We mentioned in the last DR that the session summaries from the 1995Hazards Workshop held in July in Boulder, Colorado, are available from theNatural Hazards Center. They are sold (together with abstracts describingcurrent research and ongoing programs and projects, a workshop program,and a complete participant list) for $20.
However, if you want to save a few bucks and a little time, the session summaries are now also available from the Hazard Center's World Wide Web site:
http://adder.colorado.edu/~hazctr/Home.html
Look under Session Summaries, or go directly to the Session Summary page:
http://adder.colorado.edu/~hazctr/ss.html
I am working on two projects, not related.
One is medical response to uncontrolled crowd situations. We hope to lookat arrangements in New York City for the two Papal mass sites with specialattention to EMS planning and response. (The sites are Aqueduct andCentral Park.) Any info on past Papal visits or similar events, such asuncontrollable rock concerts crowds, would be useful. "Uncontrolled" isused to mean there are no ticket arrangements which would allow us toforecast the crowd and, often, no specific seating. We did a similar studyat three mass sites when the Pope visited Canada, and hope to match thiswith U.S. data.
I am working on developing a training scheduled for senior Canadian policeofficers for major case management. This involves dealing with everythingfrom serial crimes, continuing frauds, stand-offs - such as the currentone in British Columbia where aboriginals say they are on sacred groundand have shot at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - accidents anddisasters, where things drag on. The Gander air crash would certainly fitas would Waco and Oklahoma City. My specific concern for this course islong-term media relations. Anything in this area including any referenceswould be helpful. Don't be worried about being off-beat. The unibomberfits the Mad Bomber who attacked Con Ed. It would be helpful if crime wasinvolved but it is not crucial given a long-term police involvement. Forthose who want more info, this is not a course for hostage commanders - wehave been doing that for years. Messages can be sent to: Joe Scanlon,Director, Emergency Communications Research Unit, Carleton University, c/o117 Aylmer Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 2X8; Fax: 1-613-730-1696; e-mail:Joe_Scanlon@Carleton.Ca. Any and all contributions would be useful.Thanks.
I am a community disaster educator with the American Red Cross inWestchester County, NY. I have a special interest in Emergency Planning,Preparedness and Response for small to mid-sized Business and Industry. Ihave developed a CDE for B&I EPP given as a community service by our RedCross Chapter. In its current form the program has two parts: first anintroductory program on Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Businessand Industry, time frame 60 min. with Q&A; second a 3.5 hr. workshop forBusiness and Industry where participants spend about 60 min. on additionalEmergency Planning and Preparedness issues, 60 min. on the plan document,etc. and 90 min. on networking in small groups with firms in similar SICcategories working on Emergency Plans for specific business or industry. Iwould like to receive "case studies" spotlighting how EPP has enabledbusinesses and industry to survive the impact of an Emergency or Disasterand remain a viable business. If any DR readers have such information andare willing to share please contact me, thank you.
Peter T. Cann, D.Sc., P.E., Ed.D.
Director Emergency Services
Community Disaster Educator
American Red Cross in Westchester County
106 No. Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603-3797
Tel: (914) 946-6500, ext. 300
E-Mail: ptcann@pipeline.com
I work as researcher at University of Tampere in Finland (Department ofJournalism and Mass Communication). Just now I'm researching the Estoniacatastrophe which happened near Finland September 28th 1994. I'minterested in the information policy of the authorities and the mediacoverage concerning the disaster. I'm interested to get informationregarding studies, publications and discussions concerning the Estoniacatastrophe and other disasters of the same kind.
Pentti Raittila
University of Tampere
Box 607
33101 Tampere
Finland
Tel: (Finland) - 31 - 215 7658; fax: (Finland) - 31 - 215 6248
E-mail: tipera@uta.fi
I am involved in a project evaluating the natural disaster risk for thestates of Utah, Nevada, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon and Arizona.Primarily this would be earthquake related but all natural disasters arebeing considered.
Is anyone aware of any similar studies that have been done in that regard?Or, agencies/educational institutions I should contact?
Thank you!
Ronald A. Roush, CPCU, ARe
E-mail: usnat8dm@ibmmail.com
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pleased to announcethat its World Wide Web site has just opened at the following address:
The site provides information on a wide range of issues related toconflict and conflict victims as well as the role, activities, concernsand opinions of the ICRC. The information is in the form of pressreleases, fact sheets, in-depth articles, illustrated brochures, positionpapers, etc.
The texts of the main treaties of International Humanitarian Law (the fourGeneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols) are also on the site,together with information about this body of law and the issues around it.Users will also find information on ICRC involvement and positionsconcerning events such as the Review Conference of the 1980 UN WeaponsConvention, the Beijing Conference on Women, and information and documentson the December International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent(which brings together States and the International Red Cross and RedCrescent Movement), as well as links to the sites of other Red Cross/RedCrescent organizations.
Please let us know if you would like to be added to our mailing list toreceive press releases and the weekly ICRC News by e-mail. Please sendmailing list information to: comrex_pr@gva.icrc.org
We wish you happy surfing and . . . we look forward to your feedback.
Karen Saddler, Public Information Division
International Committee of the Red Cross
19 Avenue de la Paix
1202 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: (022) 734 60 01; Telex: 414226; Fax: (022) 733 20 57
Note that http://www.xmission.com/~dguenth/iesn.html lists 600 differentURL's to link to in SAR, FIRE, EMS, EM, SAFETY, ENVIRO, DOT, and LAWENFORCEMENT. You find these links on the iesn-www.html and ftp-www.html pages - both of these are accessed from buttons on the home page.
[Taken from the RISKANALYSIS list]
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our program - TheEco-Research Chair in Environmental Risk Management - and our website:
http://www.ualberta.ca/~envrisk/erm.html
The Eco-Research Chair in Environmental Risk Management was awarded in1992 to Dr. Steve E. Hrudey (Environmental Health Program, Faculty ofMedicine, University of Alberta) by the Tri-Council Secretariat (SSHRC,NSERC and MRC) of Environment Canada. The Eco-Research Chair is aninterdisciplinary program committed to exploring the intellectual basisfor environmental risk management.
Our website offers lots of stuff:
Please contact me if you want to be included in our newsletter mailinglist, want to order copies of the Working Papers, or want your web siteadded to our jump station.
Nola Low
Environmental Health Program
University of Alberta
Edmonton Canada
Phone: 403-492-6450
Fax: 403-492-0364
E-mail: Nola.Low@UAlberta.Ca
The Southern California Earthquake Center now has a home page on the Web:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/earth/quake/index.html
SCEC is a Science and Technology Center of the National Science Foundationthat brings scientists together for joint research and problem solving toreduce earthquake hazards in Southern California. The formal mission ofthe Center is to promote earthquake hazard reduction by estimating whenand where future damaging earthquakes will occur, calculating the expectedground motion, and disseminating that information to the public.
SCEC's home page contains background information about the Center and itscontributing institutions, the mission and research of the Center,programs and facilities managed by the Center, and other products fromSCEC. Some of the latter - for example, the SCEC Newsletter and SCECpublication list - are available on the Web. Of course, the site alsocontains hypertext links to other information and data about earthquakes.
One of the niftier SCEC products is its "Seismic Hazard Map, ProbableEarthquakes, 1994-2024." You can view it directly at:
http://scec.gps.caltech.edu/PhaseII.html
The Survive! business continuity group now also has a site up and runningon the Web:
We just received the inaugural issue of the quarterly newsletter: "SA -READ Newsletter on Emergencies and Disaster Mitigation in SouthernAfrica."
SA - READ stands for "Southern Africa - Reducing Emergencies andDisasters." The newsletter is produced by the International Federation ofthe Red Cross in collaboration with the Southern African Research andDocumentation Centre (SARDC) and is funded by the Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency (CIDA) through the Canadian Red Cross.
The Federation and SARDC have recently launched a new effort to increasehazard/disaster awareness and information availability in southern Africa:the regional disaster management information project (DMIP). The projectis housed at SARDC's India Musokotwane Environment Resource Centre forSouthern Africa (ERCSA). Its aim is to systematically document, index, andconsolidate disaster-related materials. Over the next two years, DMIP aimsto establish southern Africa's first regionally accessible disasters anddisaster-reduction database, with documents that are locally andregionally relevant.
To date, more than 650 disaster-related documents have been collected fromMalawi and Swaziland, with other SARDC countries still to be visited. Forfurther information on DMIP, contact the Project Coordinator, SARDC, P.O.Box 5690, Harare, Zimbabwe; tel: (263 4) 737 301; fax: (263 4) 738 693; e-mail: SARDC@Mango.zw. The address for the SA - READ editor andsubscription office is: SA - READ, 11 Phillips Avenue, Belgravia, Harare,Zimbabwe.
[This does not consititute endorsement, etc, etc...]
EMERTEL Information System is proud to announce ISAT Version 1.0.0 - TheINMARSAT Utilities Companion. ISAT software has been designed to provideusers of INMARSAT communication satellite stations (emergency and relieforganisations, disaster assessment teams, NGOs, international travelers,maritime users, etc.) with some very useful tools for setting-up and usingtheir station.
Two main utilities are available:
ISAT runs as a DOS program on any IBM PC compatible computer. Thissoftware is distributed as FREEWARE. Therefore, everybody is encouraged touse, copy, and distribute it.
To get your copy of ISAT, you should contact EMERTEL Information System,access + 41 22 774 43 28, with a computer connected to a modem and usingcommunication software. After the registration process (free of charge)move to the file area (type "T" from the main menu), and then downloadISAT from the "satellite telecom systems" directory. ISAT is availableonly as compressed archives: ISAT100!.EXE (auto-exploding archive, justrun it to uncompress) or ISAT100.ZIP (preferred ASP format, files ZIPedwith PKZIP, you need PKUNZIP V2.04 to uncompress it).
If you are using INMARSAT stations around the world, we are sure you willenjoy ISAT !
EMERTEL Information System Management Group
EMERTEL is a free-of-charge, independent, information server located inGeneva, Switzerland, and dedicated to Emergency Telecom, Radio andSatellite Technology, Relief, Disaster Preparedness, Environment,Engineering and Data networks. EMERTEL can be reached by modem at + 41 22774 43 28. For more details, send mail to:
sysop@emertel.gn.apc.org (Internet)
sysop @2:301/341 (Fidonet)
sysop@41022000 (Virtualnet)
or fax to: + 41 22 958 10 67
One of FEMA's most popular publications has just been posted on the WorldWide Web. The Emergency Management Guide For Business and Industry can befound at the following URL:
http://www.fema.gov/fema/bizindex.html
Now that it appears the Hurricane Luis will not impact the East coast ofthe United States, FEMA is standing down its Emergency Response Teams. Weare interested in your feedback on receiving information via the FEMA e-mail distribution list and World Wide Web site. We are always learningmore about using the Internet for emergency information and your input hashelped convince senior managers this is an important communicationsvehicle. Please send your comments to eipa@fema.gov
Nominations are being sought by the California Earthquake SafetyFoundation for the 1995 Alfred E. Alquist Award for Achievement inEarthquake Safety. This annual award recognizes individuals and/ororganizations who have made outstanding contributions to or have had amajor impact on seismic safety in California. Awards are given in suchareas as applied research, public policy advancement, and programimplementation. Nominations of individuals or groups concerned withearthquake safety from all segments of society will be considered. Lettersof nomination should be sent, prior to November 10, to: CaliforniaEarthquake Safety Foundation, c/o VSP Associates, Inc., 455 UniversityAvenue, Suite 340, Sacramento, CA 95825. More information is availablefrom Robert Olson, (916) 648-9112.
"Seeking Balance: Conflict, Resolution, and Partnership": 15th Inter-national Conference of the Coastal Society. Seattle, Washington: July 14-17, 1996. A call for abstracts, due November 1, has been issued. Contact:Megan D. Bailiff, Conference Chair, c/o Washington Sea Grant Program, 3716Brooklyn Avenue, N.E., Seattle, WA 98105-6716; (206) 685-1108; fax: (206)685-0380; e-mail: mbailiff@u.washington.edu.
American Institute of Hydrology 1996 Annual Meeting: "Hydrology andHydrogeology of Urban and Urbanizing Areas." Boston, Massachusetts: April21-26, 1996. Contact: Dr. Guillermo J. Vicens, Conference Chair, CampDresser & McKee Inc., 10 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142; (617) 252-8301; fax: (617) 621-2565; e-mail: vicensgj@cdm.com.