Journal of Emergency Management最新文献

The collective awareness and acknowledgment of mental health challenges affecting all of us across our society is a trend that can inform targeted future interventions. Mental health conditions have only worsened during the past three years, secondary to the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. In the workplace, 67 percent of those surveyed reported at least one mental health symptom over the past year, demonstrating an increase from 59 percent in 2019.¹ Recent findings approximate that first responders have a higher incidence (>30 percent) of developing mental health conditions, including depression, suicidal ideation, alcohol/drug abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as compared with 20 percent in the general population.2 A 2021 survey of more than 26,000 members of the public health workforce highlighted that 53 percent of respondents reported mental health symptoms, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.3 A repeat survey in 2022 showed similar troubling trends.4 The hospital-based workforce has found increased mental health concerns as well, with employees leaving these professional settings to get a better hold on their mental health and support their work-life balance.

Introduction: Responses to trauma are often characterized either by the presence or absence of psychological distress; however, the process of adapting after trauma also includes potential positive change. While some studies document that the majority of individuals exposed to single event terrorism report low levels of psychological distress, more research is needed to understand different adaptation profiles following this type of trauma, and the factors that might predict responses.

Methods: We examined post-trauma responses in 257 first responders/medical professionals (66.8 percent) and civilians (33.2 percent) exposed to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings. Data for post-trauma profiles-post-traumatic growth (PTG), post-traumatic stress, and emotion regulation-and profile predictors-trauma proximity, trauma history, and coping flexibility-were collected approximately 2.5 years after the bombings. Latent profile analysis identified response profiles, and multinomial logistic regression identified demographic, event-specific, and psychological predictors of profile membership.

Results: Four profiles emerged: (1) symptomatic, (2) resistant, (3) resilient, and (4) struggling growth. First responder role decreased the odds of belonging to the struggling growth profile, as compared to the symptomatic profile. Greater coping flexibility and adaptive emotion regulation increased the odds of membership in the struggling growth, rather than symptomatic profile.

Conclusion: A subset of individuals experiencing post-traumatic stress symptoms years after trauma exposure may also be utilizing flexible, adaptive coping strategies and experiencing PTG. First responders may have difficulty experiencing simultaneous -distress and growth, and interventions designed to promote healthy post-trauma adaptation for this population could be tailored accordingly.

Climate change is increasing the risk for extreme weather events such as heatwaves, including in northern countries like Sweden, which until recent years has had limited experiences of coping with extreme heat. Based on predictions that Sweden will be more frequently exposed to heatwaves in the future, it is imperative to increase the societal resilience and adaptation measures. This paper presents a qualitative interview study involving 19 participants and their experiences of caring for vulnerable people during the heatwave in 2018. The participants represent four different organizations (working directly or indirectly with vulnerable people) in two municipalities in Sweden, including preschools, homes for the elderly, homecare services, and care homes for people with functional impairments, which were all impacted during the heatwave. This study contributes new empirical insights about the heatwave in 2018 and, in particular, similarities and differences in both experiences and adaptation measures across the four organizations. The findings show how both staff and vulnerable people suffered from the consequences of heat which increased vulnerability, how some organizations lacked enough (qualified) staff to secure routines, and that few evaluations and formal changes were done after the heatwave.

The present paper draws on a series of qualitative studies exploring civic response and community resilience post the 2018-19 floods in Kerala, India. Data were triangulated from multiple sources and -perspectives-community leaders and key informants, rescue and relief volunteers, and survivors. This viewpoint paper aims to highlight the critical role of local volunteerism in disaster mitigation and preparedness, the cost of gaps in emboldening community response, and to suggest actionable means of maximizing civilian potential through legislative policies. The local populace are the first responders at disaster sites and play a vital role in disaster mitigation. Knowledge about local geography, community, and readily accessible resources enables community members to respond efficiently, unlike state deployed disaster task forces who need to be scaffolded into these sites. Liaisons between the state and civilian responders are necessary for informed and time-e-fficient response. Insights gleaned from interviews with the participants offer several suggestions for streamlining administrative channels and structural reforms in governance. Community response can be emboldened by adopting policies that formalize civilian participation in the state's disaster mitigation systems. Decentralization of authority to local self-governance bodies and acknowledgment of local expertise is key to fostering disaster resilient communities. This paper argues that empowering local stakeholders through legislative reforms can bridge existing gaps between community-action focused research recommendations and policy in practice. It provides a framework and actionable measures toward actualizing the call for society-inclusive disaster risk reduction practices.

At the national level, the field of emergency management has distinctive capabilities and responsibilities organized by the United States Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) doctrine. Key to this doctrine is the goal: a secure and resilient nation. This goal is known as the National Preparedness Goal (NPG). The NPG is supported by five missions, and these five missions are supported by 32 core capabilities. One of the core capabilities is Public Information and Warning. This core capability is so important and spans all five missions. ". . . Public information is a vital function in disaster operations that contributes greatly to saving lives and protecting property." Public information officers (PIOs) are responsible for collecting, analyzing, verifying, and communicating risk, crisis, and recovery information to a wide variety of people across the "whole community." This needs analysis conducted as a component of this paper demonstrated a need for a strategic, coordinated, and unified approach to training PIOs in the NPG. A review of employee training literature, along with the conclusions from the needs analysis and the central role the NPG plays in FEMA doctrine, revealed the value of integrating the NPG into PIO training. The purpose of this paper was to determine to what extent the NPG identifies training procedures to empower PIOs to fulfill their communication responsibilities within the NPG and to determine if current PIO training is preparing PIOs to support their NPG responsibilities. Content analysis methodology was used to determine to what extent training was described within the NPG. Cross-tabulation (Crosstab) methodology was utilized to determine coincidence between existing PIO training course learning objectives (CLOs) and the NPG. This paper may serve as a framework for aligning PIO training with the NPG. Furthermore, once completed, this paper may serve as tool to evaluate PIO training, communication planning, and post-incident after-action reports. Content analysis of the NPG revealed no description of training recommendations or training regimen for PIOs and/or emergency managers to fulfill their NPG responsibilities. Crosstab methodological data analysis revealed a 53 percent coincidence between the NPG and the PIO CLOs. The NPG is FEMA's standard for national emergency preparedness. Communication, and thus PIOs, plays a significant part in fulfilling this standard. The more PIOs can be trained in achieving the NPG communication mission, the more resilient the whole community will be when there are crises.

Emergency management (EM) requires an appropriate understanding of its situational context in real time. This involves constant communication between emergency operations and administration, so that informed, coordinated decisions can be made in a constantly changing environment using the most critical and updated information. Challenges in EM include adapting to rapidly changing technologies, adoption, and communication. The goal of this needs assessment is to examine how the effective collection and communication of information has been affected by the technology developed to support it, to identify critical disconnects between emergency management professionals and information technology and telecommunications (ITT) professionals, and to identify opportunities for improved application and user interface development. The methods for this qualitative analysis enumerate and categorize some of the communication challenges faced by the EM community as identified by interviews conducted with subject matter experts using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats technique. This study finds that the absence of ITT professionals with experience in emergency response and, conversely, the absence of EM professionals working in EM application development create a "cycle of disparity," where the key findings of this study both arise from one central input and feed into to each of the other key findings in a continuous cycle, reinforcing what threats and weaknesses already exist.

This study compares the effect of two different types of incidents on the number of citizen-generated 9-1-1 dispatch center calls and if changes in the call numbers represent a measurable break in the expected rhythm of 9-1-1 calls. Using time series analysis, changes in the normal rhythm of calls for service (CFS) demonstrate that CFS is a good indicator of a disaster event. CFS data may potentially illustrate one aspect of measuring the degree of disaster for an event. This study establishes the value of applying time series analysis to secondary data within the framework of social routine to determine the magnitude disaster impact (or jolt) to a system. The same methodology may also be applied to examine the process of reestablishing system routine or rhythms indicating system recovery as defined as restabilization.