Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie studie is die noodsaaklike bestuursrol van die rampverpleegster tydens rampoptrede en direk daarna verken, nagevors en beskryf. Haar bevoegdheid om die verskillende rampbestuurstake effektief te kan verrig voor, tydens en na rampe wat buite 'n hospitaal plaasvind, is oak nagegaan. Bestuurstake is geidentifiseer waarmee verpleegsters tydens rampsituasies buite hospitale vertroud behoort te wees. Die navorsingsprojek het deur middel van vraelyste biografiese data ingesamel met betrekking tot die persone wat as rampverpleegsters by Burgerlike Beskerming in Pretoria geregistreer is, met die doel om 'n kursus aan te beveel wat pertinent op hul behoeftes gerig is. Die rampverpleegster se behoefte aan toepaslike verdere opleiding, inoefening of leiding betreffende die ge1dentifiseerde bestuurstake, is bepaal. Dit het geblyk dat opleiding in die meeste take nodig is, en 'n kursus in rampbestuur vir verpleegkundiges is ontwerp / In this study the essential management role of the disaster nurse during disaster action was outlined, researched and described. Her competency to effectively execute disaster relief tasks before, during and after a disaster occurring outside a hospital, was studied. Management tasks were identified which nurses should have mastered regarding disaster situations occurring outside hospital boundaries. Research data were gathered by means of a questiorinaire on the biographic detail of disaster nurses registered with · Civil Defence in Pretoria, in order to recommend a course specifically aimed at fulfilling their requirements. The research project identified requirements of the disaster nurse for appropriate further training, practise and guidance regarding the identified-management tasks. It became evident that training is required in most of the tasks, and a training course for nurses in disaster management was designed / Health Studies / M.A. (Verpleegkunde)

Following a grounded theory research model, the research uncovered and presented the state of debris recycling to a national association of demolition contractors to measure their willingness and attitudes towards the growing trend in the circular economy and adapting their business models to incorporate it into their own contracts. The first part was finding the deficiencies in the current model based on government reports and through interviews with county-level emergency managers. Second, successful businesses that already use the circular economy design in their operations were used as exemplars to emulate and their opinions and suggestions were discussed. The outputs of the emergency managers and the successful businesses was folded into the third phase of the research with surveys to the membership of the National Demolition Association (NDA) with multiple-choice, scalar questions and open-ended, opinion-heavy questions throughout. The findings were reported back to the head of the partnering organization, the NDA, to focus outreach, training, and policy advocacy concentration for the national organization as a whole, but to related and tangentially-connected industries to their own.

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When governments are unable or unwilling to provide necessary relief to communities, local faith-based congregations (FBCs) step in and fill the gap. Though shown to provide for so many needs following disaster, FBCs have largely been left out of the institutional emergency management cycle. The aim of this study was to explore the role of FBCs in the disaster response and recovery process and investigate how recovery impacts FBCs. The primary objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of FBCs and how to better integrate them into the formal emergency management process.The main questions were as follows: First, what is the role of FBCs during the disaster recovery process? Second, how do FBCs change (temporarily and permanently) during disaster recovery, and what factors may promote or inhibit change? To answer these questions, qualitative semistructured interviews were held to develop a case study of Katy, Texas and its recovery from Hurricane Harvey of 2017. The applied and conceptual implications resulting from this study, which apply to FBCs, researchers, emergency managers, and policy makers, highlight the opportunity to better incorporate FBCs formally into emergency management practices.

With natural disasters occurring with more frequency and severity, understanding how to facilitate survivors’ resilience and recovery is becoming increasingly important. The Camp Fire in California, which started on November 8, 2018, was one of the most destructive wildfires in recorded history in terms of loss of life and damage to property. Aid from many types of entities (e.g., non-profits, governments, and for-profits) at various levels (e.g., local, state, and federal) was available to survivors, but perhaps the most influential source of support was Disaster Facebook Groups. In the month after the Camp Fire, around 50 Camp Fire Facebook Groups (CFFGs) were created, with over 100 CFFGs existing over the course of recovery. CFFGs are Facebook Groups with the goal of helping Camp Fire survivors. The support exchanged in CFFGs was immense and ranged from financial assistance to emotional support to community building. <br><br>This dissertation offers a mixed-method, event-specific case study of the use and utility of Disaster Facebook Groups after the Camp Fire. I examined how CFFGs offered unique and valuable spaces for connection that allowed members to engage in resilience organizing and disaster response and recovery. To conduct this case study, after engaging in observations of the Groups for over two years, I interviewed 25 administrators of CFFGs and distributed a survey in the Groups that was completed by survivors of the Camp Fire who were members of at least one CFFG during their recovery. I used network perspectives and the Communication Theory of Resilience (Buzzanell, 2010, 2019) as lenses through which administrators’ and survivors’ experiences with CFFGs was understood. I also analyzed the two datasets using multiple and mixed methods but primarily thematic analysis and path modeling. <br><br>The analyses for this case study are presented in four studies. The first two studies provide an understanding of the spaces for connection offered by CFFGs (i.e., characterizing the CFFGs and describing the spaces for connection as both helpful and hurtful), while the last two studies examine the use and utility of CFFGs (i.e., explaining the evolution of activity in CFFGs and investigating the connectivity and social support in CFFGs). <br><br>Across the four studies, I explored three central arguments, which are the primary contributions of this dissertation. First, I advocated for incorporating network thinking into resilience theorizing. With the findings of this dissertation, I extend the Communication Theory of Resilience by offering “managing communication networks” as a refinement of its fourth process of resilience (i.e., using and maintaining communication networks). Managing communication networks addresses the active strategies people use to manage their communication networks, including expanding, contracting, maintaining, and using their communication networks, as they endure and overcome hardship. I also forward the argument that people’s resilience is encompassed by their social networks, meaning their social network can be passively implicated by their resilience or actively involved in their resilience, but can also initiate resilience on their behalf.<br><br>Second, I contended Disaster Facebook Groups offer unique and valuable spaces for connection that facilitate resilience organizing and disaster response for at least five reasons. I argued that Disaster Facebook Groups empower emergent organizing; privilege local knowledge; are convenient; lack anonymity which adds authenticity; and allow for individualization. The findings of this dissertation provide evidence of how these reasons converged in CFFGs to enable members to exchange support that was not, and could not be, available elsewhere.<br><br>Third, I hypothesized that the use of Disaster Facebook Groups would predict the utility of Disaster Facebook Groups, resilience, and recovery for survivors. I tested two models that use different variables to represent the use and utility of CFFGs and recovery from the Camp Fire. The first model investigated how activity in CFFGs influenced the perceived helpfulness of CFFGs and how both the activity in and perceived helpfulness of CFFGs influenced the extent of recovery for survivors. I used retrospective data about five time points across survivors’ first two years of recovery and found the model was most explanative up to one month after the Fire. The second model assessed how various indicators of connectivity in CFFGs impacted received social support (i.e., informational, emotional, and tangible support), resilience, and satisfaction with recovery for survivors. The intensity of survivors’ connections to CFFGs, when they joined their first CFFG, and how many Facebook Friends they gained from their participation in CFFGs were the most predictive indicators of connectivity. From the Groups, survivors reported receiving informational support more than emotional support and emotional support more than tangible support.<br><br>I put the findings of the four studies, as well as the three central arguments, in conversation with each other in the discussion section, focusing on theory, practice, and methodology. Regarding theory, I contribute network thinking to resilience theorizing: I underscore resilience as an inherently networked process; I acknowledge expanding and contracting communication networks as sub-processes of resilience that complement but are distinctly different from using and maintaining communication networks; and I forward “managing communication networks” as a refinement and extension of the Communication Theory of Resilience’s fourth process of resilience (i.e., using and maintaining communication networks). Related to practice, I call for the continuation of conversations around Disaster Facebook Groups as unique and valuable spaces for connection, particularly regarding the five reasons I established. I also give suggestions for practice related to the use and utility of Disaster Facebook Groups for disaster response and recovery. For methodological considerations, I discuss the importance of forming relationships with participants when engaging in research about online communities and natural disasters and call to question the translation of findings about social media across platforms and the role of neoliberalism in resilience and disaster research and practice. Despite its limitations, this dissertation makes meaningful contributions to theory, practice, and methodology, while offering fruitful directions for future research. This mixed-method, event-specific case study brings attention to the influential citizen-driven disaster response in Facebook Groups after the Camp Fire. <br>