Search

Socionatural disasters are highly demanding episodes for the affected populations; however, there are groups that, due to their characteristics, may be more exposed to inequalities, such as women. The general objective of this paper is to analyze the emergency and the reconstruction process of the 2010 earthquake and tsunami in Chile, from a critical perspective that considers social factors from a gender approach based mainly on the experiences of the women victims of the town of Arauco in the Bío-Bío Region. It is evident that in the framework of a subsidiary and highly centralized State, responses are generated in disconnection with the territories and population affected by the disaster. Thus, under these conditions, women are forced to assume leadership and community care roles as a mechanism of resistance and subsistence in the face of the state policy limitations. As a result, the sexual division of labor increases to the detriment of women, who are highly demanded during the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Disasters constitute one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Perceptions regarding these extreme events and their consequences greatly affect the design and implementation of public policies for adaptation and mitigation. Main goal In this paper, the determinants of preferences and perceptions about disasters in Argentina (2017-2019) are analyzed. Method and technique Two waves of a public opinion survey (N = 3056) carried out in 2017 and 2019 are used. Socio-economic and subjective determinants are considered and a regression analysis is carried out. The results of interest include the perception of the probability of dying from a disaster, the preference for greater public spending on safer housing in the face of disasters, and the preference for prioritizing environmental protection or economic growth. Results The results suggest that material deprivation of the household, province of residence (Mendoza, San Juan and Santa Fe, in particular) and having been previously exposed to disasters significantly affect the perception of disasters. In the same sense, trust in the community and the perception of the ease of receiving public benefits if needed are relevant subjective determinants. Conclusion In the current climate change context, the findings of this work constitute an input for the elaboration and implementation of disaster preparedness and mitigation policies. In this sense, understanding what experiences or socio-economic factors affect preferences towards environmental protection is of vital importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a qualitative methodology for calculating a flood vulnerability index. Based on information available in many local administrations, it is applied in the Arona and Adeje coast, tourist areas in the southwest of Tenerife that have a lodging offer of over 90.000 places annually (ISTAC, 2018). From the work carried out at the cadastral plot level, a vulnerability index is extracted that ranges between a minimum value of 0 and a maximum of 1, as well as its spatial differentiation according to the age of the tourist urbanizations. This index is a good method for evaluations of urban spaces vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its impact on human health and its capacity to cause damage, disasters are one of the global problems that most concern the international community. However, and in spite of the efforts made by many health systems, the reduction of vulnerabilities and the lack of strategies to avoid or minimize risks have not received enough attention yet. As Cuba is located in an area of permanent danger of disasters, its health sector has accumulated considerable experience in the management of risks and in the assurance of less risky future scenarios, with active participation of the community and a planned and organized process to address the impact of climate change. This paper summarizes some of these experiences and describes the dangers, vulnerabilities, and risks of disasters in Cuba, its Civil Defense System, and planning and organization in the health sector for disaster reduction, as well as the main effects and challenges of climate change in the health system. Lessons learned and good practices support the key role of human resources to reduce vulnerabilities; the greatest challenges are to avoid or minimize risks, to advance research, to train professionals for climate change, and to optimize the organization of health systems and services in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the study "Institutional Conditions for the Participation of Professional Reserve Officers (PRO) in Disaster Management" whose objective was to determine which regulatory framework and institutional capabilities facilitate or limit the engagement of PROs in the Army's Disaster Risk Management. For this, the regulatory framework, sense of change, and strategic environment were identified using a qualitative methodology, based on documentary research and interviews. The theoretical basis was the institutional and capabilities design together with the risk management theory. It determined that, in several regions of the country, there is a human contingent highly qualified in disciplines useful to dealing with disasters that currently show low engagement but whose capabilities might be useful if procedures were adjusted. The conclusion is that the Colombian Army is evolving toward a multi-mission army, and regulating such engagement is an additional opportunity for institutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the world, natural and man-provoked disasters cause the migration of big human groups,mental disorders -such as post-traumatic stress disorder-, and economic losses It has been estimated that each year 130 disasters of different nature occur in the Americas and that 67% of the hospitals and clinics are located in high risk areas. For this reason, the World Health Organization considers that disaster prevention, risk reduction, preparations, and recovery are activities which form a continuous cycle. In the light of this, it has developed the “Safe Hospital" program and the “Hospital Safety Index" ,two tools to evaluate the functionality of hospitals and the probability that they continue working in the case of disaster. This paper makes a brief practical review of the general evacuation measures for the mental patients of a psychiatric hospital as this is a highly vulnerable population given to causes which are intrinsic and extrinsic to mental illness. These measures include: the right moment to make the decision to evacuate a psychiatric hospital, the way to carry this out, evaluating patients requiring an immediate evacuation, evaluating pre- and post-sinister treatment, medical drugs supply, who will be responsible for the evacuation, the place where patients will be transferred taking into account the duration of the catastrophe, patients identification, the information which will be provided to relatives, the supervision of life in the shelters, and patients return at the end of the catastrophe. Finally, the paper suggests some elements to be considered for prevention, as well as some actions to evacuate a psychiatric hospital in the face of disaster situations. These are not exclusive for this population for they can be applied to other vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

this paper constitutes a critical approach to i) the definition of a study object regarding the relationships between disasters, media, types of knowledge, power, and society and ii) some perspectives for the analysis of this study object. For this purpose, we used an excerpt from Michel Foucault's work (and other works about this author), especially some texts published at the end of his life that revisit Immanuel Kant's question--raised two hundred years earlier--about what Enlightenment is. This process lead to a reflection that contributes to denaturalizing specific aspects of such study object and perspectives. The first section of the article is an introduction to the field of communication studies and their role in the relations between media, knowledge, and power, mainly in disaster situations. Second, emphasis is placed on the (sub)field of public communication of science and technology and its role in the relations between disasters, types of knowledge, power, and society. In sum, it is a question of identifying what Foucault's ideas can contribute to these standpoints and, if possible, to dialogue with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triage in mass emergencies and disasters in Colombia is actually in implementation, is an adaptation of external theories, based on personal and institutional criteria that make difficult the transit between theories to practice in a prehospitalary environment for the emergency and disaster personnel. The present paper, define general criteria of intervention in each of the phases in which the emergency medical personnel, comes in contact with a victim in a great emergencies or disasters in order to define how, when and where to act independently of the type of triage tool that have been used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with perpetrators harming our planet particularly in Colombia through activities that impact on the environmental stability. These actions are from a voracious quest for wealth under the alleged improvement of modus vivendi just offered to some communities, neglecting most cases damage caused is irreversible, all of this against many environmental regulations that supposedly seek protection of the only available habitat of homo sapiens. Firstly, approved concepts on a biological meaning try to answer these issues: What social and environmental costs, some institutions or individuals seek to obtain economic benefits and protection under a supposedly concept of development? And how state control agencies are performing the role that society has given them as a way to protect a sustainable environment? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes to discuss four essays around the creation and staging of the play De-sastres y costuras. De-lirios a crisantemos the product of the extension Project called "De-sastres y costuras" linked to the University Projection Vicerector's Office and conceived from the difficulties that take place before, during and after a disastrous situation, a cataclysm or a tragedy caused by natural disasters. This work was directed by the Inverse Theater group which belongs to the research group "Theater, Culture and Society" form the Scenic Arts Department at Universidad de Caldas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]