Disaster Research 151

Developing a Data Base of Disaster Research, Projects, and Programs

As part of our efforts to explore the application of NASA assets to theproblem of disaster mitigation, we are developing a data base whichcontains general information about ongoing disaster research andapplications projects and programs. This data base development is anin-house effort at the Marshall Space Flight Center in support of theGlobal Emergency Observation, Warning and Relief Network (GEOWARN)study. We are doing this in an attempt to understand who is doing whatso as to avoid redundant efforts and to be fully tuned in to what isgoing on in the rest of the world. What we need from the readers ofDISASTER RESEARCH are inputs on WHAT should be in this data base and howit should be presented. For example, one field would contain the name ofthe PI, another his or her contact information, another a summary of theresearch or application project/program, another key words, etc. We wantto capture what is important not only to us, but to the hazards researchcommunity in general, as we intend to make this data base available viaInternet (or some other mechanism) to anyone wishing to access it. Thedata base will be developed using ORACLE. We are also interested inlearning about what programs are ongoing or proposed and will issue arequest for information on programs and projects at a later date.However, if you wish to provide that information at this time, feelfree.

Please provide your feedback to me at the address and phone numberindicated below. E-mail is my preference, but verbal and writtenresponses are also welcomed. Thank you for your assistance.

Angie Bukley
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Space Science & Applications Office
Mail Code PS02
Huntsville, AL 35812
V: 205-544-0054
F: 205-544-6669
bukleap@pdalpha.msfc.nasa.gov

From Peru: Looking for Cohorts on the Internet

Hello,
I am doing a research about risk disaster zoning mainly with floods,earthquake, and landslide applying IDRISI. Our research area is SanMatin, located in the Peruvian jungle. We want to share experiencesrelated to these subjects with emphasis in methodology, modelling, anddata acquisition. We are able to share our experience with the ones whomay need it. Thank you in advance, we are looking forward to hearingfrom you.

Alicia Minaya
Programa de Desastres
ITDG-PERU
Av. Jorge Chavez 27
Miraflores
Lima - PERU
V1: 467324
V2: 447055
V3: 475127
F: (51-14)466621
alicia@itdg.org.pe

FYI - A Reply

Looking for Experience with HazMat Incidents

In an effort to revise a current course on "Hazardous Materials Responseby Law Enforcement", I am attempting to locate articles or personnalexperiences of police officers who have been involved in hazmatincidents. Responses can be sent to: Robert Smith - Sgt., BeaumontPolice, 255 College, Beaumont, TX 77701; internet: smithrj@cs4.lamar.edu

Disaster Medicine Fellowship

The Division of Emergency Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta inconjunction with the Disaster Assessment and Epidemiology Section of theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention announce a Fellowship inDisaster Medicine.

PURPOSE: To train emergency physicians to function effectively indisaster settings, to carry out original research in disasters and to beknowledgeable in policy and public health issues related to disastermanagement.
ELIGIBILITY: Completion of an accredited Emergency Medicine residencytraining program. A medical license in the State of Georgia will berequired.
PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS: Emory University School of Medicine: Fellows receive a full-time facultyappointment in the Division of Emergency Medicine and participate in 16clinical hours of activity at Grady Memorial Hospital and one otherUniversity-affiliated hospital in Atlanta. Teaching skills are developedthrough lecturing and training of residents and medical students. GradyHospital is a level I trauma center and hospital-based ambulance basestation.

Emory University School of Public Health: Fellows will complete thecoursework necessary for a Masters Degree in Public Health. Coursesinclude: epidemiology, public health policy, disaster management, andenvironmental and occupational health.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Public Health Service:An appointment as a Visiting Scientist allows for original research inthe field of disaster epidemiology, with the opportunity to provideemergency public health consultations at disaster sites around theworld.

BENEFITS: Junior Faculty level appointment at Emory University School ofMedicine consistent with level of experience. Liberal insurance,disability, health, vacation, and malpractice insurance. Fully paidtuition to Emory University School of Public Health. Fixed clinicalschedule consistent with class schedules

CONTACT: Erik Auf der Heide, MD, Division of Emergency Medicine, EmoryUniversity School of Medicine, 69 Butler St., S.E., Atlanta, GA30303-3219; (404) 616-4620; Internet: eaufd01@eagle.cc.emory.edu

Three Items Cadged from the "Nets" Internet Discussion List

[nets@hoshi.cic.sfu.ca]

I - NASA Grants to Build the Emergency Lane . . .

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced aseries of "Information Infrastructure Technologies and Applications"(IITA) grants totalling $6.8 million in support of public access toremote sensing data. One of the grants is for $263,000 to the Universityof North Texas, in Denton, Texas, "to build an application on theInternet to demonstrate the usefulness of NASA's remote sensing data foruse in mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery from natural andtechnological disasters." Several other grants also will haveemergency-management implications, such as a $609,000 cooperativeagreement between NASA and SENTAR, Inc., of Huntsville, Alabama, "toprovide enhancements to existing flood management capabilities by usingremotely-sensed Earth data and the extension of Internet for thecommunication of data to the field." Contacts listed in the NASA newsrelease are Barbara Selby in Washington, D.C., (202) 358-1983 and AllenKenitzer in Greenbelt, MD (301) 286-2806.

II - A Sitrep Listserver

I currently am distributing a listserv that contains disaster situationreports and other tidbits from FEMA, NDMS, VITA, USGS, and others as Iget my hands on them. . . . The list is called SITREPS.LIST and you cansubscribe to it by sending an e-mail message tolistserv@mediccom.norden1.com with the single command in the messagebody

subscribe sitreps.list

Churton Budd
churton.budd@mediccom.norden1.com

III - Third Item from Nets

I've been asked by my department management to try and find any studiesthat have explored the relationship, if any, between how an employeeperforms on their interview and their subsequent job performance. Theworkplace of interest is the emergency services, in particular firefighters and paramedics. If anyone knows of such a study please forwardthe information on where/how I can get a copy.

Thanks,
Ron
rpowell@csulb.edu
Graduate Student - Psychology Department
California State University Long Beach

Researching Information Needs for HazMat Responders

I'm working on a federally-sponsored project that is looking into waysto get critical information directly and rapidly to emergency responders(police, fire, EMT) who are the *first units* to arrive at the scene ofa commercial highway vehicle accident or spill involving hazardousmaterials. The HAZMAT Information for First Responders (HAZ-First)Project is in the early planning stages and is looking for inputs fromanyone on similar pilot projects or relevant technologies that couldhelp us better meet the needs of emergency first responders. Preliminaryinterviews and a workshop with first responders indicate a need to knowthe following information upon being dispatched to an accident/spilllocation and *before* arriving at the scene:

1. Precise descriptions of all hazardous materials, if any, in a commercial vehicle, including a description of their containers.
2. Detailed list of other materials in the commercial vehicle load, including a description of their containers.
3. Information on the hazardous materials physical and chemical characteristics and any associated warnings.
4. Implications of hazardous materials within the commercial vehicles load interacting with each other and with non-hazardous materials also present in the vehicle.
5. Recommended actions needed to immediately neutralize the hazardous materials effects and/or to treat any injuries resulting from exposure to the hazardous materials.

Looks like a tall order! What do you think?

We also identified the following technologies (not an exhaustive list)as having some part in a first response information architecture andwould appreciate your comments on commercially available products in thecategories (or additional categories) that you think would be able tomeet some of requirements.

• Automated vehicle location and tracking systems
• Automatic vehicle accident sensors
• Hazardous chemical sensors
• Vehicle transponders and remote interrogators
• Electronic *smartcards*
• Commercial wireless telecommunications
• Personal digital communicators
• Personal digital assistants
• Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW)
• Wireless access to Internet resources
• Video teleconferencing
• Mobile crisis command centers
• Computerized MSDS databases (both public domain and proprietary)
• Computerized pesticide or other substance information databases
• Toxicological information databases
• Public safety dispatch systems (911 and E-911 CAD)
• Commercial carrier dispatch systems
• Commercial vehicle load scheduling and tracking systems

If you know of test projects being conducted or planned by otherorganizations (federal, state, local, non-profit, academic, or industry)in support of emergency first responders we would also like to knowabout them. Initial demonstration of some of the informationtechnologies listed will depend heavily on being able to coordinate withfederal, state, or local agencies in ITS, DOT, and industry-sponsoredprojects.

Your comments on first responder information will always be welcomed. Thanks very much for your participation.

Michael Vetter
TASC, Inc.
(617) 942-2000, X 2407
FAX 942-7100
mfvetter@tasc.com

NEHRP Reauthorized

On October 20, 1994, President Clinton signed the Earthquake HazardsReduction Act authorization, which appropriates $103.2 million in 1995and $106.3 million in 1996 for the National Earthquake Hazards ReductionProgram (NEHRP).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Instituteof Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, and theU.S. Geological Survey participate in the NEHRP, with FEMA the leadagency. The NEHRP was created in 1977 and supports research,applications, and emergency management to improve public safety duringearthquakes.

The act directs the president to assess earthquake engineering andtesting capabilities in the U.S., including:

1. the need for earthquake engineering research and testing facilities in the United States
2. options to cooperate with other countries that have developed complementary earthquake engineering programs and facilities
3. projected costs for construction, maintenance, and operation of new earthquake engineering research and testing facilities in the United States
4. options and recommendations to provide funding for the construction and operation of new earthquake engineering and testing facilities, including the feasibility of developing a comprehensive earthquake engineering research and testing program within the scope of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977.

For a copy of the act, contact the House Committee on Science, Space,and Technology, Publication Clerk, 2321 Rayburn House Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20515, (202) 226-4530. Specify Public Law 103-374 whenordering.

Looking for Papers on the 1993 Floods

DISASTER MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CONTINGENCY PLANNING FOR LARGE-SCALEEMERGENCIES is looking for papers related to flooding events in theUnited States during 1993. Preferably, these should focus on lessonslearned that have global implications in an effort to meet theinternational needs of their readership. Papers should be sent either tothe Editor, or to James Eflin (who will guest-edit this collection),Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Ball StateUniversity, Muncie, IN 47306-0495.

A copy of the guidelines for paper submissions is available at thisaddress, or by telephone (317) 285-2327; fax: (317) 285-2606, orInternet: 00jceflin@bsuvc.bsu.edu. Selection of papers will be madeearly in 1995 for an issue to appear later in that year.

James Eflin

HRRC Hiring

The Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC) at Texas A&M Universityrecently announced that the university will be filling two positionswith links to the HRRC. The first is an assistant professor position inthe Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning in theCollege of Architecture. Applicants should send a vita and the names ofthree references to the Chair of the Search Committee, Dr. David L.Pugh, MUP Program Coordinator, Department of Landscape Architecture andUrban Planning, College of Architecture, Texas A&M Universtiy, CollegeStation, TX 77843-3137; (409) 845-7881.

The second position is for an associate professor (or higher) directlywithin the HRRC. Applicants should send a vita and the names of threereferences to the Chair of the Search committee, Dr. Dennis E. Wenger,Director, Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, College of Architecture,Texas A&M Universtiy, College stations, TX 77843-3137; (409) 845-7813.

For more information on either of these positions, contact Dr. Dennis E.Wenger at the address above.

ATC Looking

The Applied Technology Council (ATC) is seeking approximately 15experienced earthquake design practitioners/researchers to serve asconsultants on a newly funded subtask of the FEMA-funded program toprepare "Guidelines for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings." Thepurpose of the work is to analyze selected buildings affected by theNorthridge earthquake using procedures proposed in the draft of the"Guidelines," and to compare the results of analyses to actualperformance. Work will begin February 1, 1995. Proposals are due January9. Interested persons should request a copy of the "ATC-33 NorthridgeSubtasks Request for Proposal," from ATC, 555 Twin Dolphin Drive, Suite550, Redwood City, CA 94065; (415) 595-1542; fax: (415) 593-2320.