent) described unique modifications to the HICS structure that enabled the organization to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic. The flexibility of the HICS allowed each individual organization to modify its structure to best respond to COVID-19. These modifications improved internal communication between hospital leadership, staff, and the community. Implementation of the HICS helped organizations to streamline communication by preventing information overload.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the HICS provided healthcare institutions with a flexible structure to effectively tailor their emergency response to the unique challenges within their institution and the local community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had dramatic impacts throughout the United States (US). In Cameron County, Texas, along the Texas-Mexico border, the impacts of the virus were felt more severely than in most places in the US. Residents of the county, which has high rates of poverty, many multigenerational households, high levels of underlying conditions, and an uninsured population of almost 30 percent, were not only poised to be affected by the virus but also by the response policies put in place to contain it. This study seeks to add to the literature by examining the lived experiences of low-income individuals in Cameron County, Texas, as it relates to the COVID-19 response and their experiences with the response. To do this, we asked: How did the COVID-19 response affect low-income residents in Cameron County, Texas?

Deaf people who use signed languages are a cultural and linguistic minority. Previous studies involving healthcare and emergency medical service professionals and their interactions with deaf people within the United States and globally have demonstrated a disconnect and lack of trust. The researchers, in this study, explored an emergency preparedness and mass casualty response with deaf people at a university-run mass casualty simulation. Seven culturally deaf high school students from a local deaf school participated in this simulation. Deaf student responses on the survey reflected their experiences involving poor communication skills between health professionals, first responders, and deaf students. By adopting the whole community approach, the students' experiences reinforce the need to include cultural and linguistic education training led by deaf people to increase communication skills among health professionals and first responders in supporting deaf people in emergencies.

Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) are locations from where activities are conducted in support of emergency incident response, including management of information flows/communications and coordination of strategic decision-making and activities across diverse communities and organizations. To date, knowledge is limited about practices involved in structuring and operating EOCs at public offices of emergency management (OEMs) and influencing factors. Through surveys and analysis of organizational documents, this study examines the models used by OEMs and the factors that influence the choice of models and organizational perception of the effectiveness of the employed models. Our results indicate that the emergency support function (ESF) model is the most commonly used, followed by a hybrid model, the incident command system model, and finally, the departmental structure and incident support model. We found no single model to be decisively superior; rather, different models are appropriate depending on personnel, resource availability, and the context of the jurisdiction. The ESF model, which is the most commonly utilized, appears to be difficult to employ effectively when organizations have limited access to trained personnel necessary for carrying out the range of functions specified in the model. In comparison, other models appear better suited to handle personnel constraints.

The rapid breakout and dissemination of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection from the city of Wuhan, China, to the rest of the countries of the world in December 2019 triggered a situation that led the World Health Organization to report it as a global public health emergency. The pandemic resulted in abrupt and significant loss of lives, disruption of economies, loss of livelihoods, and severe hardship across the nations of the world. Nigeria encountered the COVID-19 reality following the discovery of the first case of the infection in the country on February 27, 2020, prompting the government to swing into action to contain its spread. However, the government's response to the pandemic benefited from the support of nonstate actors from the profit and nonprofit sectors. This study, thus, specifically examined the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria's response to the coronavirus crisis. Using data obtained through secondary sources and analysis of thematic and descriptive-interpretive methods, the study found that CSOs impressively contributed to the government's fight against COVID-19, particularly in view of their roles in creating awareness about the virus and rebutting disinformation regarding the disease, among others. Yet, CSOs encountered some problems while undertaking these roles, prominently the closure of the civic space, noninclusion of CSOs in government's pandemic response architecture, and loss of funding. The study recommends, among other things, that in the case of any future public health emergencies of COVID-19 magnitude, the Nigerian Government should make CSOs an integral part of its response structure, while concluding that the application of these measures would incentivize better contributions from CSOs.

In Nebraska, there are over 28,000 miles of pipelines that carry various materials, which could impact human health and the natural environment in the event of a leak or spill. Nebraska is heavily reliant on its expansive groundwater supply from the large High Plains aquifer system as well as smaller secondary aquifers. Eighty-eight percent of Nebraska's population utilizes groundwater for personal use, and the state's agricultural sector depends on it for irrigation and livestock care. The ongoing challenges facing the implementation of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline system inspired re-searchers to examine the current state of pipeline emergency preparedness in Nebraska. To do this, a pipeline emergency preparedness workshop was held in November 2021 in Norfolk, Nebraska. Conference participants in-cluded county- and regional-level leadership, local public health departments, tribal representatives, and other organizations. Pipeline emergency responders and other stakeholders were invited to listen to plenary presenta-tions about inland oil spill responses and the current state of Nebraska pipelines and to participate in a facilitated discussion identifying pipeline response challenges and potential solutions. Through a facilitated discussion process, participants identified six general response challenge categories and 24 potential solutions. From those 24 solutions, three were selected as easily implementable solutions-increased joint/coordinated planning, increased pipeline emergency exercising, and increased pipeline emergency train-ing/education. Implementing this work will assist in reducing health risks associated with potential spills.

Publicly accessible weather radar data have significant capabilities for meteorological measurements and predictions and, further, have the potential to measure nonmeteorological events that include smoke, ash, and debris plumes as well as explosions. The ability to identify and track nonmeteorological events can be of assistance in emergency response, hazard mitigation, and related activities in locations where radar coverage both exists and is recorded and accessible to the user. In this study, events from multiple locations in the United States that are reported in news outlets are assessed using a manual inspection process of Level 2 weather radar data to identify anthropogenic and nonbiological returns. Explosive events are also identified, and a large high-altitude debris cloud from the intentional destruction of the SpaceX Starship is tracked across a wide area. Finally, future efforts using a machine learning model are discussed as a means of automating the process and potentially enabling near-real-time nonmeteorological event identification in the same areas where the data are accessible. Using weather radar data can be a valuable new tool for Department of Defense systems to aid in military awareness, and for interagency emergency response and forensic mission experts to consider national weather service data in their mission profiles. Radar data can be effective in detecting several common types of emergencies and inform and aid response personnel.

Various occupational groups as well as emergency responders are important human factors in combating incidents and emergencies in a broad range. Negative deviations from a process-safe condition should be detected and transformed into a safer condition to prevent negative consequences. Therefore, training and education of personnel is an important measure in this case as well as a major influencing factor on the vulnerability to errors during operations and their resilience. From lack of training to incorrect execution due to excessive stress, fear, or unfamiliar situations, it is important to counteract this with targeted training under conditions that are as close to reality as reasonably achievable. Realistic training situations involving live agents allow to recognize mistakes or inadequacies not only in personnel but also in material or in mission planning and to create a more effective working environment. Many violations of work guidelines are due to well-intentioned deviations from nonexecutable standard operation procedures that have never been tested. Repeated, progressive training under real hazardous conditions can help to strengthen mission readiness and resilience of teams. It better prepares them for their dangerous activities.