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Caldera systems such as Long Valley Caldera, California; Taupo, New Zealand; and Campi Flegrei, Italy, experience centuries to millennia without eruption, but have the potential for large eruptions. This raises questions about how local residents' behavioral responses to these low-probability high-consequence events differ from their responses to events, such as wildfires and earthquakes, that have higher probabilities. To examine this issue, a multi-hazard mail survey of 229 households explored perceptions of—and responses to—volcano, earthquake and wildfire hazards in the Long Valley Volcanic Region. Response efficacy was the only significant predictor of emergency preparedness, which suggests that hazard managers can increase household emergency preparedness by emphasizing this attribute of protective actions. In addition to response efficacy, expected personal consequences, hazard intrusiveness, and affective responses were all significantly related to information seeking. This indicates that hazard managers can also increase households’ information seeking about local hazards and appropriate protective actions by communicating the certainty and severity of hazard impacts (thus increasing expected personal consequences) and that they communicate this information repeatedly (thus increasing hazard intrusiveness) to produce significant emotional involvement (thus increasing affective response).

This qualitative research focused on the emergency preparedness (EP) rule implementation in rural hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. A new law has been implemented that requires hospitals to comply with Medicaid and Medicare law. Learning about the implementation and preparedness process could help rural regions in the Pacific Northwest better prepare for emergencies and comply with the law. The purpose of the study was to gain increased understanding of how the new EP rule of 2016 impacts rural hospitals' preparedness in the Pacific Northwest. The theoretical framework was complexity theory. This study focused on the lived experience of emergency managers who have been working on the implementation of the new EP rule in rural hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. Using a phenomenological approach, 8 in-depth phone and face - to - face interviews were conducted. Selection criteria included working as emergency preparedness managers in rural hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. The verbatim transcripts of interviews were analyzed by first cycle analysis, used concept and descriptive coding to find common themes. The findings of the study included that small rural hospitals working on EP need more support and help that include financial needs, resources, staff preparedness improved communication and more exercises local communities including every individual living in the community are also responsible for their own preparedness. This inquiry could help understand the effects of the new EP rule for rural hospitals; it could identify gaps in research that could support rural hospitals and surrounding communities; it could affect positive social change by applying the research evidence to additional health care settings.

Campus law enforcement agencies are an essential component of the campus community, and the greater criminal justice system. While policing research has focused on the activities and organizational structure of municipal police, much less attention has been given to campus agencies. This study builds on existing research by examining the activities and organizational structures of campus law enforcement agencies. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study was to analyze the variation in emergency preparedness across campus law enforcement agencies using Meyer and Rowan's institutional theory. The research questions addressed the extent to which emergency preparedness was influenced by organizational structural, agency characteristics, wider campus characteristics, and community policing. Secondary data were collected from the 2011-2012 Bureau of Justice Statistics Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies, the Office of Postsecondary Education, and the National Center for Education Statistics. Findings from multiple regression analyses indicated that agency organizational structure and agency characteristics are greater influences than campus characteristics on emergency preparedness activities than campus. Findings also showed that the number of community policing activities in which an agency engages in is the greatest predictor of emergency preparedness activities in campus law enforcement agencies. The findings have implications for social change by suggesting the integration of emergency preparedness with community policing initiatives. Collectively, this will create a holistic approach by campus law enforcement agencies.

Katastrofer inträffar varje år på flera ställen i världen och sjukvården kommer att ta hand om skadade vid händelse av katastrof. Vid en katastrof i Sverige kommer akutmottagningarna att vara den mottagande enheten på sjukhuset för majoriteten av patienter. De akutsjuksköterskor som arbetar på akutmottagning har därför ett behov av katastrofmedicinsk beredskap och kompetens. I litteraturen beskrivs hur akutsjuksköterskor många gånger upplever sin egen katastrofmedicinska beredskap som bristfällig. I sjukvården finns det ett lagstadgat krav på att upprätthålla en katastrofmedicinsk beredskap. Akutsjuksköterskor i Sverige behöver förhålla sig till begreppet katastrofmedicinsk beredskap vars innehåll Socialstyrelsen har definierat. Syftet var att beskriva akutsjuksköterskans uppfattning om katastrofmedicinsk beredskap.  I studien användes en kvalitativ fenomenografisk ansats då fenomenografin är utformad för att fånga olika uppfattningar. Urvalet bestod av akutsjuksköterskor med varierande erfarenhet och rekryterades från två olika akutmottagningar med demografiskt skilda upptagningsområden. Datainsamlingen gjordes via semistrukturerade intervjuer och databearbetningen utfördes i sju olika steg enligt en modell vilken används inom fenomenografin.  Resultatet av analysen gav tre utfallsrum med därtill kopplade beskrivningskategorier. Strukturförändring var ett utfallsrum med förändrat uppdrag, omstrukturerad arbetsplats och förändrad ledningsstruktur som beskrivningskategorier. Det kunde innebära hur akutmottagningen behövde förändra både arbetssätt och ledning för att kunna ta emot ett stort antal patienter. Utfallsrummet mental beredskap bestod av två beskrivningskategorier. Stödjande vilkens faktorer ökade förtroendet för den egna beredskapen eller hämmande vilkens faktorer minskade förtroendet. Det sista utfallsrummet bestod av moraliskt ansvar med två beskrivningskategorier. De bestod av inre eller yttre drivkrafter vilka genererade det moraliska ansvaret.  Slutsatsen från resultatet blir att trots en given definition av begreppet katastrofmedicinsk beredskap förekom det olika uppfattningar i det undersökta materialet vad fenomenet innebar för akutsjuksköterskor men fokus var mot behovet om omhändertagandet av de som drabbas vid en katastrof. Katastrofmedicinsk beredskap innebar ett strukturförändrat uppdrag samt en mental beredskap och ett moraliskt ansvar som drivkrafter. Nyckelord: Omvårdnad, katastrofmedicinsk beredskap, fenomenografi, akutsjukvård / Disasters occur every year in many places around the world and health care will take care of the injured in the event of disaster. When a disaster occurs in Sweden, the emergency department will be the receiving unit in the hospital for the majority of patients. The emergency nurses working in the emergency department therefore have a need for emergency preparedness and competence. The literature describes how emergency nurses often perceive their own emergency preparedness flawed. In health care, there is a legal requirement for maintaining an emergency preparedness. Emergency nurses in Sweden need to relate to the concept of emergency preparedness whose contents the National Board has defined. The aim of the study was to describe the emergency nurse's perception of emergency preparedness. The study used a qualitative phenomenographic approach since phenomenography is designed to capture different perceptions. The samples consisted of emergency nurses with varying experience and were recruited from two different emergency departments with demographically diverse catchment areas. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and data processing was carried out in seven stages according to a model which is used in phenomenography. The result of the analysis yielded three possible outcome spaces with related categories of description. Structural change was an outcome space with changed mission, restructured workplace and altered management structure as categories of description. It could be how the emergency department had to change both working methods and management in order to receive a large number of patients. The outcome space mental preparedness consisted of two categories of description. Supportive factors which increased confidence in their readiness or inhibiting factors which decreased confidence. The final outcome space consisted of moral responsibility where the categories of description consisted of internal and external motivations. The conclusion from the result is that despite a given definition of emergency preparedness, there were different opinions within the material what the phenomenon meant for emergency nurses, but the focus was on the need for care of those affected by a disaster. Emergency preparedness was a structural changed mission as well as a mental preparedness and a moral responsibility as driving forces. Keywords: nursing, emergency preparedness, phenomenography, emergency care

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Goodman and Mann (2008) found that many locales along the Mississippi Gulf Coast did not have plans that addressed human resources (HR) issues in the aftermath of a disaster, and many vital employees were not included in the emergency planning process. The authors concluded that if involved in planning, HR managers could address typical HR issues such as compensation, retention, recruitment, and task re-orientation that become more difficult following a disaster. The purpose of this study was to examine the level of involvement of HR departments in the emergency planning process as well as the characteristics of cities that include HR personnel in this type of planning. This study highlights some of the common HR issues included in local government emergency plans as well as the characteristics of cities that have addressed these issues. A nationwide study of HR directors revealed that while most local governments include HR departments in emergency planning, the extent of this involvement varies. In addition, many HR professionals stated that some areas, such as compensation, discipline, and termination, need further attention, and that guidelines regarding important human resource issues should be established for local governments nationwide. Because this study is one of the first to examine the role of human resource professionals in local government emergency planning, it serves as a foundation for future research on the impacts of human resource involvement in emergency planning, and also for governments at all levels to consider how areas that are often daily routines may become difficult during times of crisis. Finally, this study provides a starting point for the creation of guidelines for important areas of human resource management that should be considered as local governments continue to build resilient, sustainable communities.

The threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak is considered imminent and could cause severe morbidity and mortality as well as devastating economic losses. The U.S. government has worked to empower states to respond to a pandemic, but there has been minimal evaluation to determine the success of such efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine states' preparedness for a pandemic as documented by states' written pandemic plans and evaluate what political and structural factors may be associated with pandemic plan inclusion of federal recommendations. This was a cross-sectional comparative analysis of 50 states' pandemic influenza plans as of March 2008. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) State and Local Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist was turned into a matrix with each of 85 recommendations making up 10 overarching domains coded as "no mention" = 1, "brief mention but no description or action item" = 2, or "description or action of the item" = 3. Forty-nine complete plans and one state's plan summary were included in the analysis. Each state's domain scores were calculated by adding the scores of each factor within the domain. A "total preparedness score" for each state, was derived by adding the unweighted scores of each domain. Federal recommendations surrounding leadership, networking and surveillance have been well-integrated, but greater efforts are needed to develop partnerships with health care agencies and to focus on antiviral preparedness and infection controls. Federal and state governments have invested resources in pandemic planning and published recommendations for such planning; however, little research has been conducted focusing on what predicts integration of federal recommendations in written state plans. Understanding the factors that influence state plans can offer health departments strategies for increasing their effectiveness in pandemic preparedness and response. This study compared models for bureaucratic behavior and health department structural variables to evaluate what factors may be associated with pandemic plans. The findings showed that structural variables offer greater explanation for pandemic plan comprehensiveness than political theory models, but more work is needed to glean causal relationships. Recommendations to assist state health departments, legislators, and responders in improving state pandemic plans are presented as well as suggested areas for future research. / Public Health

The purpose of this study was to analyze critical elements for crisis planning at seven private four-year residential colleges and universities in Northern California. The researcher reviewed each campus's written crisis plans and interviewed campus officials in charge of leading their respective institution's crisis planning efforts. The data revealed that the threat of natural disasters was a common impetus for formal crisis planning. Institutions borrowed information from other campuses and public and private organizations to develop institutional crisis plans. Outside agencies both contributed to and gained from collaboration with these institutions, although all institutions sought a degree of self-sufficiency for food and water supplies. Emergency Operations Centers were designed to focus staffing and resources in a single, in some cases moveable, location in the event of a crisis. Campuses in this study invested considerable resources in systems of communication with students, faculty, and staff, including sirens, digital displays, and Connect-ED, but individual subscription remained a barrier to the smooth functioning of Connect-ED. Multi-layered communication systems enhance a campus's ability to communicate with all stakeholders. Philosophies varied on specificity versus flexibility as the framework for crisis planning. Campuses used threat assessment teams as proactive intervention to identify students who pose a threat to themselves or others. The State of California Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), which became a template for the Federal National Incident Management System (NIMS), has become the unifying factor for crisis planning among these institutions. SEMS/NIMS, while not a mandate, emerged as a driving force for planning, because compliance with SEMS/NIMS is a requirement for receiving federal disaster emergency reimbursement for property damage. Practicing the plan, through tabletop and functional simulation exercises, allowed campus officials and civic safety agencies to develop a shared vocabulary and procedures. Crisis planning is a means to help a campus prepare for and respond to an incident in an effective manner, thus reducing harm to people and property damage. Although crisis planning cannot completely prevent incidents from occurring, appropriate and advanced planning and preparation can allow campus leaders to contain both the duration of and the damage caused by major crises.

A survey of Texas public schools was conducted to determine the state of their emergency preparedness programs with particular interest in hazard analysis, disaster experience, chain of command of responsibility, personnel training, and inter-agency cooperation. A model emergency management plan was proposed. A stratified random sample of all Texas public school districts was drawn from the twenty education service center regions and university interscholastic league district size classifications. Of the 275 districts sampled, 214 questionnaires were completed for a 78% return. The strong return justified a generalization to the entire population.

Risk- och sårbarhetsanalys (RSA) är ett verktyg som kommuner och landsting enligt lag skall göra. Dessa RSA ska sedan ligga till grund för en utbildnings- och övningsplan. På så sätt kommer de övningar som genomförs på kommunal och länsnivå fokuseras på omhändertagande av dess risker och sårbarheter.Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap, MSB, gjorde 2018 en utvärdering och fann att inte alla övar på sina risker och sårbarheter men att det var oklart hur många de var. Denna studie ger en bild av vad kommuner väljer att öva på i sina årliga krisberedskapsövningar om de inte övar på att hantera sina risker och sårbarheter. För att svara på frågan har juridiska dokument analyserats samt intervjuer genomförts med representanter för Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap samt säkerhetscheferna vid två kommuner.Studiens slutsats är att kommunerna dels tar krisberedskapsarbetet på stort allvar, men att brister i spårbarhet mellan RSA och utbildnings- och övningsplan medför att man inte övar på sina risker och sårbarheter. Studiens resultat är fem hypoteser som skulle kunna användas vid efterkommande forskning. / Risk and Vulnerability Analysis (RSA) is a tool that municipalities and county councils must do according to law. The RSA will then form the basis of a training and exercise plan. In this way, the exercises that are carried out at municipal and county level will be focused on dealing with these risks and vulnerabilities.The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the MSB, made an evaluation in 2018 and found that not all were practising risks and vulnerabilities, but it was unclear how many they were. This study gives a picture of what municipalities choose to practice in their annual emergency preparedness exercises if they do not practice managing risks and vulnerabilities. In order to answer the question, legal documents have been analyzed and interviews have been conducted with representatives of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the security managers at two municipalities.The study's conclusion is that the municipalities take the emergency preparedness work very seriously, but that deficiencies in traceability between the RSA and the education and training plan mean that they do not practice risks and vulnerabilities. The study's results are five hypotheses that could be used in subsequent research.