Download or read book Scientific advice and evidence in emergencies written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-03-02 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this report, the Science and Technology Committee examines how scientific advice and evidence is used in national emergencies, when the Government and scientific advisory system are put under great pressure to deal with atypical situations. The inquiry focused on four case studies: (i) the 2009-10 H1N1 influenza pandemic (swine flu); (ii) the April 2010 volcanic ash disruption; (iii) space weather; and (iv) cyber attacks. While science is used effectively to aid responses to emergencies, the detachment of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) from the National Risk Assessment (NRA) - the key process of risk evaluation carried out by the Cabinet Office - is a serious concern. The Committee recommends that the NRA should not be signed off until the GCSA is satisfied that all risks requiring scientific input and judgements have been properly considered. A new independent scientific advisory committee should be set up to advise the Cabinet on risk assessment and review the NRA. The Icelandic volcanic eruption in April 2010 is a stark example of the lack of scientific input in risk assessment: the risk of disruption to aviation caused by a natural disaster was dropped from the assessment process in 2009, despite warnings from earth scientists. There are concerns over how risk was communicated to the public during the 2009-10 swine flu pandemic are raised in the report, with sensationalised media reporting about the projected deaths from swine flu. The Scientific Advisory Groups in Emergencies, set up to advise government during emergencies, were found to work in an unnecessarily secretive way.
Download or read book Scientific Advice and Evidence in Emergencies written by Great Britain and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Scientific Advice and Evidence in Emergencies written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by . This book was released on 2011-05-17 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Government response to HC 498, session 2010-12 (ISBN 9780215556561)
Download or read book Evidence Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-11-28 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When communities face complex public health emergencies, state local, tribal, and territorial public health agencies must make difficult decisions regarding how to effectively respond. The public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) system, with its multifaceted mission to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, is inherently complex and encompasses policies, organizations, and programs. Since the events of September 11, 2001, the United States has invested billions of dollars and immeasurable amounts of human capital to develop and enhance public health emergency preparedness and infrastructure to respond to a wide range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events. Despite the investments in research and the growing body of empirical literature on a range of preparedness and response capabilities and functions, there has been no national-level, comprehensive review and grading of evidence for public health emergency preparedness and response practices comparable to those utilized in medicine and other public health fields. Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response reviews the state of the evidence on PHEPR practices and the improvements necessary to move the field forward and to strengthen the PHEPR system. This publication evaluates PHEPR evidence to understand the balance of benefits and harms of PHEPR practices, with a focus on four main areas of PHEPR: engagement with and training of community-based partners to improve the outcomes of at-risk populations after public health emergencies; activation of a public health emergency operations center; communication of public health alerts and guidance to technical audiences during a public health emergency; and implementation of quarantine to reduce the spread of contagious illness.
Download or read book Scientific Advice and Evidence in Emergencies written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by . This book was released on 2011-07-18 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific advice and evidence in Emergencies : Follow-up, oral and written evidence, 15 June 2011, Professor Sir John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Advisor, Christina Scott, Head of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office, and Julia
Download or read book Emergency Alert and Warning Systems written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-05-19 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following a series of natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, that revealed shortcomings in the nation's ability to effectively alert populations at risk, Congress passed the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act in 2006. Today, new technologies such as smart phones and social media platforms offer new ways to communicate with the public, and the information ecosystem is much broader, including additional official channels, such as government social media accounts, opt-in short message service (SMS)-based alerting systems, and reverse 911 systems; less official channels, such as main stream media outlets and weather applications on connected devices; and unofficial channels, such as first person reports via social media. Traditional media have also taken advantage of these new tools, including their own mobile applications to extend their reach of beyond broadcast radio, television, and cable. Furthermore, private companies have begun to take advantage of the large amounts of data about users they possess to detect events and provide alerts and warnings and other hazard-related information to their users. More than 60 years of research on the public response to alerts and warnings has yielded many insights about how people respond to information that they are at risk and the circumstances under which they are most likely to take appropriate protective action. Some, but not all, of these results have been used to inform the design and operation of alert and warning systems, and new insights continue to emerge. Emergency Alert and Warning Systems reviews the results of past research, considers new possibilities for realizing more effective alert and warning systems, explores how a more effective national alert and warning system might be created and some of the gaps in our present knowledge, and sets forth a research agenda to advance the nation's alert and warning capabilities.
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 Emergency Medicine Evidence written by Emily L. Aaronson and published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. This book was released on 2014-08-08 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ramp up your knowledge of the clinical trials and evidence that laid the groundwork for current emergency practice with Emergency Medicine Evidence: The Practice-Changing Studies. Brief, easy-to-read, and accessible, this time-saving quick-reference allows you to quickly familiarize yourself with the 100 most practice-changing clinical trials in emergency medicine. Features Master key information through one-page synopses of the 100 most-practicing changes clinical trials in emergency medicine. Explore landmark clinical trials in all areas of emergency medicine, including abdominal, airway, allergy, cardiology, endocrine, infectious disease, neurology, operations, orthopedics, pain, PE/DVT, psychiatry, pulmonary, toxicology, trauma, and ultrasound. Access crucial information you need to enter the world of evidence-based emergency medicine. Key findings in practical tips and commentary to improve your study
Download or read book Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response written by World Health Organization and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2009 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guidance is an update of WHO global influenza preparedness plan: the role of WHO and recommendations for national measures before and during pandemics, published March 2005 (WHO/CDS/CSR/GIP/2005.5).
Download or read book Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-07-29 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.
Download or read book Emergency Medical Services written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-06-03 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is a critical component of our nation's emergency and trauma care system, providing response and medical transport to millions of sick and injured Americans each year. At its best, EMS is a crucial link to survival in the chain of care, but within the last several years, complex problems facing the emergency care system have emerged. Press coverage has highlighted instances of slow EMS response times, ambulance diversions, trauma center closures, and ground and air medical crashes. This heightened public awareness of problems that have been building over time has underscored the need for a review of the U.S. emergency care system. Emergency Medical Services provides the first comprehensive study on this topic. This new book examines the operational structure of EMS by presenting an in-depth analysis of the current organization, delivery, and financing of these types of services and systems. By addressing its strengths, limitations, and future challenges this book draws upon a range of concerns: • The evolving role of EMS as an integral component of the overall health care system. • EMS system planning, preparedness, and coordination at the federal, state, and local levels. • EMS funding and infrastructure investments. • EMS workforce trends and professional education. • EMS research priorities and funding. Emergency Medical Services is one of three books in the Future of Emergency Care series. This book will be of particular interest to emergency care providers, professional organizations, and policy makers looking to address the deficiencies in emergency care systems.
Download or read book The Paradox of Scientific Authority written by Wiebe E. Bijker and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Assessing the influence of scientific advice in societies that increasingly question scientific authority and expertise. Today, scientific advice is asked for (and given) on questions ranging from stem-cell research to genetically modified food. And yet it often seems that the more urgently scientific advice is solicited, the more vigorously scientific authority is questioned by policy makers, stakeholders, and citizens. This book examines a paradox: how scientific advice can be influential in society even when the status of science and scientists seems to be at a low ebb. The authors do this by means of an ethnographic study of the creation of scientific authority at one of the key sites for the interaction of science, policy, and society: the scientific advisory committee. The Paradox of Scientific Authority offers a detailed analysis of the inner workings of the influential Health Council of the Netherlands (the equivalent of the National Academy of Science in the United States), examining its societal role as well as its internal functioning, and using the findings to build a theory of scientific advising. The question of scientific authority has political as well as scholarly relevance. Democratic political institutions, largely developed in the nineteenth century, lack the institutional means to address the twenty-first century's pervasively scientific and technological culture; and science and technology studies (STS) grapples with the central question of how to understand the authority of science while recognizing its socially constructed nature.
Download or read book Devil s bargain written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-07-09 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The UK Government's position as an advocate for nuclear power makes it difficult for the public to trust it as an impartial source of information. Technically competent public bodies that are independent of Government - such as the Health & Safety Executive and Office for Nuclear Regulation - are in a much better position to engender public trust and influence risk perceptions. The Committee calls on these regulators to make greater efforts to communicate risk to the public and develop their role as trusted sources of information for lay people, in addition to providing risk information for technical audiences. There is also a lack of strategic coordination across Government when it comes to risk communication. A senior individual in Government should lead a Risk Communication Strategy team, drawing together existing expertise within Departments and public bodies - and be visibly responsible for overseeing risk communication. Furthermore, the decision to class the Fukushima incident at the same 'Level Seven' magnitude as Chernobyl - despite there being significantly lower levels of radioactive material released into the atmosphere and no deaths directly attributable to the accident - demonstrates the need to revise the scale used to communicate the magnitude of nuclear accidents. The global body responsible for the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) should review the scale. This report also calls on sources to emphasise to the public that exceeding recommended minimal radiation exposure levels may not pose any risk to people or the environment
Download or read book Emergency Care for Children written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-06-08 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Children represent a special challenge for emergency care providers, because they have unique medical needs in comparison to adults. For decades, policy makers and providers have recognized the special needs of children, but the system has been slow to develop an adequate response to their needs. This is in part due to inadequacies within the broader emergency care system. Emergency Care for Children examines the challenges associated with the provision of emergency services to children and families and evaluates progress since the publication of the Institute of Medicine report Emergency Medical Services for Children (1993), the first comprehensive look at pediatric emergency care in the United States. This new book offers an analysis of: • The role of pediatric emergency services as an integrated component of the overall health system. • System-wide pediatric emergency care planning, preparedness, coordination, and funding. • Pediatric training in professional education. • Research in pediatric emergency care. Emergency Care for Children is one of three books in the Future of Emergency Care series. This book will be of particular interest to emergency health care providers, professional organizations, and policy makers looking to address the pediatric deficiencies within their emergency care systems.
Download or read book Fostering Integrity in Research written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-01-13 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The integrity of knowledge that emerges from research is based on individual and collective adherence to core values of objectivity, honesty, openness, fairness, accountability, and stewardship. Integrity in science means that the organizations in which research is conducted encourage those involved to exemplify these values in every step of the research process. Understanding the dynamics that support â€" or distort â€" practices that uphold the integrity of research by all participants ensures that the research enterprise advances knowledge. The 1992 report Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process evaluated issues related to scientific responsibility and the conduct of research. It provided a valuable service in describing and analyzing a very complicated set of issues, and has served as a crucial basis for thinking about research integrity for more than two decades. However, as experience has accumulated with various forms of research misconduct, detrimental research practices, and other forms of misconduct, as subsequent empirical research has revealed more about the nature of scientific misconduct, and because technological and social changes have altered the environment in which science is conducted, it is clear that the framework established more than two decades ago needs to be updated. Responsible Science served as a valuable benchmark to set the context for this most recent analysis and to help guide the committee's thought process. Fostering Integrity in Research identifies best practices in research and recommends practical options for discouraging and addressing research misconduct and detrimental research practices.
Download or read book Marine Science written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-04-11 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Properly managed Marine Conservation Zones will protect marine life the UK's coastal waters and ensure the fishing industry has a sustainable long- term future. The Government is currently letting the project flounder while sensitive environments are further degraded and the industry is subjected to further uncertainty. It has been over three years since the Marine and Coastal Access Act was passed, with cross-party consensus that Marine Conservation Zones were necessary and has widespread public support. Despite this, the designation process has been repeatedly delayed and Marine Conservation Zones have become increasingly controversial. 127 Marine Conservation Zones have been proposed, but Defra has consulted on only 31 of these, without setting out the zone selection process, when these would be implemented or exactly how they would be managed. The Committee welcomes the publication of the Marine Science Strategy and establishment of the Marine Science Coordination Committee. However, it notes concerns about the effectiveness of these measures and highlights the risk that changes to funding mechanisms could undermine support for long-term strategic marine science. It is also recognised that the Natural Environment Research Council is currently operating with inadequate resources, but it should consider the impact that restructuring its research funding has had on its support for strategic marine science. The Committee recommended there should be a duty on commercial operations to share the data they collect. It is concerning that funding for important long-term monitoring programmes remains opportunistic and piecemeal. Developments in technologies such as autonomous underwater vehicles could dramatically alter the way in which marine data is collected
Download or read book A Safer Future written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1991-02-01 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Initial priorities for U.S. participation in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, declared by the United Nations, are contained in this volume. It focuses on seven issues: hazard and risk assessment; awareness and education; mitigation; preparedness for emergency response; recovery and reconstruction; prediction and warning; learning from disasters; and U.S. participation internationally. The committee presents its philosophy of calls for broad public and private participation to reduce the toll of disasters.
