Emergency Response,Recovery and Preparedness

A number of catastrophes could block the sun, including asteroid/comet impact, super volcanic eruption, and nuclear war with the burning of cities (nuclear winter). The problem of feeding 7 billion people would arise (the food problem is more severe than other problems associated with these catastrophes). Previous work has shown this is possible converting stored biomass to food if industry is present. A number of risks could destroy electricity globally, including a series of high-altitude electromagnetic pulses (HEMPs) caused by nuclear weapons, an extreme solar storm, and a super computer virus. Since industry depends on electricity, it is likely there would be a collapse of the functioning of industry and machines. Additional previous work has shown that it is technically feasible to feed everyone given the loss of industry without the loss of the sun. It is possible that one of these sun-blocking scenarios could occur near in time to one of these industry-disabling scenarios. This study analyzes food sources in these combined catastrophe scenarios. Food sources include extracting edible calories from killed leaves, growing mushrooms on leaves and dead trees, and feeding the residue to cellulose-digesting animals such as cattle and rabbits. Since the sun is unlikely to be completely blocked, fishing and growing ultraviolet (UV) and cold-tolerant crops in the tropics could be possible. The results of this study show these solutions could enable the feeding of everyone given minimal preparation, and this preparation should be a high priority now.

Cartography during emergencies takes an incredibly
strategic value of fundamental importance
for saving lives. But after is then forgotten without
implement what is classically defined benefit in
peacetime to be ready in time of war. The reflections
in this paper are derived from some of the
experiences accumulated in the field in urgent
technical rescue in emergency events that have
allowed us to highlight the important role that
geomatics plays in such situations.

Social media tools are integrated in most parts of our daily lives, as citizens, netizens, researchers or
emergency responders. Lessons learnt from disasters and emergencies that occurred globally in the last
few years have shown that social media tools may serve as an integral and significant component of
crisis response. Communication is one of the fundamental tools of emergency management. It becomes
crucial when there are dozens of agencies and organizations responding to a disaster. Regardless of the
type of emergency, whether a terrorist attack, a hurricane or an earthquake, communication lines may
be overloaded and cellular networks overwhelmed as too many people attempt to use them to access
information. Social scientists have presented that post-disaster active public participation was largely
altruistic, including activities such as search and rescue, first aid treatment, victim evacuation, and online
help. Social media provides opportunities for engaging citizens in the emergency management by
both disseminating information to the public and accessing information from them. During emergency
events, individuals are exposed to large quantities of information without being aware of their validity
or risk of misinformation, but users are usually swift to correct them, thus making the social media
“self-regulating”.

Little is documented on conflict and displacement impact on West Africa Ebola Virus disease (EVD) outbreaks. The paper revisits Ebola outbreaks public health emergencies in fragile conflict zones and displaced populations across Africa. Findings showed that the duration of conflict/war events varied one to forty three years. Notably, Darfur war in Sudan and South Sudan lasted between 18-23 years, RD Congo and Guinea incessant political and ethnical or mining conflict instability repeatedly ranging between 2-6 years, Liberia and Sierra Leone 5 and 12 years conflict/war events associated Ebola outbreaks were documented following seven and four years of conflicts from 1989-1996 and 1999-2003 prior to a democracy nation era in Liberia respectively. Worldwide, there have been 28,639 cases of Ebola virus disease and 11,316 deaths as at December, 2016 compared to recent Zika virus outbreaks in Latin America. Ebola outbreak public health emergencies advocacy, community social mobilization and engagement, Ebola awareness, effective and culturally dignified communications, social media and mass media risk communication, community literacy and preparedness, emergency response engagement and participation, access and deployment of digital technology applications (Health map) in surveillance, tracking and monitoring and key traditional burial practice behaviours changes were being translated into positive successes and benefits that geared rapid and effective prevention of further spread and containment activities of West Africa Ebola outbreak. Inter-humanitarian organizations, institutions and other stakeholders including government cooperation and coordinated leadership, commitment and investment were laudable in supporting accountability and transparency in the overall objectives of public health emergency preparedness planning, care management systems in Ebola outbreak centres, public awareness, epidemic early detection and rapid response as well as effective immunization programs implementation to outwit Ebola virus. Sierra Leone conflict lasted from 1991-2002, Guinea recorded frequent relentless instability than Liberia with two major conflict periods from 1989-1996 and 1999-2003. For the first time, we established a statistical significant correlation between duration of war/conflict events and Ebola outbreaks onsets in Africa (P<0.05).Unexpectedly; the total fatality rate in Liberia or Sierra Leone only was greater than the previously reported cumulative EVD cases across Africa since 1976. It is crucial to intensify advocacy on conflicts/wars resolutions to disaster risk reduction framework evidence practice implementation of peace building in fostering health and socioeconomic development and growth. Authors call for the urgent need for concerned commitment and engagement of all stakeholders to develop, implement and strengthening local, national, regional and global public health emergencies. Evidence practice approaches and strategies including national public health disaster emergency situations insurance models and schemes integration is paramount in infectious and emerging infectious diseases outbreaks public health emergencies and disasters high risk prone settings and particular in Africa.

This policy report is an effort to document the response of local governments in Albania during the COVID-19 emergency, focusing on the pre-outbreak period (January-February 2020) and on the isolation period (March-April 2020). With more than 7.2 million cases confirmed around the world and over 413,000 casualties until mid-June (2020), and numbers on the rising part of the curve, COVID-19 remains one of the most important pandemics of the 21st century. Besides being a health emergency, the COVID-19 outbreak has had and will have for close-to-medium-term future serious socioeconomic and financial consequences, including implications of moral, ethics and democracy. In this very complex background, local governments, being closer to citizens, can and should play an important role in managing the emergency and governing for post-disaster recovery and preparedness. However, as various reports show, the response of local governments is territorially asymmetric at international level. This is due to the characteristics of the governance systems in the different countries, the territorial and geographical features, the shape of cities and level of urbanisation, overall level of development and investments levels for enabling local resilience. In Albania, the COVID-19 emergency is being managed centrally, with a relatively soft, often weak or limited involvement of local governments. This comes in a context where legally speaking, local governments have a significant role in governing disaster events (preparedness, emergency response, recovery and planning), but are technically and financially weak in doing so. The situation is even less promising for biological disaster risks, particularly pandemics, where the effect of the disaster is not territorially bound, and the response should be well coordinated among levels of governance (vertically) and among actors (horizontally).  The focus of this report is comprehending how local governments in Albania have reacted during the COVID-19 emergency. The aim is to shed light on their role and challenges, and subsequently create knowledge for disaster governance and recovery in the near future, as well as propose some stepping stones for enabling local resilience. The report is prepared based on findings from a general survey that Co-PLAN, Institute for Habitat Development and the Albanian Association for Local Autonomy conducted with the 61 municipalities of Albania during April 2020.

Since 9-11, emergency preparedness has been the focus on federal, state, tribal, and local levels. Although
current research describes emergency management response, many barriers may exist that effect response
systems, including the role of first responders, social vulnerability, and the way technology interfaces with
these variables. Several factors determine the success of emergency preparedness and its ultimate impact on
the health and safety of the community, including social media response, Community Response Grid (CRG)
and social networks for older adults, emergency Internet and Community Technology (ICT) training within
tribal communities and graduate schools, and programs and innovative emergency management policies for
ethnically and racially diverse populations. Negotiating these issues, the character and incidence of emergency
technology benefits the adult experiencing an emergency by: a) obscuring the constructs of social and class
hegemony; b) mitigating future emergency problems when new procedures and policies that depend on ICT
are rendered; c) examining barriers that could hinder lifesaving emergency procedures; and d) creating a
community identification and a community collaborative bond so disadvantaged communities are responded
to in an expedient manner.

Abstract Backgroud:The advent of emergency or disaster has posed serious challenges to the lives of many citizens in different localities and communities. This was as a result of either inadequate preparation for emergency or insufficient knowledge and skills on how to handle emergency situation by those concerned. So mamy lives were claimed; properties damaged and destroyed which calls for adequate and effective preparation against future occurrences by emergency rescue team members as well as healthcare professionals such as nurses. Methods:This is a cross sectional, descriptive survey conducted to explore the role of a nurse in emergency preparedness among nurses in Zaria local Government area of Kaduna State. One hundred and twenty (120) structured questionnaires were administered using simple random sampling technique. Results: The findings of this study established that 34% of the participants were within the age range of 30-39 years. Near two third of the participants 63% were female and 25% of the participants were at the rank of Nursing Officer II (N.OII), 22% of which work in accident and emergency unit while 45% had a working experience between 1-10 years. More than half 60% of the participants had a clear and correct understanding of the concept of emergency preparedness. So also, most of the participants strongly agreed that the roles of a nurse in emergency preparedness are enormous and central to emergency preparedness. Most of the participants 53% and 55% ticked all the tools itemized for emergency preparedness use as well as the factors affecting emergency participants respectively. Conclusion: Disaster preparedness maximized safe condition, decreases vulnerability and minimizes risk to individuals when they are confronted by a hazard. The role of the Nurses is central to emergency preparedness as a custodian of hospital infrastructures.