A public health workforce must be trained to react quickly, especially in the case of terrorist attack. Political leaders and emergency management experts have often cited inadequate emergency training as a contributing factor in the public health system's failed preparations for a bioterrorist event. As a result of these failures, billions of dollars have been allocated towards correcting infrastructure deficiencies including training for public health nurses (PHNs), who are critical to a communitywide medical response. This quantitative study used Pearson's correlation and a multivariate regression analysis to evaluate the most effective modality of bioterrorism training (BTT) for PHNs working in rural communities in North Carolina. Using a conceptual framework created by Handler, Issel, and Turnock, this study compared 3 modalities of instruction (MOI) to seek the best predictor of success in retaining learned bioterrorism skills. The research question focused on whether MOI for BTT/all-hazards training courses significantly predicted the degree of retention of emergency knowledge/skills for PHNs working in public health agencies in North Carolina. A multiple choice survey was used to test 103 PHNs' level of knowledge retention on a bioterrorism quiz. The results of this study were ultimately inconclusive in that no MOI was found to be a statistically significant predictor of retention. Factors such as age were found to be successful predictors of knowledge retention. The readiness issues identified in this study have a potential for positive social change if community decision makers use this information to prioritize future funding for public health professionals or enhance communitywide emergency preparedness education programs.

This research proposed the use of state-of-the-art wireless communications and networked embedded systems technologies to provide environmental sensing for the early detection of natural disasters. The data is acquired, processed and transmitted, from the location where the disaster originates, to potentially threatened conurbations in order to promptly notify the population. The acquired data is transformed from its raw form into information that can be utilized by local authorities to rapidly assess emergency situations and then to apply disaster management procedures. Alternatively, the system can generate alerting signals without human intervention. Furthermore, recorded historical data can be made available for scientists to build models, to understand and to forecast the behavior of disasterous events. An additional, important, contribution of this research was the analysis and application of Wireless Sensor Network technology for disaster monitoring and alerting.

With the increase in the occurrence of disasters (natural and man-made) that leave people injured, handicapped or dead, the disaster management theory is gaining more importance. As a consequence, human assistance and disaster relief organizations are managing increasingly more inventories anticipated to help people in need. Donations are the common means used by humanitarian relief organizations for procuring commodities to support some of their programs. Previous experiences have indicated that donations become a burden instead of offering relief when they do not match actual victims' needs. Accepting or rejecting donations is a key issue that can produce not only economic losses but loss of lives as well. The objective of this thesis is to provide a means of assessing acceptance or rejection decisions using decision tree analysis theory and utility theory. The proposed model considers the inputs that a decision-maker may face when accepting or rejecting a donation. Such inputs include these categories: the probability of the occurrence of disaster, the need for and further use of a commodity, the unit price and holding cost of the item, the benefit provided by the donation, and the probability of having subsequent donations when the initial donation is initially rejected. Various scenarios are simulated in Excel® environment through the Monte Carlo process. This will assess the varied impacts from the alternative inputs in the decision making process; a sensitivity analysis will evaluate the effects of various decisions. The results obtained from the simulation of the diverse scenarios indicate that the decision of accepting or rejecting donations is driven more by the possibility of the use of the commodity than by the probability of occurrence of the disaster. The findings from the model also indicate that the decision of accepting or rejecting is more sensitive to the relationship of sale price to benefit deployment of the commodity than to sale price alone. The simulation of the expected monetary benefit of the relief provided results in the development of graphs that can affect the decision making process when accepting or rejecting donations.

<p>The debate on international intervention is a very difficult topic. As a main issue in it, the differences lies on decisions regarding - what, when and who. This essay will address the importance of accurate intervention in disaster affected states. It will identify what types of interventions that is most commonly used and if there is one type of intervention that are the most effective one. It will show if the disaster in it self related to the area in question will determine what kind of intervention that should be used – is the identification of them two the deciding factor or is there one particular intervention model that is better to use? The essay will also question whether intervention might lead to a weakened state sovereignty and if sovereignty has to be protected and be taken in consideration before any intervention can be done. To address this, recent history is analysed with two cases as examples – the Darfur conflict and Cyclone Nargis that struck Burma in 2008. The conflict in Darfur is a man-made disaster which  lead to plenty of suffering and many lost lives. Cyclone Nargis was a natural disaster which in it self caused many deaths. In Darfur the discussion regarding what, when and who delayed actions from the international association. It was also disrupted by the government in Khartoum constant refusals of help from the outside world. In Burma, relief could be sent in the initial phase, however, the government was hard to cooperate with, which made it quite impossible for the relief to reach all the affected areas. Putting the empirical part against those theories that has been brought up in this essay, the thesis of it has been answered with the conclusion that whether one type of intervention model is being used or another model, the most important part in any kind of intervention is that the humanitarian assistance along with the provision of needs for survival will reach those who has been affected by a disaster, also, not to create any kind of pressure against the affected state in question, this to prevent further conflicts.</p>

Recovery from disaster is a challenging period for any community. Long-term recovery is important, especially in relation to the built heritage, but it is among the least explored phases of disaster. Identifying past problems is needed to reduce future recovery complications. This study investigates the long-term recovery of public and Non-Government Organizations (NGO) owned historic buildings after an earthquake in the light of chosen sustainability variables. It examines San Francisco after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake as a case study and analyzes time needs, community participation, and maintenance of historic character, to identify whether historic buildings faced special issues and the variables involved. The study uses different methods. It statistically compares data for a sample of public and NGO owned buildings in San Francisco and then analyzes the dynamics of recovery for three buildings that faced delays. The study has found that historic buildings faced delays in recovery but such delays were sometimes the results of major rehabilitation projects, thus having long-term benefits. There are many variables in the recovery process that delay historic buildings and can be addressed to reduce future delays, which are mostly results of the context, process, and players. Time needs for the recovery of buildings are affected by their function, damage level, and status. Also, the sustainability of the process needs to be addressed, mainly in terms of the way historic buildings are valued, and the degree to which such valuation allows them to be part of the heritage of the community at large.

The debate on international intervention is a very difficult topic. As a main issue in it, the differences lies on decisions regarding - what, when and who. This essay will address the importance of accurate intervention in disaster affected states. It will identify what types of interventions that is most commonly used and if there is one type of intervention that are the most effective one. It will show if the disaster in it self related to the area in question will determine what kind of intervention that should be used – is the identification of them two the deciding factor or is there one particular intervention model that is better to use? The essay will also question whether intervention might lead to a weakened state sovereignty and if sovereignty has to be protected and be taken in consideration before any intervention can be done. To address this, recent history is analysed with two cases as examples – the Darfur conflict and Cyclone Nargis that struck Burma in 2008. The conflict in Darfur is a man-made disaster which  lead to plenty of suffering and many lost lives. Cyclone Nargis was a natural disaster which in it self caused many deaths. In Darfur the discussion regarding what, when and who delayed actions from the international association. It was also disrupted by the government in Khartoum constant refusals of help from the outside world. In Burma, relief could be sent in the initial phase, however, the government was hard to cooperate with, which made it quite impossible for the relief to reach all the affected areas. Putting the empirical part against those theories that has been brought up in this essay, the thesis of it has been answered with the conclusion that whether one type of intervention model is being used or another model, the most important part in any kind of intervention is that the humanitarian assistance along with the provision of needs for survival will reach those who has been affected by a disaster, also, not to create any kind of pressure against the affected state in question, this to prevent further conflicts.

Abstract The frequency of natural disasters and its negative consequences in terms of the number of people killed, property destroyed and negative environmental impacts caused in the affected communities constitute one of the basic foundations and motivations for the development and use of ICT and other means of preventing as well as responding to disasters in the world today. This is simply because disaster management constitutes an important part of any developmental framework. Unfortunately a majority of these natural disasters occur in developing countries where information flow is greatly hampered because the national actors in disasters lack the skills to use ICT to prepare for and to response to disasters in their communities. Current study aims at studying the use of ICT in disaster management in Cameroon-a less developing country south of the Sahara To achieve the aim of this study, a quantitative research approach was chosen. A total sample of 150 organisations was selected from a population of 285 organisations within Cameroon, that are directly or indirectly involved with disaster management or developmental issues of any nature. In total 150 questionnaires were administered to these selected national actors by mail, internet, telephone and self-administration and 85 of the organisations respondended to the questionnaire. After collecting and analysing the data, the authors came to the conclusions that; disasters occur in Cameroon on frequent bases causing lots of damages thus the need for ICT use in humanitarian logistics to move information and material. Results showed that national actors use the radio and local TV (CRTV) for disaster preparedness and the mobile phone for disaster response, while the internet and computer techonology, foreign TV, Fixed phone and fax had a very low usage rate or sometimes not used at all. The reason for low usage or no usage was due to problems encountered by national actors in an attempt of trying to use them. Against this background, the authors suggested a number of recommendations that could improve the degree of ICT usage. One of them was that the Cameroon government should partner with private sector firms to make ICT infrastructure available by investing more and improving on the telecommunication sector in the country. This will solve the problem of poor ICT infrastructure, poor radio and TV signals, limited internet connectivity accessibility and availability in Cameroon.

Anecdotal evidence in disaster studies suggests that multifamily housing takes longer to recover than single family homes, but almost no studies have provided quantitative evidence to clarify this “multifamily home lag” phenomenon. This research examines the recovery of single family, duplex, and apartment complex housing in south Miami-Dade County, Florida, after 1992 Hurricane Andrew to determine if there is indeed a "multifamily home lag." This research also provides a better understanding of the factors influencing the recovery trajectories of these three housing types. The findings of this research indicate that duplexes and apartment buildings have slower recovery trajectories than single family dwellings. In addition, rental housing, housing that sustained higher levels of damage, and single family dwellings and duplexes located in predominately non-Hispanic Black neighborhoods show significantly slower recovery trajectories. The analyses specific to apartment buildings also finds that apartment buildings with fewer than 10 units have significantly slower recovery trend than apartment buildings with more than 50 units.

Visualization could be defined as the graphical presentation of information, in which the main aim is to improve the user&rsquo / s perception. In all phases of the disaster management, decision makers come across huge data sets with spatio-temporal content. It is hard to deal with these sets in order to find answers to the main question of &ldquo / How can we decrease the losses due to disasters?&rdquo / , which is at the core of the disaster management concept. To furnish this aim, disaster risk information has to be transparent and clearly stated to the public, decision makers and disaster managers. This might be more sophisticated than the calculation of the risk. Taking precautions before a disaster to reduce the causalities and lossess engendered by natural disasters is relatively cheaper, and more importantly, better than cure. To achieve enhanced preparations for all kinds of disasters, visualization is quite an important tool for decision support and risk communication. The basic aim of this research is to propose a conceptual framework, with the consideration of all stakeholders related to the disaster management issue to have a better risk communication, and to guide the design, implementation and integration of the 3D urban modeling tools into disaster risk visualization. Moreover, an empirical methodology is also developed for the generation of visualization solutions through the design, and employment of the tool for disaster management framework. The proposed framework has three main phases .These are the definition of visualization components, object representation, and needs assessment. A new LoD hierarchy with indoor is proposed to visualize all the possible 3D urban disaster situations in the first phase. Then, a decision rule with eight attributes is proposed in the second phase to establish a link between the hazard type and the LoD needed in a 3D urban model for visualization. This decision rule is applied in a proposed three-level hierarchycal structure. The assessed objects of these three levels are urban, sub-urban zone and building. Moreover, a method to define the needed sub-urban zone is proposed. Finally, different 3D urban modelling methods are analyzed to define the data and process needs of possible 3D urban disaster visualization situations. Two natural hazard cases are studied within the scope of this dissertation to assess the operability of the proposed framework. These implementations involve one earthquake and one tsunami case. Special attention is paid to finding one specific sample for two modelling viewpoints, namely static and dynamic. The first applications of the proposed framework with all the related features prove quite promising.

Recovery from disaster is a challenging period for any community. Long-term recovery is important, especially in relation to the built heritage, but it is among the least explored phases of disaster. Identifying past problems is needed to reduce future recovery complications. This study investigates the long-term recovery of public and Non-Government Organizations (NGO) owned historic buildings after an earthquake in the light of chosen sustainability variables. It examines San Francisco after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake as a case study and analyzes time needs, community participation, and maintenance of historic character, to identify whether historic buildings faced special issues and the variables involved. The study uses different methods. It statistically compares data for a sample of public and NGO owned buildings in San Francisco and then analyzes the dynamics of recovery for three buildings that faced delays. The study has found that historic buildings faced delays in recovery but such delays were sometimes the results of major rehabilitation projects, thus having long-term benefits. There are many variables in the recovery process that delay historic buildings and can be addressed to reduce future delays, which are mostly results of the context, process, and players. Time needs for the recovery of buildings are affected by their function, damage level, and status. Also, the sustainability of the process needs to be addressed, mainly in terms of the way historic buildings are valued, and the degree to which such valuation allows them to be part of the heritage of the community at large.