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Objective: Publication science is the scholarly study of various aspects of the academic publishing process. Its applications to COVID-19 literature have been limited. Here, we describe COVID-19 submissions to, and resulting articles published by, the journal Public Health Reports (PHR), an important resource for US public health practice. Methods: We reviewed PHR 's COVID-19 submissions and articles published between March 27, 2020, and March 27, 2023. We coded each article for article type, author affiliation, the categories listed in PHR 's call for COVID-19 papers, and the public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Results: During the study period, PHR received 1545 COVID-19 submissions and published 190 of those articles in a collection, COVID-19 Response. The COVID-19 Response collection included 102 research articles, 29 case study/practice articles, and 24 commentaries. The corresponding author of more than half (52.1%; n = 99) of the articles was affiliated with academia. By the categories listed in PHR 's call for COVID-19 papers, 51 articles addressed health disparities, 38 addressed public health surveillance, and 34 addressed COVID-19 vaccination. By the CDC public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities, 87 articles addressed public health surveillance and epidemiologic investigation, 38 addressed community preparedness, and 32 addressed community recovery. The percentage of articles focused on policy/law was higher early in the pandemic (2020-2021) than later (2022-2023) (9.5% vs <3.0%). During the latter period, articles largely focused on vaccination (12.8%) and contact tracing (10.6%). Conclusions: Articles published in PHR 's COVID-19 Response collection covered a broad range of topics and were authored by contributors from diverse organizations. Our characterization of the COVID-19 output of a representative US public health practice journal can help academic publishing better address informational needs of public health responders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the City of Portland, Oregon's recent zoning code amendment which legalized sanctioned homeless encampments. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in Portland, the paper details how the City Government's long-held opposition to homeless camping shifted to a position of acceptance. The paper identifies the state of emergency (SOE) on housing and homelessness as a critical moment for developing not only a legal foundation, but also a social justification, for legalizing encampments as an official shelter strategy. In contrast to research over the past few decades articulating the camp as the realization of punitive sovereign power, the paper suggests the relationality of emergency governance, or "governing-through-emergency," instead provides an opportunity to legitimate the lived experiences and desires of unhoused people residing in sanctioned encampments. It concludes by warning that, although emergency governance serves as a critical tool to advance the interests of the unhoused, such governing strategies are limited by structural forces producing homelessness more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local authorities in the United Kingdom played an integral role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. During a time of unprecedented crisis, local authorities acted quickly to strengthen local governance arrangements and to deliver frontline services. The public health emergency created unparalleled challenges for local authorities. This paper reflects on the experience of Nottingham City Council, a local authority in the East Midlands of England. It draws on an in-depth interview with the then Deputy Leader of the authority and the chair of the Outbreak Control Engagement Board, and the publicly available minutes from this committee. This paper places the specific experiences of this local authority in a broader context reflecting on emergency planning, best practice, and legacy. It contributes to understanding the national impact of COVID-19 on local government. Four key themes emerge from this analysis: first central government was too slow in responding to the emerging crisis and communication with local government was poor, second the local authority quickly moved online but there has subsequently been a return to pre-pandemic working practices, third local government played a critical role in supporting vulnerable citizens despite huge budgetary pressures, and finally relationships between partners was crucial in achieving positive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaster researchers have long sought to classify hazard events using various characteristics. Despite varying perspectives on how hazard events differ, the most commonly used classification in disaster scholarship categorizes hazard events as either emergencies, disasters, or catastrophes, which generally are described as being distinguished based on impacts, needs, stakeholder involvement, and management approach. Although this hazard event classification is useful, disaster scholars have noted it needs further refinement and development. In an effort to address these calls from disaster scholars and create a more robust hazard event classification, the traditional classification is revisited and expanded. Specifically, this article proposes the addition of a second dimension, response duration, to the existing hazard event type classification, which to this point has largely been defined by scale of impacts, needs, stakeholder involvement, and management approach. This paper argues short and long-duration emergencies, disasters, and catastrophes are categorically different and therefore require different management approaches, and can be used to categorize and distinguish between events such as COVID-19 and Hurricane Katrina and the Levee Failure. The proposed change would have important implications for emergency management practice and policy and would encourage a re-evaluation of the kinds of hazard events considered to be part of the academic purview of emergency management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The significance of mutual-help in communities for disaster management is a fundamental important concept. However, the current societal state does not reflect this lesson. S&G (Simulation and Gaming) has the potential to overcome the challenges faced in promoting community-based disaster management. No scientific research is currently present that reviews their achievements in Japan. Aim. This paper analyzes the current achievements of S&G in enhancing community resilience against large-scale earthquakes in Japan. Method. The paper clarifies the theoretical advantages of S&G in enhancing community resilience in coping and adaptive capacity plus proposes a conceptual contribution framework of S&G in improving community resilience. Based on this framework, the paper analyzes some major games that tackle community resilience against earthquakes in Japan. Results. The paper demonstrates the achievements through the S&G spectrum that stresses the disastrous experience with specific resilience views on one side, while decision making for critical reflection from other players with more comprehensive resilience views on the other side. Conclusion. The paper showcases the current S&G achievements in enhancing community resilience against large-scale earthquakes in Japan using the proposed framework, which can be utilized by other disaster-prone countries to develop and evaluate applications of S&G for increasing community resilience against earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have reviewed disaster management research papers published in major operations management, management science, operations research, supply chain management and transportation/logistics journals. In reviewing these studies, our objective is to assess and present the macro level 'architectural blue print' of disaster management research with the hope that it will attract new researchers and motivate established researchers to contribute to this important field. The secondary objective is to bring this disaster research to the attention of disaster administrators so that disasters are managed more efficiently and more effectively. We have mapped the disaster management research on the following five attributes of a disaster: (1) Disaster Management Function (decision-making process, prevention and mitigation, evacuation, humanitarian logistics, casualty management, and recovery and restoration), (2) Time of Disaster (before, during and after), (3) Type of Disaster (accidents, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, landslides, terrorism and wildfires etc.), (4) Data Type (Field and Archival data, Real data and Hypothetical data), and (5) Data Analysis Technique (bidding models, decision analysis, expert systems, fuzzy system analysis, game theory, heuristics, mathematical programming, network flow models, queueing theory, simulation and statistical analysis). We have done cross tabulations of data among these five parameters to gain greater insights into disaster research. Recommendations for future research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disaster risk reduction (DRR) community tends to treat disasters and risks in a managerial and technocratic way, thereby disregarding the highly political nature of DRR. An alternative epistemology of disasters, as "matters of concern", is proposed and tested. Mobilizing concepts from Chantal Mouffe and Bruno Latour, this paper illustrates how DRR can be transformed into a public issue. It is argued that education and policymaking on DRR would benefit from a recognition of the hybrid nature of disasters. A serious game is used to investigate proposed epistemology. The board game simulates political decision-making on the reduction of risks due to floods and landslides in South-West Uganda. It is hypothesized that the game can generate an ideal speech scenario that fosters discussions among players and possibly even creates a space of political confrontation. Discussions during ten gameplays have been recorded, transcribed and analyzed (1) to understand how the dominant epistemology facilitates an apolitical approach to disasters and (2) to understand the process of politicization and de-politicization brought about when playing the board game in order to derive recommendations for future tools to facilitate a political appreciation of disasters. Our results indicate that participants effectively experience affects, power relations and confrontations during the game, but that a call for consensus and technical solutions is used by the players to close the discussions and move on with concrete solutions. Insights from this paper contribute to understanding why DRR is frequently treated as a technical issue in local and international disaster governance. Epistemology and approaches proposed in this paper are expected to stimulate innovative experiments towards a more political approach to DRR education and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Spring 2020, amidst a COVID-19 state of emergency, the City of Toronto's Parks & Urban Forestry department posted signs in the city's remaining Black Oak Savannahs to announce the cancellation of the yearly 'prescribed burn' practice, citing fears it would exacerbate pandemic conditions. With this activity and other nature management events on hold, many invasive plants continued to establish and proliferate. This paper confronts dominant attitudes in invasion ecology with Indigenous epistemologies and ideas of transformative justice, asking what can be learned from building a relationship with a much-maligned invasive plant like garlic mustard. Written in isolation as the plant began to flower in the Black Oak savannahs and beyond, this paper situates the plant's abundance and gifts within pandemic-related 'cancelled care' and 'cultivation activism' as a means of exploring human-nature relations in the settler-colonial city. It also asks what transformative lessons garlic mustard can offer about precarity, non-linear temporalities, contamination, multispecies entanglements, and the impacts of colonial property regimes on possible relations. Highlighting the entanglements of historical and ongoing violences with invasion ecology, this paper presents 'caring for invasives' as a path toward more liveable futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the problems regarding the treatment of lower limb injury. The aim of treatment in compound below-knee fractures with skin loss is to obtain rapid healing with minimal scarring and early ambulation. The author suggests that those who carry out the emergency management of compound below-knee injuries with skin loss are advised to follow some principles in surgery. It also requires a team approach properly coordinated for the interest of the patients.

A relevant, well-crafted emergency plan can help schools most optimally return to normal following a disaster. During this time, educators find themselves facing unintended responsibilities like operating on the front lines of providing social-emotional support for their students. Researchers conducted 115 interviews with educators impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Matthew in Texas and North Carolina to assess their mental health and their school's role in returning to normal. Findings suggest that emergency plans often did not take into account the social-emotional factors of recovery. This paper seeks to provide insight into the experiences of educators following a disaster and propose elements to consider in revising school emergency plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore Wind Farm (OWF) downtime causes huge financial loss to the stakeholders. One of the major concerns for them is to reduce the downtime of the offshore wind turbine as much as possible. To do this, inventory managers must keep the required number of spare parts in the inventory. It is important to forecast the type and amount of spare parts ahead of time. The maintenance team tries to figure out failure symptoms to predict the approximate time for failure. This prediction helps to purchase and stock spare parts systematically. There is a trade-off between the ordering cost, holding cost, and shortage cost. Proper inventory planning saves a manager from placing expensive emergency orders and also an extended period of holding spare parts. The desired service level should be determined earlier, based on which spare parts planning is done. In this paper, some prominent spare parts models have been studied, findings have been systematically presented, compared against some key determinant factors, critical analysis has been performed and the applicability of the models has been discussed. More than a 100 research articles on spare parts have been reviewed and major contributions from the most relevant articles in OWF have been presented in this paper. One advanced spare parts modeling reported up to 51% cost reduction compared to traditional spare parts planning. Another integrated spare parts planning reported 27% savings. This critical review aims to suggest some guidelines for the managers and other associates of wind farms about the effective and efficient spare parts management technique from the beginning of the turbine installation to the end of its life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some scholars argue that the public is generally myopic in their attitudes about disaster preparedness spending, because they prefer to spend money on disaster response rather than preparedness, despite the greater cost effectiveness of the later. Given voters' general lack of policy information, it is possible that limited support for preparedness comes from lack of information about its efficacy. In this paper, we build on these studies by examining how people respond to new information about the effectiveness of policy initiatives in the context of public health and the COVID-19 pandemic. Through two online survey experiments with over 3400 respondents, we demonstrate that information can lead people to update attitudes about preparedness, illustrating the potential for information campaigns to increase support for preparedness policies. Our results suggest that information about the efficacy of preparedness can increase support for these policies, and the information effect exists even for individuals whose prior beliefs were that public health programs were ineffective. These results suggest that information can make people more supportive of preparedness spending, which could provide electoral incentives for its provision. We conclude by providing some directions for future research to enhance our understanding of public opinion and preparedness spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the authors describe a way of doing phenomenology using exemplars drawn from a doctoral study of Australian nurses' lived experiences following a disaster. Phenomenology is concerned with the essence of things as they are appearing in the conscious awareness of the first person. This paper emphasises a way of doing phenomenology based on maintaining orientation to the uniqueness of the 'thingness' of the phenomena being uncovered. While there is no one way to do phenomenology, this paper shows a way of doing phenomenology from obtaining individual narrative and moving to an intersubjective lived-experience description. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Public health laboratories (PHLs) are essential components of US Public Health Service operations. The health information technology that supports PHLs is central to effective and efficient laboratory operations and overall public health response to infectious disease management. This analysis presents key information on how the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) information technology system evolved to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: COVID-19 presented numerous, unforeseen information technology system challenges. The most notable challenges requiring changes to NPHL software systems and capability were improving efficiency of the laboratory operation due to high-volume testing, responding daily to demands for timely data for analysis by partner systems, interfacing with multiple testing (equipment) platforms, and supporting community-based specimen collection programs. Results: Improvements to the NPHL information technology system enabled NPHL to perform >121 000 SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction tests from March 2020 through January 2022 at a sustainable rate of 2000 SARS-CoV-2 tests per day, with no increase in laboratory staffing. Electronic reporting of 62 000 rapid antigen tests eliminated paper reporting and extended testing services throughout the state. Collection of COVID-19 symptom data before specimen collection enabled NPHL to make data-driven decisions to perform pool testing and conserve testing kits when supplies were low. Practice Implications: NPHL information technology applications proved essential for managing health care provider workload, prioritizing the use of scarce testing supplies, and managing Nebraska's overall pandemic response. The NPHL experience provides useful examples of a highly capable information technology system and suggests areas for additional attention in the PHL environment, including a focus on end users, collaboration with various partners, and investment in information technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During emergencies humanitarian supply chains need to respond swiftly, very often without time for good planning that may end up in excessive waste and emissions. This short‐term focus on saving people's lives during disaster responses may harm communities and the planet in the long‐run. Even long‐term (development) focus on improving the life conditions of the poor may be either unsustainable due to the lack of community involvement or inequitable due to lack of resources. At the same time, countries closer to fulfilling the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) suffer less from disasters but still struggle with issues such as social equity. There appears to be an important link between humanitarian operations and SDGs. This special issue focuses on this interaction through a rich variety of contributions using different methodologies, data and lenses, while proposing ways to advance the SDGs. The special issue clearly shows the value operations management can bring to short‐term and long‐term problems society faces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chaotic response of the US Strategic National Stockpile to COVID‐19 during 2020 highlighted the inadequacy of the inventory‐based approaches to disaster response. This paper examines the integration of stockpile inventory, backup capacity, and standby capability to meet the disaster‐related surge in demand in the future. We present a two‐period model of such an integrated system for consumable items with uncertain demand that follows a general probability distribution. Our model incorporates standby capability in period 1 that can be converted to additional capacity for use in period 2, with the conversion yield being deterministic or stochastic. Our main results are: (1) Adding capacity in addition to inventory is beneficial only when the capacity reservation‐related costs are relatively lower than the inventory‐related costs. In this case, adding capacity will decrease the inventory needed in both periods, the shortfall probability, and the total expected cost. (2) Adding capability in period 1 is cost‐effective only when the ratio of capability‐development cost to conversion yield is lower than the capacity reservation cost. In this case, investing in capability results in less inventory and less reserved capacity in period 2. (3) Higher uncertainty in capability conversion yield reduces the attraction of developing capability in period 1. Consequently, less capability would be developed in period 1, while more inventory and capacity would be needed in period 2 in the face of a higher shortfall probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term resilience is being more widely adopted in fire safety engineering, however, its comprehensive description is not clearly explained or correctly applied in practice. This study, therefore, defines the categories, dimensions, characteristics, capacities, objectives and missions possessed by resilience to provide a holistic understanding of the term. This is followed by an analysis and classification of the UK Standards and Codes addressing resilience considering their administrative and engineering features of resilience, and their resilience dimensions with definitions of fire resilience measures and approaches. A practical example of a fire resilience framework is applied in educational buildings considering internal resilience for a safe facility, risk reduction and disaster management, and external resilience involving redundancy of resources and community support. Finally, a fire resilience design framework is created in which structural and fire safety engineering are considered clarifying the steps to follow in a comprehensive design process based on a flow chart. This paper will contribute to the creation of a unified terminology and understanding of the concept linked to resilience to be adopted in various disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) provides advanced mathematical frameworks and algorithms for further innovation and vitality of classical civil engineering (CE). Plenty of complex, time-consuming, and laborious workloads of design, construction, and inspection can be enhanced and upgraded by emerging AI techniques. In addition, many unsolved issues and unknown laws in the field of CE can be addressed and discovered by physical machine learning via merging the data paradigm with physical laws. Intelligent science and technology in CE profoundly promote the current level of informatization, digitalization, autonomation, and intellectualization. To this end, this paper provides a systematic review and summarizes the state-of-the-art progress of AI in CE for the entire life cycle of civil structures and infrastructure, including intelligent architectural design, intelligent structural health diagnosis, intelligent disaster prevention and reduction. A series of examples for intelligent architectural art shape design, structural topology optimization, computer-vision-based structural damage recognition, correlation-pattern-based structural condition assessment, machine-learning-enhanced reliability analysis, vision-based earthquake disaster evaluation, and dense displacement monitoring of structures under wind and earthquake, are given. Finally, the prospects of intelligent science and technology in future CE are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new approach for evaluating the impacts of identity and collective memory (CM) on social resilience will be presented. The approach is applied in Bam city, located in Iran, which suffered heavy damage during the 2003 Bam earthquake. Following that disaster, little attention was paid to preserve identity and CM during the reconstruction phase. In order to evaluate the social resilience components, key concepts and core categories on a local level have been identified, using Grounded Theory. The results depicted that identity and collective memories in Bam city, have been diminished gradually, due to neglecting the intangible needs of local residents in the reconstruction. Therefore, this article demonstrates the necessity of attention to the revival of collective memories in the renovation and reconstruction policies. The results of this study can be used by disaster management authorities as well as city managers to improve resilience at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short paper is a case study of the RCR Lab located at the campus of Mid Sweden University in Northern Sweden. We argue that experimental design thinking in research and higher education in the fields of crisis and emergency management in social studies can ameliorate the post hoc methodological problem and shed light in the decision processes and information flow among first responders as well as public officials of various levels. The RCR Lab may be used as an enhanced, realistic space for the enrichment of role-playing and simulations, to activate students, as well as a sophisticated tool for the collection not only of quantitative, but also of qualitative data. The audience for this paper may be institutions of higher education that have a lab on campus and are looking for new ways of utilizing it, as well as educators in general who are looking for new ways to integrate experimental thinking in their classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A disaster management plan is essential because it can guide library personnel on what to do in a critical time. Using an eight-part survey instrument, this paper documents the impact of Typhoon Haiyan on 22 academic libraries in Northern Panay, Western Visayas, Philippines and the disaster management practices that were implemented. The results revealed that although the majority of the libraries do not have a disaster management plan, they all had common disaster management practices that enabled them to save parts of their collections. Moreover, the study revealed that librarians lacked knowledge and skills on disaster management. This paper was presented at the 40th International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers (IAMSLIC) Annual Conference, Noumea, New Caledonia, September 14–18, 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, debt has become a major focus of geographic research as debt relations have become increasingly central to today's financialized capitalist economy. This paper bridges two aspects of the debt literature: (1) the emergent literature on debt spatiality, which argues that space plays an active role in the creation and maintenance of debt relations, and (2) the broader literature examining processes of debt-driven dispossession (e.g., foreclosure, eviction, austerity, etc.). Recent literature in geography, led by Harker's work on debt spaces, has argued that debt should not only be understood as a temporal relation (a promise of future labor) but a spatial relation as well. This literature has examined the active role of space in creating debt relations but has been less attentive to the ways in which debt is a key mechanism of dispossessive economies. Analyzing Michigan's emergency management laws, a system of forced, localized austerity, I chronicle how the social production of space is central to dispossessive debt projects. I conclude by offering a new concept, debtor spaces, to characterize the socio-spatial formations which enable practices of debt-based dispossession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With regards of quick response, its importance can't be ingored during the mass-casualty incident (MCI) event. This paper focuses on the application of a mass-casualty incidents system in tracking and tracing with the use of the colored active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) triage tag to make information of each vicim visual at the base of operations as soon as possible. Its main funtion mentioned in this paper is to traige the victims with the means of active colored tag. Meanwhile, the injuried information will be saved as data in PDA reader. In the process of the victim's arrival in the hospital emergency department and the treatment data sheet will be sent back by the hospital information system, so that this system will get the RFID triage tag ID. This system of tracing and tracking is called as a smart MCIs management system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces various topics covered in the issue including the social constructionist theoretical foundations of the concepts of vulnerability and resilience in disaster studies, social structural conception of vulnerability, and social structural conception of vulnerability.

In this study, we review POM‐based research related to prevention of terrorism. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) terrorist attacks have the potential to be prevented. Consequently, the focus of this study is on security enhancement and improving the resiliency of a nation to prevent terrorist attacks. Accordingly, we review articles from the 25 top journals, [following procedures developed by Gupta et al. (2016)], in the fields of Production and Operations Management, Operations Research, Management Science, and Supply Chain Management. In addition, we searched some selected journals in the fields of Information Sciences, Political Science, and Economics. This literature is organized and reviewed under the following seven core capabilities defined by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): (1) Intelligence and Information Sharing, (2) Planning, (3) Interdiction and Disruption, (4) Screening, Search, and Detection, (5) Forensics and Attribution, (6) Public Information and Warning, and (7) Operational Coordination. We found that POM research on terrorism is primarily driven by the type of information that a defending country and a terrorist have about each other. Game theory is the main technique that is used in most research papers. Possible directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a spatial distribution characteristic of precipitation and water-logging disaster in Xi'an based on hourly precipitation at 23 automatic meteorological observatory stations and water-logging information from 2009 to 2015. The overall spatial distribution of precipitation and intensity is higher and stronger in the north and south of the city but weaker and less in the east and west. The peak precipitation in the south and north appears at 18:00, while in the north also at 20:00–21:00. There is no obvious diurnal variation in the precipitation in the east and west, and higher precipitation frequency was recorded in the east. The water-logging frequency is highest in the Baqiao District, but the water-logged area and depth are smaller and shallower. The water-logged areas are largest in Yanta, Xinchen and Beilin Districts, where frequency is less and the water are shallow. There are more water-logged sites in Lianhu and Weiyang Districts than in other regions. Precipitation intensity and underlying surface properties are the main two factors for water-logging. By using Shanghai Urban Flooding Assessment Model, the area, depth and location of water-logging were simulated through inputting the different magnitude hourly precipitation. The guidance information provided by this paper could help city planning to provide a long-term water-logging disaster management in Xi'an. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the learning from rare events and the knowledge management process involved, which presents a significant challenge to many organizations. This is primarily attributed to the inability to interpret these events in a systematic and "rich" manner, which this paper seeks to address. We start by summarizing the relevant literature on humanitarian operations management (HOM), outlining the evolution of the socio‐technical disaster lifecycle and its relationship with humanitarian operations, using a supply chain resilience theoretical lens. We then outline theories of organizational learning (and unlearning) from disasters and the impact on humanitarian operations. Subsequently, we theorize the role of middle managers in humanitarian operations, which is the main focus of our paper. The main methodology incorporates a hybrid of two techniques for root cause analysis, applied to two related case studies. The cases were specifically selected as, despite occurring twenty years apart, there are many similarities in the chain of causation and supporting factors, potentially suggesting that adequate learning from experience and failures is not occurring. This provides a novel learning experience within the HOM paradigm. Hence, the proposed approach is based on a multilevel structure that facilitates the operationalization of learning from rare events in humanitarian operations. The results show that we are able to provide an environment for multiple interpretations and effective learning, with emphasis on middle managers within a humanitarian operations and crisis/disaster management context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue including the characteristics of the Asian Innovation Networks for emerging technologies, disaster management practices of academic libraries in Philippines, and the use of the electronic medical record.

On March 3, 2019, an EF4 tornado devastated the rural Alabama communities of Beauregard and Smith Station, killing 23 people and causing direct injuries to another 97. This storm was unusually devastating, with twice the predicted casualty rate based on the tornado's power, the impacted population, and impacted housing stock. In this paper, we apply qualitative methods from anthropology, geography, and planning to better understand the social context of this unusually devastating tornado. Recognizing that there are multiple formulations of the problem of disasters, we aim to highlight how interdisciplinary qualitative research can deepen our understanding of tornado disasters. Combining policy analysis, political economic critique, and ethnographic description, we seek to showcase how qualitative research enables us to interrogate and reimagine the problem of disasters. Rather than simply juxtaposing qualitative and quantitative methods, we emphasize how the heterogeneity of qualitative research methods can strengthen interdisciplinary research projects by generating dialogue about the multiple contexts relevant to understanding a social problem. While problem definition remains a central challenge to establishing a dialogue between anthropology and social work, here, we intend to extend this discussion to larger interdisciplinary collaborations. Situating the issue of problem formation within a broader ecology of qualitative inquiry, we highlight how dialogue about problem definition can, itself, produce meaningful insights into how we understand disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1993, the IJMED published a special edition calling for a closing of the gap between academic research and the practice of emergency management. The goal of this paper is to understand where we are in the knowledge gap by examining where emergency management professionals get the information needed to solve the problems they face. Twenty--four interviews were conducted with emergency management professionals in the Southeast Texas and Houston-Galveston Regions along the Texas Gulf Coast. The findings suggest that experience is pervasive as a source and most report utilizing a network of peers to gain information to solve problems. Even among those with an advanced degree, there is a perception that there is either no research out there, or at least nothing that is readily available. The findings accentuate the need for research to focus its distribution efforts through federal and state training programs and planning, for academia to facilitate a mix of education and experience in practice, and for experienced practitioners to reach out to research through degreed peers to facilitate knowledge transfer and close the knowledge gap for disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaster researchers advocate for a flexible problem-solving approach emphasizing creativity, initiative, and improvisation in disaster response. Researchers decry the rigid approach widely referred as the "military model," or command and control. Yet practitioners often support this "command post" approach to response. Researchers and practitioners, however, fail to recognize that the model they either reject or support, respectively, is an inaccurate representation of actual military command and control in both doctrine and practice. This article compares military and disaster literature command and control archetypes and presents them as remarkably similar. In so doing, it challenges existing command and control paradigms and argues that the research view is quite similar to the true military approach. The central aim of this paper seeks to dismiss inaccurate assumptions of the command and control model while persuading critics to adopt a new and more informed assessment of the military model in its modern form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the implication of the use and appropriation of collaborative technologies in digital disaster response. Using a virtual ethnographic approach, we studied the work of Humanity Road through participant observation of seventeen response operations across thirteen countries for seventeen months. The results identify critical areas where collaborative technologies have been successfully deployed for organising disaster responses. Our analysis offers insights into the areas where these technologies have facilitated or hindered the capacity of cooperative work during response operations. We conclude by suggesting implications for design and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the policy concept and community enactments of 'shared responsibility' for disaster resilience in the context of wildfires in Victoria, Australia. Since the state-wide Black Saturday fires of 2009, we contend, first, the State's decreasing ability to protect its citizens has shifted the responsibility for adapting to uncertainty to individuals, and second, this responsibility has been translated into compliance approaches to disaster risk management. We develop the concept of two distinct imaginaries at play: the reactive and the relational life. Policy discourse invokes a reactive life, a normative resilience maintaining the status quo, rather than a potentially transformative relational process enabling citizens to be 'response-able'. Facing uncertainties, government legitimacy hinges on increasing citizen safety, with decentralised community resilience programs intended to manage and reduce disaster risk by emphasising shared responsibility. For citizens, however, 'shared responsibility' reveals an increasing tension in relation to the risk and uncertainty associated with life on the newly designated 'fire-prone' periphery, and within expectations of government. We conclude that the emphasis on responsibility as the work to be done in community-based resilience programs demands a more nuanced set of expectations that reflect citizens' relational life as a starting place for rethinking safety and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I critically interrogate the expectation that insurance is becoming more present through the processes of financialisation and marketisation – as up-to-date policies and/or in the hearts and minds of consumers. I draw upon interviews about house and contents insurance, with householders in the flammable landscapes of south-eastern Tasmania, Australia. The participants identify these landscapes as resilient and permanent and thus ultimately unaffected by fire. In understanding bush-living as co-constituted with fire and not purely threatened by fire, they experience a strong sense of continuance in these places. In this context, the promise of insurance emerges as contingent, and even if an up-to-date policy is present, insurance moves in and out of focus, is present and becomes absent as various human and non-human actants exert agency. Drawing on critical landscape studies in exploring these spatial contingencies, I observe insuring as landscaping practice. As well as contributing to critical insurance studies and financialisation of everyday life research, I provide a signpost for rethinking the role of insurance in disaster management and climate adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health, economic, and social crises created by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been global in scope and inequitable in impact. The global road to recovery can be enhanced with robust, relevant, and timely scientific evidence. This commentary seeks to illustrate the power of science, scientific collaboration, and innovative research funding programs to inform pandemic recovery and inspire transformational changes for a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable future. Specifically, this commentary provides an introduction to the United Nations (UN) Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery that was published in November 2020. It introduces 5 scoping reviews that helped inform the UN Research Roadmap and that are now available open access within this series of special papers, and it provides an overview of an innovative research funding program that facilitated rapid mobilization and collaboration to produce the scoping reviews. The publication of the scoping reviews in this journal series will help complement and amplify the UN Research Roadmap by furthering knowledge mobilization efforts and informing COVID-19 recovery around the world, to ensure a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable postpandemic future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-19 has been an unprecedented time for social work as a profession and even more so for marginalized communities. This paper shares the reflections of three self-advocates (persons labelled/with intellectual disabilities engaged in advocacy and activism), a social worker, and a social work educator and researcher. It is intended as a rallying cry for social work to rethink how we deliver services to ensure that people who have already been made vulnerable through oppressive ableist practices and assumptions are not put at greater disadvantage at times like Covid-19. Hearing directly from self-advocates, we learn of their exclusion from pandemic planning, and of the ways that physical and social distancing protocols have worked to exacerbate the isolation, marginalization and inequities that people labelled/with intellectual disabilities have experienced over the years. We are called upon to more actively focus on advocacy efforts with people labelled/with intellectual disabilities to increase their involvement in planning, as well as access to supports, and to ensure that they do not remain "the left behind of the left behind". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes the strategy to mitigate and control epidemic contingencies in the backdrop of Kerala's Covid-19 containment plan. I have purposefully selected Kerala, the southernmost state of India, because of its globally acclaimed experience in efficiently managing the cases of coronavirus that were reported. Even tackling the Nipah and Zika virus cases in the pasts, makes it an exemplary unit of study. Moreover, the past experience of the state points to the fact that the containment strategy adopted is the result of an evolved practical approach. I came across certain innovative strategies implicating community mobilization like community kitchens, social surveillance, large scale production of face masks etc. by utilizing the hidden productive capacity of communities that extended from women self-help groups, youth clubs and even prison inmates. Moreover, the state's controlling and containing measures were mentioned by international media and agencies like the BBC and the World Health Organization (WHO). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Mountain Region of Rio de Janeiro State in Brazil natural disasters such as landslides and flooding are recurrent. While these events are of natural origin, anthropogenic influences contribute significantly to disaster risk in this area, making community participation essential for the success of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DDR). The objective of the presented case study, conducted in the municipality of Teresópolis, was to assess the perceptions of the local population regarding their disaster vulnerability, their responsibility, and their opportunities to contribute to reducing disaster risk. The paper compares perceptions across three different income groups, placing a special focus on low income (or economically marginalised) residents who are typically most severely affected by disasters. Qualitative data analysis revealed that members of all income groups share a similar perception of their risk of exposure to natural disasters, even though disaster sensitivity and self-perceptions of adaptive capacity differed. Based on their views of ecosystem services, low income residents felt less responsibility, and perceived fewer opportunities, to contribute to disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change compared with members of higher income groups. The implications of these findings for policy are discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to develop the temporary shelter planning guide on the basis of taking their habitability for disaster victims into account in South Korea. Based on the results of the critical review, this research proposed an analytic framework emphasizing habitability which is closely related to the quality of temporary shelter environment in terms of safety, healthy living and cultural issues. The planning guide is composed of four dimensions: safety, health, sociality and comfort. Compared to the existing studies on temporary shelter, habitability is more heavily emphasized, including detailed interviews with disaster victims, volunteers and government officials to gain the broadest possible perspective on issues involved. Based on a three-step study, 46 planning guides for temporary shelters were developed to suit the specific needs of disaster stakeholders. The results suggest that ensuring habitability is essential for victims' living in the confusing situation. However, planning guides would differently apply to each disaster situation depending on the unpredictable conditions in the field of disaster. This paper should provide for significant emphasis on the practical use of the guidelines and the priority of their application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses governance of water infrastructure in two settlements of Baltistan as an entry point to examine the co-production of power and vulnerability. Access to water and irrigated land is a critical factor in determining how the effects of disasters, such as flooding, are socially distributed within a community. At the same time, the governance of water is intimately linked to the longer-term politics of disaster vulnerability. We examine three different forms of disputes over water infrastructure where struggles over authority and social ordering materialise: (i) between and within settlements over access to a water resource; (ii) within settlements over post-disaster water infrastructure development and (iii) between a settlement and the district government over land, water rights and flood protection. The findings illustrate that the governance of water infrastructure involves continuous negotiations, contestations and disputes over access rights. Access to water resources as an expression of rights plays a key role in the recognition of authority relations. In particular, influential individuals seek to legitimise their leadership role in a settlement by representing the rights and interests of groups in the negotiation of these disputes. However, environmental variability and change, including disasters and post-disaster development interventions, alter perceptions of what constitute legitimate rights, and provide spaces for popular contestation of authority relations through silent non-compliance with decisions. The close interlinkages between material and non-material effects of a disaster are a key feature of the co-production of power and vulnerability. By adding authority relations to studies of village-level practices around disasters, we enrich our understanding of the co-production of power and vulnerability and how these dynamics unfold over time. It is only by investigating this co-production that a deeper understanding can be developed of the mechanisms through which vulnerability is either exacerbated or reduced for particular groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exemplar of blending the principles of participatory action research and elements of grounded theory in a disaster risk reduction education case study. It illustrates and describes a modified methodological approach that was used during the needs' assessment and analysis phase of a multiphase study on teaching of disaster risk reduction in science among public schools in Biliran Province, the Philippines. The approach was conceived upon considering the overarching aim of the study which is the effective, efficient, inclusive, and proactive teaching of disaster risk reduction in science, the complex nature of the disaster risk reduction education, and the multiple stakeholders involved in disaster risk reduction among public schools. Results revealed that the modified methodological approach provided a co-learning environment for both participants and researchers, created an opportunity to maximize participation toward generating knowledge, prioritizing problems, and conceptualizing solutions, strengthened the data collection and analysis process, hence ensuring quality in the entire research process, and addressed the participation issues pointed out in grounded theory studies. The modified methodological approach may be relevant and applicable to similar studies that are complex and emerging like the teaching of disaster risk reduction in science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utility of communicating hazard vulnerability to the public through monuments and historical markers commemorating and describing past disasters is explored in this paper. A survey of county emergency management directors in Wisconsin focused upon their awareness of such monuments and their attitudes regarding the effectiveness of disaster markers and commemoration in communicating hazard risk to the public, both residents and visitors. Emergency managers held disparate views regarding the effectiveness of the markers among the public, although managers in counties with markers tended to hold a higher opinion of their effectiveness in communicating hazard risk and to be more willing to commemorate future disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper qualitatively infers which factors allow public administrations to be quick when an emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, occurs. For this purpose we analyze the same type of intervention (i.e. conversion of convention centers into makeshift hospitals for coronavirus patients) in two different geographical settings (i.e. New York (USA) and Milan (Italy)) and we trace the two processes on the basis of a systematic analysis of national newspaper articles. The comparative analysis reveals that there is no one single best way to manage emergencies successfully, and it sheds light on which conditions might drive different modes of intervention from the public sector in emergencies and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the impacts of unexpected events, production processes of supply chain system may be forced to interrupt in a certain period, which may decrease the supply capacity of manufacturer to its retailers. This paper discusses methods to distribute the limited stock in case the production disruptions occur. To ascertain a reasonable replenish sequence and quantity after the production disruption, a production disruption-oriented supply chain distribution model is offered, which can be used to minimize the negative impact of production disruption to supply chain system. And then a constraint satisfaction optimization method is established to resolve the model. Finally, validity of the model is verified with an actual application in an air-conditioner factory in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the debate continues between the emergency managers and disaster research community on the applicability of the Incident Command System (ICS), Burke (2018) introduces the modern military command and control system (modern military C2) as a practical solution that satisfies the disaster researchers’ recommendations. Burke’s (2018) argument concludes that both practitioners and researchers overlook the essences of the military command and control system, which can be considered an analogous model to the problem-solving approach. This commentary paper is a critical review of the Burke’s (2018) perspective. It highlights how and why modern military C2 differs from the problem-solving approach. There is more similarity between modern military C2 and ICS than between them and the problem-solving approach due to their structures and the flexibility level adopted therein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disasters such as the storms that affected Sweden in 2005 and 2007 showed that citizens initially conducted a large part of the disaster response, such as clearing roads, giving psychosocial support to affected neighbours and repairing power lines in collaboration with power companies. As a result of these storms, an Emergent Citizen Group (ECG) was established in a village which continued to work on risk prevention, even after the event. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse this local emergent citizen group's continuing work on the prevention of local risk and vulnerability, and particularly, their work on flood prevention. The results indicate that authorities seldom understand the ECG's concerns about risks. Authorities also lack the experience and capacity to collaborate with, and support, the ECG's risk and vulnerability reduction work. Bureaucratic barriers and declining motivation among volunteers within the ECGs could undermine commitment to the prevention of risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note illustrates some of the new roles that armed forces are taking on in developed countries, highlighting the structure, capabilities, and missions developed by the Spanish Military Emergency Unit (UME). The note describes some of these new roles assumed by UME, such as its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and shows, using official temporal and georeferenced data, the growing use of the military to support civilian authorities in response to natural disasters, man-made disasters, and other emergencies alike. In addition, we also analyze public opinion survey data to argue that this is helping to improve society's perception of the armed forces even in a country like Spain where, due to its recent history, a significant part of its population is reluctant to the military. In short, the military is taking on more emergency roles as needs arise and these new roles can help to improve its perception by citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this scoping review is to systematically scope the literature on social work, the COVID-19 pandemic, and health policy. The research question guiding the scoping review is: What are the policy issues emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic that are of importance for social workers working in health and mental health? Method: Scoping review methodology following Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage framework. Results: A final sample of 191 articles were included in the scoping review. The five themes identified are: (a) strengthening social work's capacity to address structural issues in practice, (b) gaps in social work education, (c) need for new and updated standards and guidelines, (d) need for professional clarity and professional supports, and (e) inadequate government response. Conclusions: By strengthening uptake of the policy-practice framework, social work practitioners concurrently address immediate client issues and address upstream factors perpetuating inequities emerging during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is currently a source of angst, because of its ability to give us content that sounds uncannily like a real person, and because of concern that people will not stop at using it as a tool to generate and synthesize ideas, but instead will cede control over our words, and then our thoughts. This editorial details each article in Creative Nursing Vol. 30 Issue 2, highlighting the ways in which social media, different kinds of AI, and other tools for connectivity can be used for good: finding our purpose, uniting people over long distances, expediting knowledge implementation, managing large volumes of literature, advancing health equity, and enriching nursing education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health education programs can enhance self-efficacy and disaster preparedness. However, research incorporating the Health Belief Model (HBM) in education for infectious disasters is lacking. Aims: Examine the effectiveness of an HBM-based education program on self-reported self-efficacy and self-reported preparedness for infectious disasters in rural populations. Methods: In total, 109 eligible participants were allocated to two groups: participants who received HBM-based education (n = 55) or regular education (n = 54), presented at in-person meetings, with individual follow-up conducted on WhatsApp. Self-reported self-efficacy and preparedness for infectious disasters in both groups were measured at 4 and 8 weeks. Findings: Participants showed a significant interaction between groups and in time to increase in self-reported self-efficacy and self-reported preparedness to deal with infectious disasters. After 4 and 8 weeks, the groups had statistically significant differences (p ≤.001) in all outcome measures. Conclusion: HBM-based education was associated with increased self-reported self-efficacy and self-reported infectious disaster preparedness among the rural population. Follow-up by nurses is essential to implementing continuing health belief education programs to enhance rural populations' self-efficacy and infectious disaster preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]