Journal of Emergency Management最新文献

Situation awareness (SA) in complex socio-technical systems is considered a key cognitive activity, as control crews are often engaged in simultaneous task processes and are required to monitor and evaluate system parameters, making decisions and projections for the future accordingly. However, measuring SA at the team level is still a challenging area of research within the topic. In our research, we applied verbal protocol analysis as an alternative method to assess nuclear power plant control room crews' team SA. We conducted a study of 10 control room crews, examining their intrateam communication and its relatedness to team performance. We have found that communication categories related to the second and third levels of team SA increased significantly after the onset of an emergency event. Furthermore, while none of the team communication categories was related to team performance before the emergency event, all of them showed a strong positive correlation with team performance after the emergency situation occurred. Our results underline the importance of adequate verbalization of key information within the team, so as to support the rapid and accurate development of team SA during emergency situations.

This paper describes the factors that support recovery of public health infrastructure (PHI), including conditions that facilitated or hindered recovery in United States (US) territories impacted by hurricanes Irma and Maria. A deductive approach was used to categorize data from five organizations that received crisis hurricane recovery (CHR) funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.* Spending was grouped into five infrastructure gaps: (1) human resources, (2) informatic upgrades, (3) equipment, (4) minor repairs, and (5) preventive maintenance. Unanticipated PHI costs, facilitators, and hinderances to PHI recovery were identified. Most (72 percent) of the $53,529,823 CHR funding was used to address infrastructure gaps in (1) human resources (56 percent), (2) informatics (16 percent), (3) equipment (13 percent), (4) minor repairs (10 percent), and (5) preventive maintenance (5 percent). Most of the requests (56 percent) to redirect funds were associated with unanticipated costs in initial work plans and budgets. The use of administrative partners, planning tools, dedicated staff, streamlined procedures, eg, contracts, and cost sharing facilitated PHI recovery. The most common hindrance to PHI recovery were delays in procurement and shipping. In summary, investments in dedicated funding to upgrade, repair, or replace critical structures and systems for infectious disease surveillance, laboratory capacity, vector control, environmental health inspections, and vaccine storage and administration in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Irma and Maria contributed to their recovery capacity. These findings may inform funding and resource allocation considerations for PHI recovery in the US territories.

In a post-9/11 environment with an increased United States (US) federal government emphasis on active shooter preparedness, this study seeks to understand how higher educational institutions have adapted to this changing policy environment. Furthermore, between 2000 and 2017, there were 15 active shooter incidents at US higher education institutions. This study provides data on how public and private higher education campuses are preparing for this increased active shooter threat. Interviews were conducted with higher education employees familiar with campus security policies from 40 higher education institutions across 18 states in the US. These colleges/universities also represented a range of institution type: community colleges (5), public institutions (9), and private institutions (26). Interviews were conducted with 18 Chief/Director of Campus Safety/Security, 14 members of campus police or security, seven Chiefs of Police, and one staff member familiar with campus security policies.

In the United States, selected subgroups of historically marginalized populations include people with disabilities and people in racial/ethnic minority groups ("critical populations") who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. These groups are also more likely to use public transit to access essential resources; thus, understanding transit agencies' communication strategies to reach these populations during crises is of utmost importance. We conducted a content analysis of 16 transit agencies' webpages and Twitter® accounts during the first 6 months of the pandemic to assess alignment of agencies' COVID-19-related communications with best practices in crisis communication across five themes: perceivability, navigability, understandability, suitability, and content. Findings suggested that transit agencies frequently communicated about schedule changes and safety, eg, masking, station sanitation, and reflected racial/ethnic diversity in images. Yet, less than half consistently used communication strategies known to enhance accessibility and uptake of messaging among critical populations, eg, alternative text, and even less reflected disability diversity in images. We offer recommendations for public transit agencies to move beyond compliance to effectively address the needs of ridership most substantially impacted by public health emergencies.

The Code of Ethics and Professional Standards of Conduct for Emergency Management Professionals (2022) was recently created to further delineate the ethical boundaries and conduct expectations for professional emergency management practice. Significantly, the code of ethics provides an essential foundation toward recognition as a profession with hallmarks of monopoly, autonomy, and authority. The code and standards of conduct establish a clear definition of the role emergency management has in overseeing a complex, diverse risk portfolio that protects lives, livelihoods, and quality of life. The document captures the intent, challenges, dimensions, and significance of emergency management practice in a rapidly changing world and brings ethics to the forefront of decisions. This article speaks to the discursive dialogue toward, methodological development of, and future tools for integrating into practice the Code of Ethics and Professional Standards of Conduct for Emergency Management Professionals.

This study examined gender differences in commitment to volunteering and its explanatory variables among Israeli volunteers in the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Commitment to volunteering was assessed based on tendency to continue volunteering over time, expected intensity of volunteering, and tendency to recommend volunteering to others. The sample included 173 men and 331 women. The social-structural and psychological approaches formed the theoretical basis for explaining commitment to volunteering. Data processing was conducted through path analysis. For both genders, routine volunteering explained commitment to volunteering over time. Instrumental motives for volunteering were stronger for men than for women. A positive correlation was found for both genders between the level of anxiety and motive to escape from reality through volunteering. For women, fear of contracting the coronavirus correlated negatively with expected intensity of volunteering. Recommendations are made to volunteer organizations to adopt a gender-sensitive approach when managing volunteers in an emergency.

The study of planning and execution failures resulting in disastrous outcomes for public events often offers much value when preparing for similar future events. While not recent, the lessons learned from the Indiana State Fair stage collapse of 2011 remain especially pertinent, due to thorough technical and managerial forensic investigations and their rigorous examination during subsequent litigation about the fatal event. Continued concern about life safety and inconsistent building code enforcement and design guidance for publicly occupied temporary structures, eg, outdoor stages, recently drew recommended changes by the International Code Council for the 2024 edition of the International Building Code. Codification of technical lessons learned is seldom immediate. Even with checklists and written plans of action, the full context of managerial lessons learned can be forgotten, as people without first-hand experience of earlier disasters plan later events. Salient events of the past can reinforce valuable lessons for today's practitioners, even to produce building code changes. That is certainly so for the Indiana State Fair stage collapse of August 2011.

The American cowboy or cowgirl is someone who possesses a unique set of skills that allows them to contribute to the agricultural economy. From feeding animals to land management to business negotiations, these individuals do so much to support the American family by helping to get food on the table across the country, and even beyond in foreign lands on occasion. Therefore, it is important that these livestock farmers know what they can do in the event of an emergency. Yet, many people in the agriculture industry do not know what the best practices are for securing their livelihoods from emergencies. The research material in this paper answers that question. This paper will start with a literature review that looks at key terms surrounding the world of livestock and emergencies. Then, this paper lays out a list of recommendations that livestock farmers can use to enhance their entire operation.