Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-80). / This research aimed to compare the respective contributions of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and household surveys to inform understanding of informal settlement risks and the impact/influence of PAR to effect change. Urban risks in Section D of Sweet Home Farm informal settlement in the City of Cape Town were examined through the lenses of community risk assessment (CRA) and household survey methodologies conducted sixteen months apart. The results described a risk profile for the study site, which was similar to that of many of Cape Town's informal settlements. However, there was more concern over chronic "everyday" threats, such as the disposal of solid waste and crime, rather than fire and flood, which are prioritised by the City. This stressed the need for risk assessments at the local level.

This study’s purpose was to describe the disaster preparedness of licensed private veterinary practitioners in Mississippi. A mail survey was distributed assessing disaster training, response plans, and disaster-related organization knowledge. Individuals who have experienced a disaster are more likely to have a personal plan, a clinic plan, or both than those who have not. County residence along the Mississippi Gulf Coast showed 3.62 times likelihood of having a personal plan and 3.09 times likelihood of having a clinic plan than those in other districts. Many veterinarians failed to identify their local emergency management agency as their point of contact in a disaster situation, and few indicated having disaster education materials for their clients. Twenty percent of respondents indicated having obtained formal disaster training. More than two-thirds of respondents were interested in disaster training.

As a quintessential role of government, emergency and crisis management requires coordination between levels of government and private and nonprofit sector organizations. Hurricane Irma in 2017 was used as the context in examining interorganizational network effectiveness. Effective and efficient policy implementation and service delivery can be key indicators of collaborative networks; however, it was equally important to understand what factors determine the effectiveness of those collaborative networks. Using network theory and network governance as the theoretical foundations, this study measured and compared the designed versus implemented networks during disaster response. The guiding research for this study was: What factors facilitate effective implementation of interorganizational networks in response to disasters? Using a mixed-method approach, this research surveyed Florida emergency managers on their use and reliance on plan and policy documents to make decisions, analyzed the policies and plans and After-Action Reports of seven (7) Central Florida counties, utilized Twitter data to understand how social media demonstrates interorganizational networks, and employed focus group interviews to gain clarification about the differences between designed and implemented disaster response networks. This research will demonstrate the practical need to examine the interorganizational network differences between designed and implemented for disasters and crises, how policy change and adaptation can reflect the lessons learned from disaster response.

Firefighting is a dangerous and difficult task. Simulation affords researchers and practitioners the ability to examine performance and training in adverse conditions while preserving life, offering repeatable scenarios, and reducing costs. Multiple Resource Theory is used in this study as a model for assessing alternate sensory channels for information delivery when the optimal channel is not available. Specifically, this study tests the influence of a waist-worn vibrotactile display to assist navigation when visibility is reduced in a firefighter simulation. The present study measures participants' objective performance and self-reported workload while navigating a simulated fireground. Results from 70 research participants revealed statistically significant differences between the experimental and control conditions for completion time and overall workload scores. Workload and performance emerged as significantly correlated in both the experimental and control conditions; however, no statistically significant correlations were found for the spatial anxiety hypotheses. The results of this study indicate that participants engaged in a simulated search and rescue task in a low visibility environment benefit from the assistance of a vibrotactile display as a tool. Participants' performance scores and self-reports show that they had more mental resources to engage in the search and rescue task more quickly when assisted by a vibrotactile tool. Evidence was found to demonstrate a statistically significant association between workload and performance. The implications of this study have real world consequences for training for dangerous tasks to maximize performance and save lives while minimizing risks to personnel.

At the point of injury, critical medical tasks include locating and identifying an injury as well as applying the appropriate initial care. Over the past decade, to increase the fidelity of wound representation and ultimately the quality of medical care, a considerable amount of research and development has occurred to improve simulated wounds during training, primarily at the point of injury. As material and techniques mature and as more relevant data is collected on tissue properties, examining what fidelity is required for training at the point of injury is crucial. The main objective of this effort was to assess a three dimensional silicone wound versus a two dimensional tattoo wound for training and to examine differences in user perceptions and treatment time. This was accomplished with a test population of 158 City of Orlando Fire Department First Responders which were randomly assigned to each group (three dimensional silicone wound group versus a two dimensional tattoo wound group). The data analyses incorporated the use of non-parametric statistics (Mann-Whitney U Test) to compare the differences between the two groups on depth perception, sense of urgency, immersion, and time on task. Other factors that were examined included the costs for the average tattoo wound and silicone wound as well as the number of uses before the synthetic wound is visibly damaged. The data results indicated that at the point of injury, there were relatively few statistically significant differences in the survey data or time on task between the silicone and tattoo wounds. Additionally, the cost analysis revealed that the silicone wound is significantly more expensive than the tattoo wound. Supporting the military and civilian first responder communities, the results of this study provides statistically reliable data on the use of trauma tattoos as a tool for mastering point of injury treatment during training exercises.

Extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace in the United States and across the globe. Infrastructure cannot be built to completely withstand damage from these extreme events, thus communities must prepare themselves to recover quickly and efficiently to limit disruption to community members' livelihoods. Non-coastal, rural communities in the Appalachian region are affected by many of the same barriers to recovery as more populated suburban and urban communities, however, they can also face unique circumstances due to heightened vulnerability caused by depressed socioeconomics, reduced access to public services, and nominal capabilities of small, rural town governments. Rural communities face challenges to disaster recovery, but they can also benefit from increased social capital and population homogeneity that reduces cultural and language barriers and has the potential to improve coordination and collaboration. Financial and coordination barriers, such as the late or slow allocation of funding and limited management capacity of local governments during disaster recovery, are prevalent in rural Appalachian communities. Legal and socio-cultural barriers to rural disaster recovery include historical development patterns in and around floodplains, higher percentages of vulnerable populations, and difficulty navigating the federal disaster aid application process. Collaborative planning efforts and capacity building through the cultivation of relationships among disaster recovery stakeholders are necessary to provide an efficient and effective recovery. Additional funding, and more timely funding, are often proposed to solve a variety of challenges, but money alone will not be enough to overcome many prominent barriers. By adopting planning and cross-sector collaborative practices, local governments can better leverage available resources and facilitate the recovery process for the benefit of the affected communities. The 2016 West Virginia floods served as a case study and recovery strategies used following this event provide lessons learned to mitigate disaster recovery barriers in the future. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 people from 15 organizations ranging from state cabinet secretaries and mayors to engineers and nonprofit workers. Interviews were transcribed and coded using qualitative data analysis software. Site visits accompanied interviews and thematic content analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts and supporting documentation. Codes were validated by an independent, third-party coder. / Doctor of Philosophy / A recent increase in natural disasters in the United States, and the recognition that infrastructure cannot be built to completely withstand damage from these extreme events, has created a greater interest in disaster recovery. Communities must prepare themselves to recover quickly and efficiently following events like flooding to limit disruption to community members' livelihoods. Rural communities in Appalachia are affected by many of the same barriers to recovery as suburban and urban communities, but they often also face unique circumstances due to heightened vulnerability caused by fewer financial resources, reduced access to public services, and limited capabilities of small town governments. Rural communities face challenges to disaster recovery, but they can also benefit from increased trust among community members and population homogeneity that reduces cultural and language barriers and has the potential to improve coordination and collaboration. Financial and coordination barriers, such as the late or slow allocation of funding from government agencies and limited management capacity of local governments during disaster recovery are common in rural Appalachian communities. Legal and socio-cultural barriers to rural disaster recovery include historical development patterns in and around areas prone to flooding, higher percentages of vulnerable populations like those over 65 years of age, and people's difficulty applying for federal disaster aid. Collaborative planning efforts and capacity building through the cultivation of relationships among disaster recovery stakeholders help provide an efficient and effective recovery. Additional funding, and more timely funding, are often proposed to solve a variety of problems, but money alone will not be enough to overcome many prominent barriers. By adopting planning and cross-sector collaborative practices, local governments can use available resources more wisely and facilitate the recovery process for the benefit of the affected communities. The 2016 West Virginia floods served as a case study and recovery strategies used following this event provide lessons learned to mitigate disaster recovery barriers in the future. Interviews were conducted with 25 people from 15 organizations ranging from state cabinet secretaries and mayors to engineers and nonprofit workers. Interviews were transcribed and coded using qualitative data analysis software. Site visits accompanied interviews and thematic content analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts and supporting documentation. Codes were validated by an independent, third-party coder.

No description available.

It is anticipated that the occurrence and intensity of disasters will increase globally and in South Africa where typical disasters include droughts, floods, extreme hailstorms, gales, structural fires, as well as earthquakes and the occurrence of sinkholes in dolomitic areas arising from mining activity. Disasters such as these, result in human suffering and damage to the resources and infrastructure on which South Africans rely for their survival and the maintenance of their quality of life. In addition, such disasters impact severely on people’s economic and social activities and have particularly negative consequences for those living in vulnerable conditions due to their high levels of poverty, their lack of access to resources, their lack of education, the degradation of the environments in which they live, and the nation’s slow economic growth. Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 affords to everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to his or her health and well-being. It may be argued that a person’s sense of environmental security in relation to the potential risks and danger of disaster falls within the scope of the protection provided by section 24. The responsibility to intervene for the protection of the interests inherent in the constitutional environmental right lies with the government of South Africa. Disaster management specifically is a functional area of competence of national and provincial government, but, practice has shown that the actual implementation of and planning for disaster management happens in the local government sphere. Against the backdrop of these introductory discussions and, given the fact that several municipalities in South Africa are under-resourced this study very specifically aims to question from a legal perspective, the potential and function of public-private partnerships (PPPs) between local government (municipalities) and the private sector (industries etc.) in fulfilling the legally entrenched disaster management duties of municipalities. Through a critical evaluation of some existing PPPs, this study illustrates that the private sector has a key role to play in assisting municipalities to fulfil their legally entrenched disaster management duties. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

It is anticipated that the occurrence and intensity of disasters will increase globally and in South Africa where typical disasters include droughts, floods, extreme hailstorms, gales, structural fires, as well as earthquakes and the occurrence of sinkholes in dolomitic areas arising from mining activity. Disasters such as these, result in human suffering and damage to the resources and infrastructure on which South Africans rely for their survival and the maintenance of their quality of life. In addition, such disasters impact severely on people’s economic and social activities and have particularly negative consequences for those living in vulnerable conditions due to their high levels of poverty, their lack of access to resources, their lack of education, the degradation of the environments in which they live, and the nation’s slow economic growth. Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 affords to everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to his or her health and well-being. It may be argued that a person’s sense of environmental security in relation to the potential risks and danger of disaster falls within the scope of the protection provided by section 24. The responsibility to intervene for the protection of the interests inherent in the constitutional environmental right lies with the government of South Africa. Disaster management specifically is a functional area of competence of national and provincial government, but, practice has shown that the actual implementation of and planning for disaster management happens in the local government sphere. Against the backdrop of these introductory discussions and, given the fact that several municipalities in South Africa are under-resourced this study very specifically aims to question from a legal perspective, the potential and function of public-private partnerships (PPPs) between local government (municipalities) and the private sector (industries etc.) in fulfilling the legally entrenched disaster management duties of municipalities. Through a critical evaluation of some existing PPPs, this study illustrates that the private sector has a key role to play in assisting municipalities to fulfil their legally entrenched disaster management duties. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Over the past decades, coastal areas in the United States have experienced exponential increases in economic losses due to flooding, hurricanes, and tropical storms. This in part is due to increasing concentrations of human populations in high-risk coastal areas. Although significant progress has been made in developing mitigation measures to reduce losses in these areas, economic losses have continued to mount. The increase in losses has led to a significant change in hazard research by putting more emphasis on disaster resilience. While there has been a growing interest in the concept of disaster resilience, to date there is little or no empirical research that has focused on systematically measuring this concept. Therefore, the main objective of this dissertation was to develop a theoretically-driven index that can be used to measure disaster resilience in coastal communities. This dissertation argues that a comprehensive measure of disaster resilience should address issues of relevance to all phases of disaster: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Furthermore, a fruitful approach to measure disaster resilience is to assess various forms of capital: social, economic, physical, and human. These capitals are important resources for communities to successfully perform disaster phases' activities. A conceptual model based on disaster phases' activities and community capitals was developed in which indicators for measuring disaster resilience were identified. The model was utilized by first identifying activities relevant to each disaster phase and then specifically identifying indicators from each form of capital that might be important for carrying out those activities. The selected indicators were aggregated and a composite index score was calculated using average method which is based on equal weighting. The reliability and validity of the index were assessed using Cronbach's alpha, regression analysis, and GIS techniques. The results provided convincing empirical evidence that the index is a valid and reliable measure. The application of the measure indicated that disaster resilience is an important predictor of flood property damage and flood related deaths in the U.S. Gulf coast region. Also, the findings indicated that Florida counties are the most resilient whereas counties along the Texas-Mexico border region are the least resilient.