The Social Vulnerability Index: A Literature Review

This chapter provides a non-exhaustive review of the literature on the Social Vulnerability Index in order to share with Disaster Studies scholars and other professionals a general overview of the subject. This work analyzes selected case studies on the construction of a Social Vulnerability Index at national and local scales, and then specifically focuses on cases concerning social vulnerability to climate change, natural hazards, and COVID-19. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Global Pandemic and Human Security: Using Health-EDRM Risk Assessment Framework to Enhance Technology Support for DRR

‘Biological hazard' is regarded as a major human security threat to people's well-being and development. In the era of globalisation and rapid technological development, COVID-19 pandemic once again revealed how an emerging communicable disease might impact not only health but also the socioeconomic ecology of people globally, while the related health risk can be mitigated by the employment of appropriate technology. The chapter examines how the latest World Health Organization Health-EDRM framework (2019) may inform the conceptualisation and assessment of health risks and proposes a Health-EDRM assessments framework for biological hazard. A case study of how health risks and vulnerability associated with home care may be reduced by employing technology in non-standard living context during pandemic and a case study of community resilience and community engagement are also included. The discussion also puts Health-EDRM framework into a human security perspective. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer 2022.

Re-Emergence of Measles

In 2018-19, even before the pandemic, the world experienced major outbreaks of measles with 140,000 reported deaths mostly in low income countries where children suffer from malnutrition and overcrowding. In areas recovering from natural disasters and conflict areas and most children remain unvaccinated, outbreaks occur. The Philippines suffered similarly, with a devastating outcome and deaths of more than 800 children, even adults, in more than 40,000 hospitalized cases reported in 2019 over a 2 month period. A massive loss of vaccine confidence in 2018, brought about by the controversial introduction of a dengue vaccine reduced childhood vaccination coverage at an all-time low of 40-50%. Previous rates were in the 80-90% and measles was almost on the verge of elimination with no deaths and no cases between 2005-2009. The basic elements of complacency, convenience and confidence plus frequent occurrence of natural disasters over the years contributed much to these measles outbreaks. As a strategy, the government went into a massive supplementary immunization program with measles campaign including home visits to prevent another outbreak in the next 2 years after the pandemic begun. It has been implemented but targets are still wanting. The lessons learned from Measles resurgence are echoing all throughout the world and as the global response to the COVID19 continues, the measles as well as polio and other vaccine- preventable diseases need to be addressed with strategies that each country would find appropriate for them. Without sustained attention, the gains that have been achieved previously could easily get lost.Copyright © 2023

Optimisation-based integrated decision model for ambulance routing in response to pandemic outbreaks

Pandemics and sudden disease outbreaks place considerable stress on hospital resources. Their increasing numbers in recent years has necessitated investment in disaster risk management strategies, particularly in the healthcare sector. The sudden surge of patients, particularly in requesting ambulance services, overwhelms hospital systems and compromises health service delivery. Failure of health planners to respond immediately to a sudden disease outbreak can result in insufficient distribution of healthcare services and can thereby exacerbate the death toll dramatically. The current research aims to develop an optimisation-based integrated decision model to assist healthcare decision-makers with immediate and effective planning for ambulances to move critical patients from their residences to hospitals, considering the available capacities of each hospital. Several lemmas for the problem are proposed, and based on these;several local search methods are developed to improve the performance of the proposed optimisation method. To confirm the efficacy of the proposed approach, a comprehensive comparison is conducted. In conclusion, sensitivity analyses are performed to discuss some practical insights. The proposed models can be adopted to develop decision tools that enable hospital system managers to optimize their resources to changing healthcare needs in disease outbreaks.

The role of lean information flows in disaster construction projects: exploring the UK's Covid surge hospital projects

A substantive body of work in project studies argues that an "information flow" lens is very useful in exploring the project management of construction. This paper posits that this is even more applicable to disaster construction projects and, furthermore, lean information flow may play a role in swiftly delivering the disaster construction project. The paper uses the qualitative empirics of the delivery of the UK's Covid surge hospital projects to demonstrate that lean information flows were employed in these projects and assisted in enabling delivery at speed. The paper also describes the autopoietic governance conditions that are necessary for lean information flows to flourish in disaster construction projects and the role that trust may play in these conditions. It warns against some of the drawbacks in enabling lean communication through autopoietic governance.

Preparing for the Future Crisis: Frontier Technologies Hold the Key

The hard lesson learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic is lack of understanding the risk and preparedness for response which resulted in millions of losses of lives and unprecedented cascading effects. This chapter analyzes how frontier technologies are supporting the key stakeholders to manage the COVID-19 crises—protect lives, livelihoods, and enhance the quality of risk governance in Asia and the Pacific. This chapter addresses five key lessons emerging from the COVID-19 response: (1) making risk assessment more dynamics, (2) empowering at risk communities, (3) managing a global risk with local action, (4) managing uncertainties, and (5) bridging the gaps in knowledge and understanding in systemic risks. This chapter also outlines three key enablers—frontier technologies, data science, and national innovation systems that help to prepare for the future crises. The nature and scale of risk has changed. In our increasingly complex inter-connected world, managing risk forms the key to preparing for the future. Smart preparedness is the way forward. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Machine Learning, 5G technologies, drones, automated vehicles, robotics, etc., were used to track, monitor, warn, and support logistics as well as its rapid diagnostic and telemedicine. A wide-range of risk analytics such as impact forecasting and risk informed early warning, indexing and creating risk matrix to target at risk communities which have been developed and put to use in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its intersection with extreme climate events. Digital solutions can help enhanced preparedness to protect at risk communities but also strengthen their resilience. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer 2022.

Need for Disaster Risk Reduction for Migrant Workers Amid COVID-19 in India

COVID-19 pandemic had impacted mobility of migrants worldwide. The outbreak of this notified disaster had created havoc among humanity. Government policies and initiatives, as well as individual efforts, are crucial to tackle the devastation caused by the outbreak. The availability of resources and effective strategies are pivotal to minimize the damage. Migrant workers are part of vulnerable groups often neglected from the process of policies formulation by the government. Despite constituting a large section of the population, they are more prone to the risk caused by natural hazards. The lack of proper data and few policies on migrant workers had delayed the response of institutions amid the emergency. Hence, this paper tries to understand the challenges encountered by migrants due to the outbreak of pandemic along with the immediate requirement of disaster risk reduction policies. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Integrating indigenous knowledge and state-of-the-art Earth observation solutions for the Sendai framework implementation

PurposeIndigenous peoples represent one of the most vulnerable groups and need access as well as hands-on experience in the use of emerging Earth observations (EO)-based DRR solutions at the community level, while balancing this learning with traditional indigenous knowledge (IK). However, complicating any engagement between EO and IK is the reality that IKs are diverse and dynamic, with location-specific relevance and accuracy. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic caused complex risks and cascading effects for which the world was not prepared. Thus, there is a need to examine the lessons learned and motivate emerging EO-based innovations and demonstrations related to DRR and climate change adaptation.Design/methodology/approachHence, this study aims to undertake an in-depth assessment of IK related to DRR covering relevant UN instruments and provides state-of-the-art of opportunities presented by EO-based tools and solutions.FindingsThe overall research strategy was designed to integrate key components of IK for DRR in a coherent and logical way, with those offered by the EO technology developers and providers. There are several EO tools accessible that are relevant to integrate IK and complement DRR. The study examined and identified challenges and barriers to implement workable and replicable EO solutions in pursuit of resilience.Originality/valueThe key findings of this study will help create a balanced approach by acknowledging the importance of IK for DRR with co-development, co-creation and use of culturally relevant EO data and tools for sustainable innovation, capacity building and youth empowerment. The technological inequalities appear to be growing, and it would be challenging to meet the Sendai Framework indicators.

The Ecological Disaster of the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Care for our Common Home from the Perspective of the UN and Indigenous Peoples

This paper aims to reflect on indigenous peoples' knowledge of nature and the way it may contribute to sustainability in the context of the ecological disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is justified given the current situation in which humanity finds itself, as the UN's assessment regarding the need to take care of nature, our "common home”, and the ancestral knowledge of indigenous peoples stands out. It is realized that the values preserved by the native peoples of the Americas, by contributing to the sustainability of the planet, could also help to improve the living conditions of present and future generations. © 2023 Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. All rights reserved.

The effect of increasing health disaster risk and public spending on economy conditions: a DSGE perspective

PurposeThe main motivation of the present study is to understand the severity of the effect of health shock on Iran's oil economy and analyze the role of government under these conditions.Design/methodology/approachDynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models can show the precise interactions between market decision-makers in the context of general equilibrium. Since the duration of the virus outbreak and its effect on the economy is not known, it is more appropriate to use these models.FindingsThe results of the survey of hands-on policies scenarios compared to the state of hands-off policy indicate that the effect of government expending shocks on the economy under pandemic disease conditions has much less feedback on macroeconomic variables.Originality/valueAs a proposed policy, it is recommended that the government play a stabilizing role under pandemic disease conditions.Key messages There is no study regarding health shock and its economic effects in Iran using DSGE models. Also, in foreign studies, the health shock in an oil economy has not been modeled.The general idea in the present study is how the prevalence of a pandemic infectious disease affects the dynamics of macroeconomic variables.In three different scenarios, according to the persistence of health disaster risk and the deterioration rate of health capital due to this shock, the model is simulated.In modeling pandemic diseases, quarantine hours are considered as part of the total time of individuals.According to the research findings, it is recommended that the government, as a policy-maker, play a stabilizing role under pandemic crises conditions.

Stepping up as an essential service: grocery retailing and the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the ‘essential service' question to the forefront of government policy, business functioning, and public discourse. This qualitative study uses community disaster resilience and institutional work theory to analyse the responses of Canadian grocery retailers to COVID-19. Based on a thematic analysis of 53 grocery retailers' website messaging over three periods at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the research identifies ten themes that capture the retailers' response to the pandemic. Focusing on major grocery retailers in Ontario, the research tracks messaging concerning the elevated community role of grocery retailers through a period of crisis. We develop a conceptual framework to understand the community disaster resilience levers of grocery retailing during a pandemic. The research highlights the shift in the balance of messaging concerning the institutional logic of grocery retailers, away from market forces towards a community logic. The findings illustrate how grocery retailers stepped up as an essential service and extended their reach beyond the bounds of their underlying institutional logic to encompass the public good.

Building Resilience in Times of New Global Challenges: A Focus on Six Main Attributes

This work discusses the crucial concept of resilience in six specific paragraphs, starting from the grid of the main attributes (namely, safety, robustness, adaptive capacity, sustainability, governance, and anamnesis) proposed by Indirli (2019). This study found that two views were particularly challenging, however conflicting: the homeostatic approach (engineering resilience, e.g. oscillations around an initial steady state) or the autopoietic approach (ecological resilience, e.g. irreversible shifts towards a new situation). In fact, a reliable resilience's assessment is fundamental when geohazards affect the environment, urban habitat, building construction, lifelines and heritage. The reason of this study is also due to the increasing ambiguity whereby the term is frequently used in multidisciplinary fields, as engineering, social-economical/social-ecological systems and disaster/risk assessment in case of catastrophic scenarios. Therefore, considering the urgent need of analysis tools to prevent/properly govern future crises, the authors intend to give a useful hint towards the adoption of resilient approaches. The original and captivating methodology developed here confirms and enhances the validity of the starting point cornerstones (modifying and fulfilling the initial definitions), in primis the relationship between the resilience's main concept and its attributes. Hence, the final goal is to provide an effective framework to study, without rigidity, complex questions in times of new global challenges, as the combination of natural and anthropogenic hazards, with particular reference to geohazards and global warming. Thus, successful actions focused on risk mitigation (with a tight link to communication, dissemination and exploitation policies) can be implemented, aimed at enhancing consciousness about disasters, for a wide range of different organizations, from experts in risk management and preservation of environment/heritage to people and stakeholders concerned. The investigation carried out here has been supported interlacing a theoretical discussion with the analysis of specific case studies (e.g. the behaviour of buildings, infrastructure and heritage under earthquakes and volcanic eruptions). It is to be noted that this approach has been already adopted to evaluate the overall resilience of the Italian community during the first period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a tragic event has certainly been a very hard test, where resilience should be considered as a strategic indicator, proving that really short time to operate effective choices is available, being the humanity able or not to govern the next changes, hopefully towards enough resilient results. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Doing good right: building resilience through donations during the pandemic

PurposeWhile researchers recognize the significance of philanthropic donations in disaster relief and recovery, the benefits that firms derive from such donations remain unclear, particularly when firms are adversely impacted by the disaster. To address this gap, this study seeks to elucidate the impact of various donation strategies on firm resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachBased on the hand-collected data on donations, the authors employ ordinary least squares regressions to investigate the effectiveness of various donation strategies - including type, timing and location - in enhancing firm resilience in terms of the severity of stock price losses during the pandemic. To address potential endogeneity concerns, the authors use a two-stage least squares regression with instrumental variables.FindingsThis study finds robust evidence that certain donation strategies are more effective at mitigating stock price losses during the pandemic. Specifically, the authors find that in-kind donations (compared to monetary ones), earlier donations (compared to later ones) and donations targeting severely impacted areas (Hubei province vs. other places) are more effective methods to reduce the severity of stock price losses.Originality/valueThis study points out an alternative mechanism through which donations influence firm resilience during a crisis context and provides important managerial implications for firms to better engage in disaster donations.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Times of Epidemic Outbreaks: A Case Study from the Hospitality Industry in Spain

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly seen as a key aspect of business management. The rapid spatial spread of the COVID-19 outbreak led to border closures and mandatory mass quarantine. In this context, sectors such as the hospitality industry have been actively involved in various CSR activities, providing infrastructure and resources to help governments and societies cope with the pandemic. This study examines the different effects of CSR activities in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, both from a business and institutional perspective. A qualitative research design has been chosen for this purpose, based on the analysis of in-depth qualitative interviews with the CEO and senior executives of three international hotel chains in Spain. The results reveal that CSR activities have contributed to containing the pandemic by helping to reduce the collapse of healthcare, as well as improving the organization's performance in terms of reputation and image. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

The trends of acute hepatitis A and hepatitis E during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

Introduction: The prevalence of various infectious diseases has been changing since the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Hepatitis A (HA) is transmitted from food and drink contaminated with the hepatitis A virus, while hepatitis E (HE) is a known zoonotic disease. The trends of HA and HE infection during the COVID-19 pandemic are unknown in Japan. Objective(s): In this study, we investigated the incidence of HA and HE before and after the COVID-19 epidemic, and compared the differences in trends between our hospital and Japanese statistics. Method(s): We investigated the number of IgA-HEV and IgM-HAV antibodies tested and positive at our hospital between January 2015 and December 2021. We verified the patient background, blood test findings and outcome of each antibody-positive. Result(s): The number of HE diagnoses /tests (rate) was 2 /187 (1.1%) in 2015, 2 /155 (1.3%) in 2016, 7 /236 (3.0%) in 2017, 11 /234 (4.7%) in 2018 and 15/ 307 (4.9%) in 2019, which was an increasing trend, but the number of tests remained the same but the number of diagnoses decreased 6 /314 (1.9%) in 2020, 2 /296 (1.0%) in 2021. According to Japanese statistics, the number of HE diagnoses showed a gradual increase from 213 in 2015 to 490 in 2019, but a slight decrease was reported in 441 in 2020 and 447 cases in 2021, respectively. On the other hand, there was no marked change in the number of HA diagnoses/tests between 2015 and 2019. 7 cases of HIV co-infection and an epidemic among Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) were observed in 2018. The number of cases decreased markedly to 0 /362 (0%) in 2020 and 0 /339 (0%) in 2021. In Japan, the number of HA diagnoses was in the 200 s from 2015 to 2017, while 925 cases were diagnosed in 2018 and 425 cases in 2019, indicating an epidemic, but the number of HA diagnoses has decreased significantly to 118 in 2020 and 69 in 2021. Conclusion(s): The number of cases of HE, a zoonosis, was reported to have decreased slightly nationwide, even with the coronary disaster, but the number of cases decreased markedly at our facility in Tokyo, suggesting the influence of changes in the lifestyle and activity patterns of the patient population. On the other hand, the number of cases of HA, which had been prevalent in recent years as a result of sexual contact among MSM, has decreased, probably due to a decrease in the influx of cases from overseas as a result of travel restrictions.

Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience: Disaster Risk Management Strategies

This book is part of a six-volume series on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience. The series aims to fill in gaps in theory and practice in the Sendai Framework, and provides additional resources, methodologies and communication strategies to enhance the plan for action and targets proposed by the Sendai Framework. The series will appeal to a broad range of researchers, academics, students, policy makers and practitioners in engineering, environmental science and geography, geoscience, emergency management, finance, community adaptation, atmospheric science and information technology.This volume offers the international guidelines and global standards for resilient disaster risk reduction and lessons learned from disasters, particularly the COVID-19 and Cholera pandemics. A resilient health system and an effective disaster risk management Index are then suggested. The book further emphasizes urban resilience strategies with local authorities, adaptation strategies for urban heat at regional, city and local scales, and lessons from community-level interventions. Also addressed are coastal erosion, displacement and resettlement strategies. Land use planning and green infrastructure are suggested as tools for natural hazards reduction. Human security in times of climate change and urban heat at regional, city and local scales is discussed for an integrated action, with case studies based in Manila, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria, India, Spain, and Ghana. Structure design for cascading disasters resulting from mining and flooding is presented and sustainable smart city planning using spatial data is recommended. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

The impact of strict lockdowns on the mental health and well-being of people living in Australia during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: There are limited longitudinal studies on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and well-being, including the effects of imposed restrictions and lockdowns. AIMS: This study investigates how living in a pandemic, and related lockdowns and restrictions, affected the mental health of people living in Australia during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: A total of 875 people living in Australia participated in a longitudinal survey from 27 May to 14 December 2020. This time period includes dates that span pre-, during and post-wave 2 lockdowns in Australia, with strict and sustained public health measures. Linear mixed models were fitted to investigate the effect of lockdown on depression and anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: Symptoms of depression and anxiety improved over time, during and after lockdowns. More adverse mental health symptoms were observed for people with a history of medical or mental health problems, caring responsibilities, more neurotic personality traits or less conscientiousness, and for people who were younger. People who reported being more conscientious reported better mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Despite notoriously strict lockdowns, participants did not experience a deterioration of mental health over time. Results suggest a lack of significant adverse effects of lockdown restrictions on mental health and well-being. Findings highlight cohorts that could benefit from targeted mental health support and interventions, so that public policy can be better equipped to support them, particularly if future strict public health measures such as lockdowns are being considered or implemented for the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters.

Modelling Information Needs and Sources in a COVID-19 Designated Hospital.

COVID-19 remains an important focus of study in the field of public health informatics. COVID-19 designated hospitals have played an important role in the management of patients affected by the disease. In this paper we describe our modelling of the needs and sources of information for infectious disease practitioners and hospital administrators used to manage a COVID-19 outbreak. Infectious disease practitioner and hospital administrator stakeholders were interviewed to learn about their information needs and where they obtained their information. Stakeholder interview data were transcribed and coded to extract use case information. The findings indicate that participants used many and varied sources of information in the management of COVID-19. The use of multiple, differing sources of data led to considerable effort. In modelling participants' activities, we identified potential subsystems that could be used as a basis for developing an information system specific to the public health needs of hospitals providing care to COVID-19 patients.

Hospices and Emergency Preparedness Planning: A Scoping Review of the Literature.

Objective. Palliative and end-of-life care, as provided by hospices, are important elements of a healthcare response to disasters. A scoping review of the literature was conducted to examine and synthesize what is currently known about emergency preparedness planning by hospices. Methods. A literature search of academic and trade publications was conducted through 6 publication databases, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines when applicable. Publications were selected and findings were organized into themes. Results. A total of 26 articles were included in the literature review. Six themes of Policies and Procedures; Testing/Training/Education; Integration and Coordination; Mitigation; Risk Assessment/Hazard and Vulnerability Analysis; and Regulations were identified. Conclusions. This review demonstrates that hospices have begun to individualize emergency preparedness features that support their unique role. The review supports all-hazards planning for hospices, and emerging from this review is a developing vision for expanded roles of hospices to help communities in times of disaster. Continued research in this specialized area is needed to improve hospices' emergency preparedness efforts.