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Animal welfare emergency management is a critical component of modern emergency management, because the powerful bond between people and animals influences decisions and actions taken during emergency events. High risk behaviour and poor decision-making can negatively affect evacuation compliance, observance of cordons, the safety of frontline responders and the psychosocial recovery of responders and animal owners. This paper reviews documents, including official reports, peer-reviewed journal articles and media reports, concerning the impacts of the 2017 Port Hill Fires on animals, with the aim of providing direction for future research and identifying other information needs. Key themes were identified, including evacuation, cordons, animal rescue, communication and co-ordination. The implications of these for emergency management practice are discussed, including recommendations to: consider animals across all phases of wildfire management; enhance emergency responders' understandings of animal owners' emotional drivers; develop a national animal loss database; include animal ownership in relevant public education; animal evacuation logistics, and; develop relevant wildfire response strategy.leverage the humananimal bond as a motivator for mitigation and emergency preparedness; more carefully consider [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2017, two wildfires in the Canterbury region of New Zealand merged to form a devastating, extreme wildfire event which threatened hundreds of properties within the rural-urban interface on the fringe of the city of Christchurch. Fourteen houses were destroyed or significantly damaged and over 450 households fled the blazes while hundreds of firefighters, military and other emergency personnel responded. Fourteen helicopters equipped with monsoon buckets and three fixed wing aircraft were deployed in what became a major operation for the region's emergency services. The current special issue focuses on lessons that can be learned from this wildfire event, to help authorities and communities to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from future wildfire threats. Climate change is further raising the stakes for at-risk regions in Australasia in the future. After providing a brief summary of the wildfire event, this editorial outlines how each of the special issue papers contributes to knowledge about different aspects of these and other comparable wildfires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On October 6, 1999, a large rock avalanche from Mount Adams on the west coast (Westland) of the South Island, New Zealand, fell into the Poerua Valley. The landslide blocked the river valley, damming the Poerua River, and creating a large lake. The potential for overtopping and failure of the landslide dam presented a potential dam-break flood hazard that was assessed as posing a serious danger to Poerua Valley residents located downstream. The dam eventually failed 6 days after it was formed. Fortunately, the resulting flood was largely confined to the river channel and flood-plain areas, causing little damage and no deaths. The Poerua River landslide dam-break flood highlighted a range of issues that should be addressed in managing future landslide dam-break flood emergencies. This paper summarizes the key organizational, community, and response issues arising from a break-out flood such as this. Planning for the management of future landslide dam-break floods may help reduce loss of life from future events. Preparations could include setting aside more resources for assessing the hazard, and improved control and communications for managing the response. From an emergency management perspective, because of the remote and inaccessible location of landslide dam sites in steep mountain valleys on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, it is important to ensure that the community has direct involvement in the readiness and response process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian community - the second largest non-European ethnic community in New Zealand - plays an important role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, evidenced by their active advocation for border control and mass masking. Despite the long history of racial discrimination against the Asian population, the Asian community has experienced certain degrees of racial discrimination associated with the stigmatisation as the cause of the COVID-19 outbreak in New Zealand. Based on data from a quantitative online survey with 402 valid responses within the Asian communities across New Zealand and the in-depth interviews with 19 Asian people in Auckland, New Zealand, this paper will illustrate Asian people's experience of racial discrimination and stigmatisation during the pandemic in the country. The survey shows that since the outbreak of COVID-19, under a quarter of the participants reported experiencing discrimination, and a third reported knowing an immediate contact who had experienced discrimination. However, when looking beyond their immediate social circle, an even higher proportion reported noticing racism and stigmatisation through the traditional or social media due to COVID-19. Major variations of the degree of racial discrimination experienced are determined by three demographic variables: ethnicity, age, and region. The in-depth interviews largely echoed the survey findings and highlighted a strong correlation between the perceived racial discrimination among the local Asian community and the stigmatisation associated with COVID-19. These findings are important for improving the way we manage future pandemics and other disasters within the context of the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

INTRODUCTION Mass masking is emerging as a key non-pharmaceutical intervention for reducing community spread of COVID-19. However, although hand washing, social distancing and bubble living have been widely adopted by the 'team of 5 million', mass masking has not been socialised to the general population. AIM To identify factors associated with face masking in New Zealand during COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown to inform strategies to socialise and support mass masking. METHODS A quantitative online survey conducted in New Zealand during April 2020 invited residents aged ≥18 years to complete a questionnaire. Questions about face masking were included in the survey. The sample was drawn from a commissioned research panel survey, with boosted sampling for Māori and Pacific participants. Responses were weighted to reflect the New Zealand population for all analyses. RESULTS A total of 1015 individuals participated. Self-reported beliefs were strongly related to behaviours, with respondents viewing face masking measures as 'somewhat' or 'very' effective in preventing them from contracting COVID-19 more likely to report having worn a face mask than respondents who viewed them as 'not at all' effective. The strongest barriers to face mask use included beliefs that there was a mask shortage and that the needs of others were greater than their own. DISCUSSION Highlighting the efficacy of and dispelling myths about the relative efficacy of mask types and socialising people to the purpose of mass masking will contribute to community protective actions of mask wearing in the New Zealand response to COVID-19.

In this study we aimed to produce the first detailed analysis of the epidemiology of the severe injury and mortality impacts of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake in New Zealand (NZ). This involved the compilation and analysis of archival data (hospitalisations and deaths) including the examination of 324 death certificates. We found that there were 662 people for whom some hospitalisation data were available at four weeks post-earthquake: 54% were still in hospital, 4% were still classified as "serious", and 5% had died (n = 28). Our classification of death certificate data indicated 256 earthquake-attributable deaths and for another five deaths the earthquake was estimated to have played an indirect role. There were 15 buildings associated with three or more deaths each (accounting for 58% of deaths with a known location). Many of these buildings were multi-storey and involved unreinforced masonry - with some of this falling into the street and killing people there (19% of deaths). In contrast, deaths in homes, which were typically of wood construction and single stories, comprised only 3% of deaths. In conclusion, this earthquake had a relatively high injury impact that appears partly related to the lack of regulations for building construction that would mitigate earthquake-related risk. Such regulations continue to be of relevance for New Zealand and for other countries in earthquake zones.

Background: This research was a part of a contestable rapid response initiative launched by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Ministry of Health in response to the 2009 influenza A pandemic. The aim was to provide health authorities in New Zealand with evidence-based practical information to guide the development and delivery of effective health messages for H1N1 and other health campaigns. This study contributed to the initiative by providing qualitative data about community responses to key health messages in the 2009 and 2010 H1N1 campaigns, the impact of messages on behavioural change and the differential impact on vulnerable groups in New Zealand., Methods: Qualitative data were collected on community responses to key health messages in the 2009 and 2010 Ministry of Health H1N1 campaigns, the impact of messages on behaviour and the differential impact on vulnerable groups. Eight focus groups were held in the winter of 2010 with 80 participants from groups identified by the Ministry of Health as vulnerable to the H1N1 virus, such as people with chronic health conditions, pregnant women, children, Pacific Peoples and Māori. Because this study was part of a rapid response initiative, focus groups were selected as the most efficient means of data collection in the time available. For Māori, focus group discussion (hui) is a culturally appropriate methodology., Results: Thematic analysis of data identified four major themes: personal and community risk, building community strategies, responsibility and information sources. People wanted messages about specific actions that they could take to protect themselves and their families and to mitigate any consequences. They wanted transparent and factual communication where both good and bad news is conveyed by people who they could trust., Conclusions: The responses from all groups endorsed the need for community based risk management including information dissemination. Engaging with communities will be essential to facilitate preparedness and build community resilience to future pandemic events. This research provides an illustration of the complexities of how people understand and respond to health messages related to the H1N1 pandemic. The importance of the differences identified in the analysis is not the differences per se but highlight problems with a "one size fits all" pandemic warning strategy.

Virtually no research has examined the hypothesized benefits of hazard education programs for youth in helping to increase community resilience. This exploratory study examined the role of these programs in helping to increase child and family resilience to a range of future hazards. Various aspects of hazards programs were examined in relation to a wide range of child- and parent-reported hazard adjustments in a sample of 560 schoolchildren. Additional factors assessed included childrens' risk perceptions, knowledge of response-related protective activities, and hazard-related emotional factors. Overall, the results supported the role of hazards education programs in increasing hazard adjustments in the home. The findings also supported various aspects of education program involvement as being related to more realistic risk perceptions, increased knowledge, and increased interaction with caregivers. Analyses identified the following features of these programs as being particularly important: provision of specific knowledge (e.g., an emergency management perspective); multiple program involvement over time; and, importantly, promotion of increased interaction between children and parents. Overall, findings supported the idea that hazards education programs for youth provide one gateway through which communities can increase their resilience to the effects of a major hazardous event. Findings also provided an initial foundation for further research in this emerging area.