No description available.

The price of industrial progress is the potential for exposure of an increasingly informed public to chemical hazards in the environment. Of particular concern are acute exposures to chemical incidents, where problematic health risk assessments have highlighted the lack of expertise and resources available to support public health professionals in Wales responsible for protecting the health of populations. A systematic literature review of chemical incident databases, public health surveillance systems and major chemical incidents worldwide was used to guide the development of the first active, multi-agency community-based public health surveillance system for acute chemical incidents to be undertaken in Europe. A total of 642 acute chemical incidents were reported in Wales from all sources over a three year period. Of the 270 incidents reported by the primary source, chemical spills were the most frequently reported type of incident (28%) and operational industrial sites the most common location (25%). Of the estimated 238,000 people exposed, 528 reported symptoms in a total of 57 incidents. A single chemical was implicated in 86% of the incidents. Shortfalls were identified in the current expertise and resources available to public health professionals in Wales, leading to the development of a public health management model for acute chemical incidents. Model development took place in the context of United Kingdom - wide initiatives and involved the conduct of structured interviews with 41 organisations with interests in the field. The model selected for Wales was implemented on 1 February 1997 and comprised three levels of operation: (a) accountability for the protection of public health vested in health authorities at the local level; (b) a subscription-based front-line advisory and support unit to those authorities; (c) and a centrally funded national co-ordinating centre to provide the necessary evidence-base through programmes of surveillance, training, and emergency planning.

The Texas Education Code has specific requirements for public schools as it relates to emergency planning and response expectations. There are no similar requirements for Catholic schools in state statute. Through a survey, this report will show that Catholic schools in Texas already have planning and response programs in place. This report will make specific recommendations intended to enhance those current programs. / text

This dissertation evaluates contraflow during a hurricane evacuation for grade separated highways. Contraflow is the concept of reversing the typical direction of highway travel to provide more outbound roadway capacity. The State of Florida has spent more time and resources towards the planning and the designing of potential contraflow facilities than any other state in the country; however, contraflow has yet to be implemented (as of Summer 2008). This study determines if the additional capacity benefits of contraflow outweigh the logistical requirements of implementing contraflow. Five different alternatives of contraflow lane configurations were comparatively evaluated. The format of this study is unique due to the evaluation of both capacity and logistical measurements. Each alternative was subject to evaluation of six different performance measures. The six different performance measures consisted of improved capacity, speed variation, logistics, required personnel, required infrastructure, and delay/congestion. Each performance measure was evaluated using a scaled scoring system. The alternative with the lowest average scoring among the different performance measures was considered the best alternative. Contraflow should only be considered as a last resort. The loss of inbound access, safety concerns,logistical requirements, and the additional strain of public resources during an evacuation are negative aspects that should be considered when determining the capacity benefit. If extenuating circumstances justify contraflow, then a full conversion of all inbound lanes to outbound lanes, known as Alternative D, should be considered. This alternative demonstrated the greatest capacity benefit while requiring the least amount of public resources. However, instead of contraflow, it is suggested to divert public resources towards other, more practical alternatives. Real time traffic monitoring has been demonstrated to be quite useful. Publicly accessed web-pages on the internet and the recent installation of variable message signs all provide improved notification of traffic conditions and of the capability to use alternative "atgrade" evacuation routes in addition to using the grade separated highways. This driver notification and the ability to ensure the safe and efficient travel on these alternative routes may be worth further investment, as well as being a potential topic of future research.

Natural disasters, specifically hurricanes, can cause catastrophic loss of life and property. In recent years, the United States has endured significant losses due to a series of devastating hurricanes (e.g., Hurricanes Charley and Ivan in 2004, and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005). Several Federal authorities report that there are weaknesses in the emergency and disaster planning and response models that are currently employed in practice, thus creating a need for better decision models in emergency situations. The current models not only lack fast communication with emergency responders and the public, but are also inadequate for advising the pre-positioning of supplies at emergency shelters before the storm's impact. The problem of emergency evacuation relief shelter planning during anticipated hurricane events is addressed in this research. The shelter planning problem is modeled as a joint location-allocation-inventory problem, where the number and location of shelter facilities must be identified. In addition, the evacuating citizens must be assigned to the designated shelter facilities, and the amount of emergency supply inventory to pre-position at each facility must be determined. The objective is to minimize total emergency evacuation costs, which is equal to the combined facility opening and preparation cost, evacuee transportation cost and emergency supply inventory cost. A review of the emergency evacuation planning literature reveals that this class of problems has not been largely addressed to date. First, the emergency evacuation relief sheltering problem is formulated under deterministic conditions as a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model. For three different evacuation scenarios, the proposed MINLP model yields a plan that identifies the locations of relief shelters for evacuees, the assignment of evacuees to those shelters and the amount of emergency supplies to stockpile in advance of an anticipated hurricane. The MINLP model is then used (with minor modifications) to explore the idea of equally distributing the evacuees across the open shelters. The results for the three different scenarios indicate that a balanced utilization of the open shelters is achieved with little increase in the total evacuation cost. Next, the MINLP is enhanced to consider the stochastic characteristics of both hurricane strength and projected trajectory, which can directly influence the storm's behavior. The hurricane's strength is based on its hurricane category according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Its trajectory is represented as a Markov chain, where the storm's path is modeled as transitions among states (i.e., coordinate locations) within a spherical coordinate system. A specific hurricane that made landfall in the state of Florida is used as a test case for the model. Finally, the stochastic model is employed within a robust optimization strategy, where several probable hurricane behavioral scenarios are solved. Then, a single, robust evacuation sheltering plan that provides the best results, not only in terms of maximum deviation of total evacuation cost across the likely scenarios, but also in terms of maximum deviation of unmet evacuee demand at the shelter locations, is generated. The practical value of this robust plan is quite significant. This plan should accommodate unexpected changes in the behavior of an approaching storm to a reasonable degree with minimal negative impact to the total evacuation cost and the fulfillment of evacuee demand at the shelter locations. Most importantly, the re-allocation and re-mobilization of emergency personnel and supplies are not required, which can cause confusion and potentially increase the response time of responders to the hurricane emergency. The computational results show the promise of this research and usefulness of the proposed models. This work is an initial step in addressing the simultaneous identification of shelter locations, assignment of citizens to those shelters, and determination of a policy for stockpiling emergency supplies in advance of a hurricane. Both the location-allocation problem and the inventory problem have been extensively and individually studied by researchers as well as practitioners. However, this joint location-allocation-inventory problem is a difficult problem to solve, especially in the presence of stochastic storm behavior. The proposed models, even in the deterministic case, are a significant step beyond the current state-of-the-art in the area of emergency and disaster planning.

The opinions and expertise of disabled people are often absent from emergency preparedness planning. As a result, when emergencies occur disabled people’s needs may go unmet. While there have been recent efforts to acknowledge the need for disability inclusive planning processes (in, for example, the development of a Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction framework), more research is needed to understand how efforts to include the perspectives and experiences of disabled people work (or do not work) in practice. In this research, I examine the development of a disability-inclusive emergency preparedness plan in Ontario, Canada. I use semi-structured interviews with key informants from the provincial government and disability organizations to unpack the planning and consultation process. The analysis indicates that while the plan represents an important attempt to include disabled people in emergency preparedness planning, it falls short in a number of ways not least because it rests on a narrow conception of disability as physical limitation. In particular, people with intellectual disabilities are absent from the planning process and final plan, a fact that reflects their broader marginalization within society. I draw on interviews with a small sample of self-advocates living with intellectual disabilities to identify how the plan could be revised to recognize the views and experiences of this population. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The high frequency and cost of flooding in Canada has demonstrated the need for effective risk assessment (Public Safety Canada (PSC), 2010). In response to this need, the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed HAZUS, a hazard risk assessment tool which relies on a geographic information system (GIS) (FEMA, 2015). Unfortunately, in many rural communities in Canada, only aggregate population data may be available. In those cases, the ability to further partition aggregated data may prove essential in generating robust and accurate risk assessments. The results of this study show that HAZUS can be adapted for use in Canada and provides a new methodology for conducting hazard estimations in areas where available data is coarsely aggregated. There was a strong relationship between nighttime light and population density. High populations were associated with developed land cover classification. These relationships can be used to increase the accuracy of HAZUS predictions. / October 2016

Thesis: "Teaching pupils at the primary school population protection in emergency planning zone Nuclear Power Plant". Has been selected for processing coherent view on the issue of teaching students the first grade of primary school. At the beginning of my diploma thesis I present a brief history of the protection of the population curricula in elementary schools in the first instance and the current legislation on the protection of man for emergencies. The objectives of this work are two. The first is to determine the awareness of pupils in primary schools on possible measures in the emergency planning zone. The second proposal is to improve the teaching of human protection during emergencies. Hypothesis: Implementation of education on the protection of the population in the emergency planning zone Nuclear Power Plant meets the requirements specified population protection. I focused on the collection of data and information that is preoccupied with this issue. The sample is the fifth year of primary school, which is the image of the entire knowledge of First Instance, which was subjected to a statistical survey The results of this investigation are the image information of the first elementary schools in the emergency planning zone of the nuclear power plant and also the basis for any improvement The results of the questionnaire survey, it is obvious that the awareness of students, which should be, is very different. There are differences only in specific issues for single students, but they vary in knowledge examined schools. A key finding is that a proportion of pupils does not control the issue of first aid, for example. What is the frequency of chest compressions during adult indirect heart massage. Students often do not know the tone siren sounds during an emergency and what to do when it runs. These problems in my work solved the proposal to improve the awareness of students, namely: Load a single object, quality education for teachers, quality teaching materials, wider participation of legal entities and individuals doing business, closer cooperation with the Czech School Inspectorate of the Czech Republic. The contribution of this work see especially in the survey results that there is still room for improvement and it is best to invest in this subject in primary schools. The paper summarizes the issues of awareness of students of the first steps in the zone HP JETE and proposes appropriate measures. It is the image of pupils' knowledge, there is located a smallish their knowledge and focuses on awareness, education and possible remedies.

The UAE is an Islamic state which has undergone dramatic urbanisation in the last 30 years. It is situated near the eastern margin of the Arabian tectonic plate, close to the seismically active collision zone between the Arabian and Eurasian plates, marked by the Zagros Mountain belt of Iran. In the UAE the population of Dibba in Fujairah has felt tremors as recently as November 26 2009 and an earthquake with a magnitude (M) of 5 occurred in Masafi, Fujairah, in March 2002. The most recent earthquake was M 4.3, and awareness of seismic hazard is increasing. In addition to earthquakes, rapid heavy rainfall in the arid environment of the UAE typically results in high level of discharge and flooding. Tropical storms have also struck the Indian Ocean coast of the UAE and have caused damage in coastal areas. The impact of natural hazard events in Fujairah since 1995 and the responses of the authorities and affected communities illustrates the issues faced by the country and is discussed in this thesis. The Federal Plan to face disasters in the UAE prepared by the Civil Defence sets out the role of the government structures in the UAE to manage disasters with particular reference to the Ministry of Interior, which is the responsible body. A survey of UAE ministries and the Civil Defence shows that in practice there is a lack of clarity between the roles of government bodies and there are many areas of confusion regarding jurisdiction and responsibility between the federal and individual emirate institutions. It was a concern that some supporting ministries were unaware of their role as set out in the overall plan. There is lack of evidence of an integrated approach and no testing of effectiveness of emergency procedures through simulation exercises. It is recognised that, not only are school children particularly vulnerable to natural disasters but also that education is an important mitigation tool through raising awareness of hazard exposure amongst the population. A survey of schools in Fujairah showed that there was little preparation for natural disasters and no framework to address this issue or to ensure the structural integrity of school buildings. The survey revealed that there is a willingness to learn among the school children and this was followed up by a pilot scheme to raise awareness. This is important as the survey also revealed that traditional views about losses are still common amongst parents, particularly in rural areas. The vulnerability of the communities to natural hazards is strongly influenced by social and cultural factors. A survey was undertaken of the population of the UAE to investigate their awareness of natural hazards, their perception of risk and how this might be mitigated. The survey revealed a low level awareness and what the role of government agencies would be in the event of a disaster. A majority considered that disasters were Acts of God, a punishment, and that the most effective way to mitigate risk was through religious observance. It is clear that even in a developed Islamic country an effective response to mitigate risk needs to recognise and address the cultural and religious contexts. Finally the thesis evaluates the response capability of the UAE to the impact of natural hazards. This analysis shows that though there is a Federal Plan for Disasters there is little specific focus on natural hazards. Ministries not directly involved with the Civil Defence were sometimes unclear regarding their roles. At an operational level there is lack of clarity regarding responsibilities and lines of authority between different bodies and between Federal and emirate structures. The Civil Defence was very much focussed on response with little effort devoted to reducing vulnerability through awareness-raising, hazard assessment and monitoring. These need to be addressed to minimise the risk from natural disasters.

After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the national defence education program was terminated. Since it played an important role in the education of the population it was eventually restored in 2003 at primary and secondary schools when a general education program of national defence was introduced. The extend of the education was agreed for 6 hour per year, however, it was not clear in which school subject this matter should be addressed. Since then the government succeed in issuing several conceptual guides describing the outline of the education for both pupils and teachers. The guarantor of the program became the General Directorate of Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, who publishes a large number of training documents. Soon after, the issue is also dealt by the civilian sector that gradually increases numbers of manuals and textbooks focusing on the theme of population protection. Consequently in 2012, they succeed in introducing a compulsory subject called "Human Protection in Emergency Situations" at pedagogical faculties. These progressive measures target to improve a teaching methods and a general education at primary and secondary schools in the area of population preparedness to deal with an emergency situations such as floods or hazardous substances leakage from threatening factories. This work focuses on a level of preparedness of students and teachers in a primary and secondary schools, which are located in areas with a thread of leakage, conflagration or possible explosions. The first theoretical part focuses on the history of a protection of a population in the world and consequently in the Czech Republic. History significantly affects this area. Therefore a considerable portion of a theoretical part has been dedicated to it. In the next section the impact of the current legislation laws to protect the population have been analysed. This analysis focuses especially on laws which are most vital for this field. Following section points out, which governmental and non-governmental institutions have the highest responsibility for the primary and secondary education, the level of population preparedness and the knowledge in the area of the studied subject. The last part of the theoretical work analyses the environment in which the sociological research had been conducted. It contains more information about schools in which the survey had been performed by means of questionnaires. The main purpose of this chapter is to point out the characteristics of the schools. Another part analyses the territory in which the schools are located, their capacity, diversity of students, especially weather there are non-Czech speaking or handicapped pupils, or within which time zone the schools are. All schools also support various extracurricular activities, and the thematic group activities. Based on my practical experience from the lectures I pre-set the level of the students and teachers? preparedness in case of extraordinary events within threatening company is low or almost unsatisfactory. Consequently, the respondents undertook 10 test questions. In the practical part of this work, the questionnaire survey was assessed both by means of statistical methods and a thorough analysis of the individual questions answered. To simplify the evaluation, statistical methods were used by means of negating hypotheses of the proposition. In other words, the level of the preparedness will be satisfactory. Subsequent evaluation of the sociological research revealed that the level is satisfactory at all schools. In general, both students and teachers achieved overall pleasing results. The results of the survey will be provided to the Fire Rescue Service of the Pardubice Region to utilize them to streamline all the activities related to the education of students of the surveyed schools.