Download or read book Accessibility based Assessment and Modeling of Evacuations and Sheltering for Hurricanes and Pandemics written by Mahyar Ghorbanzadeh and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every year, natural hazards such as hurricanes devastate entire regions, cause widespread major infrastructure damages (e.g., roadway/bridge closures, power outages, et cetera), and claim lives in the U.S. The State of Florida, which is surrounded by subtropical waters from three sides due to its unique geography, is one of the southern states significantly vulnerable to hurricanes. In recent years, hurricanes Hermine (2016), Irma (2017), and Michael (2018) have caused substantial damages to the infrastructure such as roadway and bridge closures and power outages in Florida. Many Floridians had to evacuate to safer locations under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders before these hurricanes hit. Massive delays and major congestion on the evacuation routes made the problem even more challenging for the residents of affected regions as they needed to evacuate in a timely manner. In 2017, Hurricane Irma, a Category 4 hurricane, took on the entirety of Florida, causing the state's largest evacuation ever as 7 million residents fled the hurricane. Floridians fleeing the hurricane faced a unique challenge on where to go since Irma made an unusual landfall from the south, enveloping the entire state forcing evacuees to drive farther north, and creating traffic jams along Florida evacuation routes worse than any other hurricane in history. Therefore, there is no doubt that there is a need to extensively assess the spatiotemporal traffic impacts of hurricanes such as Irma on Florida's major highways based on the real-time traffic data before, during, and after the hurricane made landfall. Furthermore, due to hurricanes, many Floridian communities and specifically those along coastal areas are required to evacuate to safer places such as emergency shelters. Therefore, shelters in Florida play a pivotal role in meeting the needs of their communities and providing services to the public. Ensuring spatial accessibility to these facilities is essential. Providing accessibility has been even more challenging since these communities were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic during the hurricane season, thereby restricting shelter capacity due to social distancing requirements. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also indicate that it is potentially hazardous to use congregate shelters. This capacity challenge can be addressed by the use of alternative non-congregate shelters (id est, lodging establishments such as hotels and motels). These are recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in order to protect public health and limit general population sheltering. In addition to hurricane shelters, rapid population growth, urbanization, and economic development have been creating other challenges in providing transportation-based accessibility to other critical facilities over the last decade. This is especially critical when we consider ensuring the transportation-based accessibility to essential facilities such as healthcare providers since these facilities provide important services to people. During a disaster such as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this issue becomes more confounding since these facilities play crucial roles in helping their communities to better prepare and recover from this uncontrolled outbreak. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a drastic increase in the number of coronavirus patients caused a shortage of healthcare resources such as Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and ventilators in the U.S. The high demands for these services led to a reduction in the efficiency of the entire healthcare system. This dissertation proposes several novel methodological approaches to help solve aforementioned problems with the following objectives: " to assess the spatial accessibility of different age groups to mental health facilities that offer mental and behavioral services to the people in the State of Florida." to assess accessibility of COVID-19 patients to healthcare providers in Florida." to assess the spatial accessibility of Northwest Florida communities to congregate and non-congregate shelters during a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic." to spatiotemporally analyze Hurricane Irma's traffic impacts on Florida's major highways (I-95, I-75, I-10, I-4, and turnpike) based on real-time traffic data before, during, and after the hurricane made landfall." to develop a methodology to integrate evacuation and storm surge modeling with a case study analysis of Hurricane Irma hitting Southeast Florida. Findings clearly showed that imperfect forecasts and the uncertainty surrounding Irma's predicted path resulted in high levels of congestion and severe delays on Florida's major evacuation routes. Moreover, the results revealed that many areas in the northwest and southern Florida have lower access to critical facilities such as shelters or healthcare facilities compared to other locations. The residents in central Florida (e.g., Tampa and Orlando cities) had the highest level of accessibility given their higher access ratios. In addition, the results indicated that people in coastal areas where a higher number of lodging facilities are located have better access. Considering the capacity of each facility shows that many areas in Northwest Florida have lower access to lodging establishments than emergency relief shelters

Download or read book Guide for All Hazard Emergency Operations Planning written by Kay C. Goss and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1998-05 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meant to aid State & local emergency managers in their efforts to develop & maintain a viable all-hazard emergency operations plan. This guide clarifies the preparedness, response, & short-term recovery planning elements that warrant inclusion in emergency operations plans. It offers the best judgment & recommendations on how to deal with the entire planning process -- from forming a planning team to writing the plan. Specific topics of discussion include: preliminary considerations, the planning process, emergency operations plan format, basic plan content, functional annex content, hazard-unique planning, & linking Federal & State operations.

Download or read book Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans written by United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101 provides guidelines on developing emergency operations plans (EOP). It promotes a common understanding of the fundamentals of risk-informed planning and decision making to help planners examine a hazard or threat and produce integrated, coordinated, and synchronized plans. The goal of CPG 101 is to make the planning process routine across all phases of emergency management and for all homeland security mission areas. This Guide helps planners at all levels of government in their efforts to develop and maintain viable all-hazards, all-threats EOPs. Accomplished properly, planning provides a methodical way to engage the whole community in thinking through the life cycle of a potential crisis, determining required capabilities, and establishing a framework for roles and responsibilities. It shapes how a community envisions and shares a desired outcome, selects effective ways to achieve it, and communicates expected results. Each jurisdiction's plans must reflect what that community will do to address its specific risks with the unique resources it has or can obtain.

Download or read book Environmental Public Health Impacts of Disasters written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-06-13 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public health officials have the traditional responsibilities of protecting the food supply, safeguarding against communicable disease, and ensuring safe and healthful conditions for the population. Beyond this, public health today is challenged in a way that it has never been before. Starting with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, public health officers have had to spend significant amounts of time addressing the threat of terrorism to human health. Hurricane Katrina was an unprecedented disaster for the United States. During the first weeks, the enormity of the event and the sheer response needs for public health became apparent. The tragic loss of human life overshadowed the ongoing social and economic disruption in a region that was already economically depressed. Hurricane Katrina reemphasized to the public and to policy makers the importance of addressing long-term needs after a disaster. On October 20, 2005, the Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine held a workshop which convened members of the scientific community to highlight the status of the recovery effort, consider the ongoing challenges in the midst of a disaster, and facilitate scientific dialogue about the impacts of Hurricane Katrina on people's health. Environmental Public Health Impacts of Disasters: Hurricane Katrina is the summary of this workshop. This report will inform the public health, first responder, and scientific communities on how the affected community can be helped in both the midterm and the near future. In addition, the report can provide guidance on how to use the information gathered about environmental health during a disaster to prepare for future events.

Download or read book Disaster Epidemiology written by Jennifer Horney and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2017-10-31 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disaster Epidemiology: Methods and Applications applies the core methods of epidemiological research and practice to the assessment of the short- and long-term health effects of disasters. The persistent movement of people and economic development to regions vulnerable to natural disasters, as well as new vulnerabilities related to environmental, technological, and terrorism incidents, means that in spite of large global efforts to reduce the impacts and costs of disasters, average annual expenditures to fund rebuilding from catastrophic losses is rising faster than either population or the gross world product. Improving the resilience of individuals and communities to these natural and technological disasters, climate change, and other natural and manmade stressors is one of the grand challenges of the 21st century. This book provides a guide to disaster epidemiology methods, supported with applications from practice. It helps researchers, public health practitioners, and governmental policy makers to better quantify the impacts of disaster on the health of individuals and communities to enhance resilience to future disasters. Disaster Epidemiology: Methods and Applications explains how public health surveillance, rapid assessments, and other epidemiologic studies can be conducted in the post-disaster setting to prevent injury, illness, or death; provide accurate and timely information for decisions makers; and improve prevention and mitigation strategies for future disasters. These methods can also be applied to the study of other types of public health emergencies, such as infectious outbreaks, emerging and re-emerging diseases, and refugee health. This book gives both the public health practitioner and researcher the tools they need to conduct epidemiological studies in a disaster setting and can be used as a reference or as part of a course. Provides a holistic perspective to epidemiology with an integration of academic and practical approaches Showcases the use of hands-on techniques and principles to solve real-world problems Includes contributions from both established and emerging scholars in the field of disaster epidemiology

Download or read book At Risk written by Piers Blaikie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-21 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term 'natural disaster' is often used to refer to natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods. However, the phrase 'natural disaster' suggests an uncritical acceptance of a deeply engrained ideological and cultural myth. At Risk questions this myth and argues that extreme natural events are not disasters until a vulnerable group of people is exposed. The updated new edition confronts a further ten years of ever more expensive and deadly disasters and discusses disaster not as an aberration, but as a signal failure of mainstream 'development'. Two analytical models are provided as tools for understanding vulnerability. One links remote and distant 'root causes' to 'unsafe conditions' in a 'progression of vulnerability'. The other uses the concepts of 'access' and 'livelihood' to understand why some households are more vulnerable than others. Examining key natural events and incorporating strategies to create a safer world, this revised edition is an important resource for those involved in the fields of environment and development studies.

Download or read book Under the Weather written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-06-29 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the dawn of medical science, people have recognized connections between a change in the weather and the appearance of epidemic disease. With today's technology, some hope that it will be possible to build models for predicting the emergence and spread of many infectious diseases based on climate and weather forecasts. However, separating the effects of climate from other effects presents a tremendous scientific challenge. Can we use climate and weather forecasts to predict infectious disease outbreaks? Can the field of public health advance from "surveillance and response" to "prediction and prevention?" And perhaps the most important question of all: Can we predict how global warming will affect the emergence and transmission of infectious disease agents around the world? Under the Weather evaluates our current understanding of the linkages among climate, ecosystems, and infectious disease; it then goes a step further and outlines the research needed to improve our understanding of these linkages. The book also examines the potential for using climate forecasts and ecological observations to help predict infectious disease outbreaks, identifies the necessary components for an epidemic early warning system, and reviews lessons learned from the use of climate forecasts in other realms of human activity.

Download or read book Large Scale Evacuation written by Michael K. Lindell and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large-Scale Evacuation introduces the reader to the steps involved in evacuation modelling for towns and cities, from understanding the hazards that can require large-scale evacuations, through understanding how local officials decide to issue evacuation advisories and households decide whether to comply, to transportation simulation and traffic management strategies. The author team has been recognized internationally for their research and consulting experience in the field of evacuations. Collectively, they have 125 years of experience in evacuation, including more than 140 projects for federal and state agencies. The text explains how to model evacuations that use the road transportation network by combining perspectives from social scientists and transportation engineers, fields that have commonly approached evacuation modelling from distinctly different perspectives. In doing so, it offers a step-by-step guide through the key questions needed to model an evacuation and its impacts to the evacuation route system as well as evacuation management strategies for influencing demand and expanding capacity. The authors also demonstrate how to simulate the resulting traffic and evacuation management strategies that can be used to facilitate evacuee movement and reduce unnecessary demand. Case studies, which identify key points to analyze in an evacuation plan, discuss evacuation termination and re-entry, and highlight challenges that someone developing an evacuation plan or model should expect, are also included. This textbook will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and advanced students.

Download or read book Library as Safe Haven written by Deborah D. Halsted and published by American Library Association. This book was released on 2014-08-05 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Libraries have always played a special role in times of disaster by continuing to provide crucial information and services.

Download or read book The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters written by Debarati Guha-Sapir and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-23 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work combines research and empirical evidence on the economic costs of disasters with theoretical approaches. It provides new insights on how to assess and manage the costs and impacts of disaster prevention, mitigation, recovery and adaption, and much more.

Download or read book Communicating Environmental Risk in Multiethnic Communities written by Michael K. Lindell and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2004 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation "This volume is recommended for practitioners in private emergency management and federal, state, and local governments, as well as students studying risk communication, health communication, emergency management, and environmental policy and management."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Download or read book A Failure of Initiative written by United States. Congress. House. Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Are You Ready written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Accompanying CD-ROM contains additional supporting materials, sample electronic slide presentations, and other resources.

Download or read book Crisis Standards of Care written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-10-27 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disasters and public health emergencies can stress health care systems to the breaking point and disrupt delivery of vital medical services. During such crises, hospitals and long-term care facilities may be without power; trained staff, ambulances, medical supplies and beds could be in short supply; and alternate care facilities may need to be used. Planning for these situations is necessary to provide the best possible health care during a crisis and, if needed, equitably allocate scarce resources. Crisis Standards of Care: A Toolkit for Indicators and Triggers examines indicators and triggers that guide the implementation of crisis standards of care and provides a discussion toolkit to help stakeholders establish indicators and triggers for their own communities. Together, indicators and triggers help guide operational decision making about providing care during public health and medical emergencies and disasters. Indicators and triggers represent the information and actions taken at specific thresholds that guide incident recognition, response, and recovery. This report discusses indicators and triggers for both a slow onset scenario, such as pandemic influenza, and a no-notice scenario, such as an earthquake. Crisis Standards of Care features discussion toolkits customized to help various stakeholders develop indicators and triggers for their own organizations, agencies, and jurisdictions. The toolkit contains scenarios, key questions, and examples of indicators, triggers, and tactics to help promote discussion. In addition to common elements designed to facilitate integrated planning, the toolkit contains chapters specifically customized for emergency management, public health, emergency medical services, hospital and acute care, and out-of-hospital care.

Download or read book Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-05-28 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales. SREX was approved and accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 18 November 2011 in Kampala, Uganda.

Download or read book The Future of Nursing 2020 2030 written by National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine and published by . This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The decade ahead will test the nation's nearly 4 million nurses in new and complex ways. Nurses live and work at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses work in a wide array of settings and practice at a range of professional levels. They are often the first and most frequent line of contact with people of all backgrounds and experiences seeking care and they represent the largest of the health care professions. A nation cannot fully thrive until everyone - no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make - can live their healthiest possible life, and helping people live their healthiest life is and has always been the essential role of nurses. Nurses have a critical role to play in achieving the goal of health equity, but they need robust education, supportive work environments, and autonomy. Accordingly, at the request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on behalf of the National Academy of Medicine, an ad hoc committee under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a study aimed at envisioning and charting a path forward for the nursing profession to help reduce inequities in people's ability to achieve their full health potential. The ultimate goal is the achievement of health equity in the United States built on strengthened nursing capacity and expertise. By leveraging these attributes, nursing will help to create and contribute comprehensively to equitable public health and health care systems that are designed to work for everyone. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while keeping costs at bay, utilizing technology, and maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030. This work builds on the foundation set out by The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) report.

Download or read book The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina written by and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2006 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The objective of this report is to identify and establish a roadmap on how to do that, and lay the groundwork for transforming how this Nation- from every level of government to the private sector to individual citizens and communities - pursues a real and lasting vision of preparedness. To get there will require significant change to the status quo, to include adjustments to policy, structure, and mindset"--P. 2.