On Sunday 26 December 2004, a tsunami of up to 30 metres high hit the northern tip of Sumatera in Indonesia, causing immediate destruction and the deaths of at least 130,000 in Indonesia alone. The scale of the devastation and ensuing human suffering prompted the biggest response endeavour to any natural disaster in history. Post-Disaster Reconstruction will be the first major book that analyses the different perspectives and experiences of the enormous post-tsunami reconstruction effort. It looks specifically at the reconstruction efforts in Aceh, one of the regions most heavily-hit by the tsunami and a province that has until recently suffered nearly three decades of armed conflict. Positioning the reconstruction efforts within Aceh's multi-layered historical, cultural, socio-political and religious contexts, the authors explore diverse experiences and assessments of the reconstruction. It considers the importance of the political and religious settings of the reconstruction, the roles of communities and local non-government organisations and the challenges faced by Indonesian and international agencies. From the in-depth examination of this important case study of disaster reconstruction - significant not only because of the huge scale of the natural disaster and response but also the post-conflict issues - the editors draw together the lessons learned for the future of Aceh and make general recommendations for post-disaster and post-conflict reconstruction-making.

A Futurist's Guide to Emergency Management provides interdisciplinary analysis on how particular sets of conditions may occur in the future by evaluating global trends, possible scenarios, emerging conditions, and various other elements of risk management. Firmly based in science, the book leverages historical data, current best practices, and scientific and statistical data to make future projections to help emergency management, homeland security, and public safety officials make appropriate planning, preparedness, and resource management decisions in the present to prepare for future conditions and risks. Focuses on trends in citizen behaviors, expectations, and choices related to technology, media, communication, and cross-cultural behavior Reflects the impacts of age, gender, and sexuality roles on emergency response expectations as well as the increasing politicization of disaster response and recovery activities Evaluates how perceptions of risk are changing-particularly in light of low probability, but high consequence events Considers emerging physical, social, environmental, and technological issues such as climate change, sustainability, globalization, and cyber threats Divided into three sections, the book first focuses on trends in citizen behaviors, expectations, and choices related to technology, media, communication and cross-cultural behavior. It then explores the impacts of age, gender, and sexuality roles on emergency response expectations as well as the increasing politicization of disaster response and recovery activities. Additionally, the second section evaluates how perceptions of risk are changing - particularly in light of low probability, but high consequence events. The book concludes with coverage of emerging physical, social, environmental, and technological issues such a climate change, sustainability, globalization, and cyber threats.

This book provides an overview of state-of-the-art research that has been conducted within Australia, funded by the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre. The chapters source and contextualize their own research practice within the context of the international research literature. Therefore, while the research has occurred within Australia it will be of particular interest to scholars, students and practitioners in a number of other countries, particularly within the United States of America and in Europe. The fire and emergency services is a particularly large industry - in Australia alone it employs 250,000 personnel - yet there is very little by way of published human factors books addressing this sector directly. Emergency events frequently involve problems for which there may be unanticipated consequences and highly interdependent consequential effects. In short, emergency events are not necessarily as containable as may be work in other domains. As Karl Weick once commented, emergency events do not 'play by the rules'. This means that these research chapters tell us something about a potential future world of work that is highly dynamic, interdependent and for which improvisation and critical thinking and problem-solving are necessary pre-requisites. The discussions about individual and team performance will also be pertinent to others working in similar high-reliability, high-consequence domains. The chapters connect into an integrated body of work about individual and group performance and their limitations.

Japan has been one of the most important international sponsors of human security, yet the concept has hitherto not been considered relevant to the Japanese domestic context. This book applies the human security approach to the specific case of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident that struck Japan on 11 March 2011, which has come to be known as Japan's 'triple disaster'. This left more than 15,000 people dead and was the most expensive natural disaster in recorded history. The book identifies the many different forms of human insecurity that were produced or exacerbated within Japan by the triple disaster. Each chapter adds to the contemporary literature by identifying the vulnerability of Japanese social groups and communities, and examining how they collectively seek to prevent, respond to and recover from disaster. Emphasis is given to analysis of the more encouraging signs of human empowerment that have occurred. Contributors draw on a wide range of perspectives, from disciplines such as: disaster studies, environmental studies, gender studies, international relations, Japanese studies, philosophy and sociology. In considering this Japanese case study in detail, the book demonstrates to researchers, postgraduate students, policy makers and practitioners how the concept of human security can be practically applied at a policy level to the domestic affairs of developed countries, countering the tendency to regard human security as exclusively for developing states.

Despite preemptive preparations, disasters can and do occur. Whether natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, or terrorist attacks, the risk cannot be completely eliminated. A carefully prepared response is your best defense. Handbook of Emergency Response: A Human Factors and Systems Engineering Approach presents practical advice and guidelines on how to plan the coordinated execution of emergency response. A useful tool to mitigate logistical problems that often follow disasters or extreme events, the core of this guide is the role of human factors in emergency response project management. The handbook provides a systematic structure for communication, cooperation, and coordination. It highlights what must be done and when, and how to identify the resources required for each effort. The book tackles cutting-edge research in topics such as evacuation planning, chemical agent sensor placement, and riverflow prediction. It offers strategies for establishing an effective training program for first responders and insightful advice in managing waste associated with disasters. Managing a project in the wake of a tragedy is complicated and involves various emotional, sentimental, reactive, and chaotic responses. This is the time that a structured communication model is most needed. Having a guiding model for emergency response can help put things in proper focus. This book provides that model. It guides you through planning for and responding to various emergencies and in overcoming the challenges in these tasks.

In June 2011, the city of Minot, North Dakota sustained the greatest flood in its history. Rather than buckling under the immense weight of the flood on a personal and community level, government, civic groups, and citizens began to immediately assess and address the event's impacts. Why did the disaster in Minot lead to government and community resilience, whereas during Hurricane Katrina, the non-resilience of the government and community of New Orleans resulted in widespread devastation? This book seeks to answer that question by examining how local government institutions affect pre- and post-disaster community and business resilience. Utilizing both survey methods and interviews, Atkinson analyzes the disasters that occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, Palm Beach County, Florida, and Minot, North Dakota. He argues that institutional culture within local government impacts not only the immediate outcomes experienced during response, but the long-term prognosis of recovery for a community outside the walls of city hall. Understanding tendencies within a community that lead to increased vulnerability of both individuals and businesses can lead to shifts in governmental/community priorities, and potentially to improved resilience in the face of hazard events. Relevant to scholars of public administration, disaster researchers, and government officials, this book contributes to a growing literature on community and business resilience. It explores not just the devastation of natural disasters, but profiles governmental impacts that led to responsive and able processes in the face of disaster.

Provides up-to-date coverage of current thinking on rationing. The first part of the book consists of a series of debates between leading authorities putting forward their views for and against some of the most controversial issues in healthcare, such as rationing by age, and the role of central government. The second part makes suggestions for action, drawing comparisons with health care systems overseas, on the ethical uses of resources, the rationing of drugs by hospitals, and the role of citizens' juries. The book should be of interest to healthcare workers, managers, public health physicians and health economists.

In the current atmosphere of closer scrutiny of healthcare practices and procedures, front-line managers and health care providers must investigate potential problems in their work environment, whether at the behest of upper management, in order to meet Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) standards, or through their own sense that "weÆre doing something wrong." For the investigator with limited previous experience in evaluation or research, the prospect of undertaking this kind of investigation can appear daunting, to say the least. Quality Improvement Projects in Health Care was written just for this individual. Author Eleanor Gilpatrick, a seasoned investigator and professor of health services administration, provides a review of the basic terminology and guidelines for carrying out "nuts-and-bolts" quality improvement research. She then demonstrates how such a research project can be implemented through 14 case studies involving actual health care situations. Altogether, the cases speak to a broad array of issues and potential pitfalls for the unwary investigatorùand they show that progress can be made in even the most difficult circumstances. Quality Improvement Projects in Health Care will be of interest to students and professionals in health sciences administration, nursing, allied health, and public health.

Emerging social media and so-called Web 2.0 technologies will continue to have a great impact on the practice and application of the emergency management function in every public safety sector. Disasters 2.0: The Application of Social Media Systems for Modern Emergency Management prepares emergency managers and first responders to successfully apply social media principles in the operations, logistics, planning, finance, and administrative aspects of any given disaster.

Using real-life examples of domestic and international disasters, the book reveals how social media has quickly become a powerful tool for both providing emergency instruction to the public in real time and allowing responding agencies to communicate among themselves in crisis. A definitive and comprehensive source, the book explores topics such as:

• Social media basics
• Citizen journalism
• Strategic implementation
• Safety and responsibility
• Monitoring and analytics
• Operational implementation
• Geolocation systems
• Crowdsourcing
• Public notification
• Mobile and other emerging technologies

Each chapter begins with a list of objectives and includes a collection of case examples of social media use in past events. Practitioner profiles show real people implementing the technology for real solutions. Demonstrating how to effectively apply social media technology to the next crisis, this is a must-read book for those charged with disaster management and response.

An expansion of Dr. Rudofossi's theory of Police and Public Safety Complex Trauma, this text integrates other models of trauma and loss into a one-of-a-kind intervention model. It offers insider perspectives from police psychologists, police managers, and clinicians describing what police personnel experience on the job, along with expert intervention and advice. The author also introduces the Eco-Ethological Existential Analysis concept and includes case studies to demonstrate ideas and techniques. The examples highlight each of five personality styles. This practical guide to dealing with the cumulative effects of repeated stress, trauma, and exhaustion is a critical resource for police, paramedics, and correctional personnel. Dr. Rudofossi spoke on the Donna Seebo radio show to discuss his book and issues surrounding post traumatic stress disorder. He was a featured guest on American Heroes Radio on April 3, 2012.

In 1984 Congress revamped Medicare to save a financially distraught health care system, thus transforming the hospital as an organization. Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) -- the cornerstone of this extensive reorganization -- have triggered repercussions that are still adversely affecting health care professionals. This volume cuts to the heart of this crisis, examining the difficulties and foibles of going from DRG Legislation to DRG practices and giving voice to the professionals who must carve out a new reality under DRGs. It exposes the disputes between the various professional groups -- administrators, physicians, and nurses --over the implementation of DRGS, and how these professionals maneuver to manage the health service problems created by the policy. The book's authors provide an insightful analysis of the way policy innovations can wreak havoc on an organization and how professionals working together eventually negotiate order out of the chaos of change. The volume's narrative style of research is one feature that makes the presentation of the authors' findings unique from other works on Medicare legislation. Additionally, the book offers a case study approach to communication and sociological matters of a significant health care issue.

This book sets out to develop a new framework for the analysis and understanding of large natural disasters occurring in developing countries in the last three decades, and their effects on the economy and society. In doing so, it challenges many of the accepted wisdoms of disaster theory upon which policy prescriptions are built. A number of important issues are addressed and analysed within this framework. The reliability of current statistics about disasters is questioned, and the effects of disaster situations on the main economic aggregates are examined. The author also looks at the importance of indirect disaster effects, the motivations of disaster response, and the impact of both capital loss and disaster response on output. He assesses the minimum level of additional investment required to secure a balanced recovery, and the extent to which a society's structure and dynamics determine people's vulnerability to disasters. Finally, the overall effects of disaster situations on economy and society are considered. The author concludes that although disasters are primarily a problem of development, they are not necessarily a problem for development. What we should be looking at are the underlying social and economic processes within developing countries which structure the impact of natural disasters, rather than at disasters as unforeseen events requiring large scale intervention. An important feature of the book is the deconstruction of the notion of disaster. Disasters, the author points out, cannot be analysed in isolation from the particular social and political setting in which they occur.

This book has been a long time in the making. The computerization activi ties described in these pages began in 1977 at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), but we devoted most of our focus and efforts to building and then implementing the extensive hospital information system known as the Decentralized Hospital Computer System (DHCP) throughout VA. Deliv ering the product has been our primary goal. We spent relatively little time documenting or describing our experiences or lessons learned. Except for some presentations at national meetings and a relatively few publications, almost none of which were in the standard trade journals read by Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and equivalent top managers in the private and nonprofit sectors, VA's accomplishments remained a well-kept secret. In 1988, Helly Orthner encouraged VA staff to consider writing a book, but the press of day-to-day activities always seemed to take precedence, and the book languished on the back burner."

The compelling story of how and why modern ocean lifeguarding emerged on the New Jersey shore is told through 298 rare, unpublished, primary source photographs and fascinating text. This state-wide perspective of beach patrols, from Sandy Hook to Cape May, provides a unique, first-hand outlook garnered from interviews with many of the most prominent personalities in the lifeguard community.Learn the myths and realities of lifeguarding's history, beginning with the origins and pioneers, and how the United States Life-Saving Service emerged in response to early shipwrecks. Evolving gear reflects how technology has enhanced ocean rescue's effectiveness, paved with the guards' commitment to physical and mental conditioning. A window into the culture of lifeguarding, you'll enjoy the idiosyncrasies that have become common denominators among guards up and down the coast. This is a story that has long needed to be told.

Published in 1999. Contemporary organizations are faced with increasingly rapid and dramatic change within their political, cultural and technological environments. Institutions in Turbulent Environments critically examines the way organizations respond to these changes,with a particular focus upon the institutional disability sector. The book examines available theory concerning organizational contingency, adaptation and population ecology. It utilizes a framework developed from this theory to examine the ways in which a major institution for the intellectually disabled responded to the turbulence within its environment. It uses this data to re-examine theory and to propose changes to the way organization/environment relationships are understood.

Decision-Making in Emergency Management examines decisions the authors have made over their careers based on their combined training, experience and instinct. Through a broad range of case studies, readers discover how experience impacts decision-making in conjunction with research and tools available. While the use of science, data and industry standards are always the best option when it comes to handling emergency situations, not all emergency situations fit one known solution. This book comprehensively explores the question "Is 'instinct' a viable factor when faced with a challenging situation and how close does it match up with the best science available?"

Disaster management is generally understood to consist of four phases: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. While these phases are all important and interrelated, response and recovery are often considered to be the most critical in terms of saving lives. Response is the acute phase occurring after the event, and includes all arrangements to remove detriments and a long-term inventory of supplies to deal with irreversible damage. The timely provision of geospatial information is crucial in the decision-making process, and can save lives and rescue citizens. The aim of this volume is to share technological advances that allow wider, faster and more effective utilization of geospatial information in emergency response situations. The volume describes current accomplishments and challenges in providing geospatial information with these attributes, and is organized in six parts: - Practice and legislation, with a focus on the utilization of geospatial information in recent disaster events, as well as resulting legislative attempts to share and access data. - Data collection and data products. - Data management and routing in 3D. - Emerging technologies, including positioning, virtual reality and simulation models. - Integration of heterogeneous data. - Applications and solutions. This volume is aimed at researchers, practitioners and students who work in the variety of disciplines related to geospatial information technology for emergency response, and represents the very best of current thinking from a number of pioneering studies over the past four years.

Undertaken as part of the National Science Foundation's call for research associated with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this volume contains research that addresses the immediate role and utility of geographical information and technologies in emergency management. It also initiates an on-going process to help develop a focused national research agenda on the geographical dimensions of terrorism. Areas covered include: geospatial data and technologies infrastructure research, root causes of terrorism, and vulnerability science and hazard research.

Undertaken as part of the National Science Foundation's call for research associated with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this volume contains research that addresses the immediate role and utility of geographical information and technologies in emergency management. It also initiates an on-going process to help develop a focused national research agenda on the geographical dimensions of terrorism. Areas covered include: geospatial data and technologies infrastructure research, root causes of terrorism, and vulnerability science and hazard research.

Critical Perspectives on the Management and Organization of Emergency Services makes an important contribution to the subject of emergency services management and to public administration and organization studies more generally. It critically assesses developments in emergency services management by examining the multi-dimensional nature of the provision of emergency services and their connectedness in advanced western democracies. The effective management of emergency services has never been more important than in today's high-pressured and cost-conscious public sector. The authors of this volume forensically analyse the challenges of delivering emergency services within this context. This book provides an in-depth, scholarly and comprehensive analysis of the changing landscape of emergency service provision and clearly addresses a gap in the market for a critical volume on the emergency services. For anyone seeking to understand why and how the management of emergency services matters, this collection is essential reading.

Incident Command: Tales From the Hot Seat presents a unique examination of the skills of the on-scene or incident commander who is in charge of an emergency or major incident. Experienced commanders from the police and fire services, the armed forces, civil aviation and the prison service give personal accounts of their command experiences, discuss their dilemmas and the pressures they faced, and reveal the demands of leading under extreme conditions. They share intimate details of cases where their command skills were tested, ranging from industrial fires, riots, hostage taking, warfare, peacekeeping, to in-flight emergencies. Each case ends with lessons learnt and tips for the developing commander. Additional chapters present expert accounts of the art of incident command, incident command systems, competencies for command, as well as reviews of the latest psychological research into decision making and team work under pressure. The book is an essential compelling text that captures the essence of incident command by analyzing command experiences across a range of professions.

There is a growing trend for investigators to adopt a more formal approach to the procedures applied to various stages of clinical trials. Most environments employ some form of standard operating procedures which are designed to be used as ‘working tools’ within that particular field, e.g. standard operating procedures in hospitals for doctors and nurses. With rigorous standards of good clinical practice being applied to all areas, optimizing the design and use of standard operating procedures is more in demand every day. Topics covered include:

• A brief description of the history and development of clinical research and good clinical practice
• An explanation of what standard operating procedures are and how they work
• A selection of actual standard operating procedures and checklists

Informing Health Care Purchasers

In today's competitive marketplace, health care providers, corporate purchasers, and health care executives are focusing their attention on quality, value, and accountability.

This valuable resource provides health care practitioners, administrators, and policymakers with the pertinent information they need to create a scientific method of measuring customer satisfaction.

Mass Fatality and Casualty Incidents: A Field Guide presents in checklist form the recommended responses to events that result in mass fatalities, such as the Oklahoma City bombing, the crash of a jet airliner, or the attack on the World Trade Center. All cities in the United States will have to have a mass fatality disaster plan in effect by the end of 1999.

Mr. Jensen is a leading authority in this area and provides training for police, fire and hospital personnel (including EMTs and social workers), local, state, federal and international emergency planners and responders.

This book details actions that are part of a mass fatality incident response. Specifically, they are the actions that begin once life and property preservation ceases and continues through to the release of the deceased. Thus, primary focus is on search, recovery, medicolegal investigation, personal effects operations, family assistance operations, and media operations. Ancillary steps include logistics support, security, responder protection, attitudes and coping with mass death.