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Following the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 17, 1995, a group ofconcerned persons in Japan has formed a voluntary organization called"KOBEnet" to promote 1) information transfer among researchersworldwide related to earthquake engineering; 2) technical voluntaryactivities related to the disaster; and 3) international cooperationamong researchers.
In addition to an on-site exhibit room, KOBEnet will distributeinformation through various media such as the Internet, fax, andnewsletters to foreign and Japanese engineers and other researchers.The group will also support development of technical data basescovering the earthquake. For additional information about this uniqueattempt at human networking, contact Professor Tsuneo Okada, Instituteof Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106, Japan.
DMATs do not now include environmental health specialists. Weenvironmental health directors in California would like to set upEnvironmental Health Disaster Response Teams in the state. These teamswould deal with safe drinking water, excreta disposal, food safety,hazardous materials and other environmental health problems associatedwith disaster emergencies. Is anyone aware of grant sources that couldfund these proposed volunteer teams and/or provide surplus equipmentetc. such as corporations, foundations, or government agencies?Do you know of Environmental Health Disaster Response teams in statesother than California? Please e-mail me.
Thank you!
KWINKLER@aol.com
Over the last two years the Canadian Forest Service (Northern ForestryCentre), in cooperation with the International Association of WildlandFire and the National Fire Protection Association, has compiled alarge bibliography of resource materials on fire management in thewildland/urban interface.The document is currently being prepared forpublication in both a hardcopy and softcopy format. The purpose ofthis message is to request your assistance in determining thepotential demand for each format. Therefore, it would be greatlyappreciated if potential users of this bibliography could send ane-mail indicating which format (hardcopy, softcopy, or both) you wouldmost likely use. Responses should be sent to: hirsch@smokey.forestry.utoronto.ca
The BibliographyTitle: An International collection of wildland-urban interfaceresource materials. Authors: K.G. Hirsch, M.M. Pinedo, J.M. Greenlee.Abstract: A bibliographic listing of about 2200 wildland-urbaninterface resource materials complied by the International Associationof Wildland Fire and the Canadian Forest Service, Northern ForestryCentre, listed alphabetically by author. Most items were producedprior to 1993 and pertain to the U.S., Australia, and Canada. Theyprovide information on diverse topics related to fire management inthe wildland/urban interface ranging from building materials andhazard reduction techniques to disaster management, politics, andsociology. The citations have been indexed by subject (over 50headings), and into three general categories: general and technicalmaterials, newspaper articles, and public education materials.
The hardcopy bibliography will consist of the preface, bibliographiccitations, keyword indexes, and address of contributing agencies. Thesoftcopy version will contain all of the information provided in thehardcopy version but each citation will have its keywords listeddirectly following the citation. The softcopy version will be in ASCIIformat so that individuals will be able to load it into their favoritewordprocessor or text editor and then conduct searches using thebuilt-in search functions of these programs.
Cost: The first production run is likely to be free; however, therecould be a fee associated with any follow-up publication.
Internet Access: At present there is no plan to place this bibli-ography onto a Web site, BUT if there is considerable interest in sucha service this could be pursued. Therefore, if you would be interestedin electronically accessing this bibliography please indicate this inyour e-mail response.
Finally, if you would like to have your name added to a distributionlist for the bibliography when it becomes available (likely no laterthan March 31, 1996) then please forward your mailing address when yourespond to this message.
Thank you very much for your interest and cooperation. I look forwardto your responses.
Kelvin Hirsch
hirsch@smokey.forestry.utoronto.ca
mailing address (until May 1996):
Faculty of Forestry
University of Toronto
33 Willcocks Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M5S 3B3
(after May 1996):
Northern Forestry Centre
5320 - 122 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
T6H 3S5
The Federal Emergency Management Agency' Mitigation Directorate hasentered into a cooperative agreement with the InternationalCity/County Management Association (ICMA) to determine how mitigationcan be integrated into the day-to-day administration of cities andcounties. This multiyear effort will examine what governments arepresently doing to prepare for disaster, the effectiveness of theseactions, and what further steps can be taken to reduce long-termhazard risks. The results of the ICMA research will be used to form along-range plan to educate local government administrators on thebenefits of mitigation and to demonstrate how mitigation can beincorporated into community planning, development, and decisionmaking.
To guide ICMA in this process, the program will develop an AdvisoryGroup of mitigation experts, a special content group to help craft theneeds assessment, and a series of focus groups to evaluate thefindings of the assessment and mold them into guidelines forimplementation. ICMA will produce a comprehensive report of strategiesfor local mitigation. ICMA's Community Planning Program welcomes inputand response to this program; for more information, contact Don Geis,Program Director, (202) 962-3531; or Kendra J. Briechle, ProjectManager, (202) 962-3685.
MCB University Press are pleased to announce the first disastermanagement conference ever to be held on the INTERNET. The OrganisingCommittee for this event currently includes: Chairman Dr. A.Z. Keller,University of Bradford; Mr. Eric Alley, OBE President, Institute ofCivil Defence and Disaster Studies; Dr. Eric Dykes, Civil EmergenciesCentre, University of Hertfordshire; Professor Hayim Granot, Bar-I-LanUniversity, Israel; Professor E.L. Quarentelli, Disaster ResearchCentre, University of Delaware, USA; Dr. S.W.A.Gunn, President, WorldAssociation of Disaster and Emergency Medicine; Professor Denis Smith,Centre for Risk and Crisis Management, University of Durham; Mr. KeithCassidy, Head, Major Hazards Assessment Unit, Health and SafetyExecutive, UK; Secretary, Ms. E.L. Coles, Centre for Risk and CrisisManagement, University of Durham.
It is intended that this conference will be the first in a series ofannual conferences and will prove a natural evolution from the fivetraditional conferences (1989-1993) initiated by the DisasterPrevention and Limitation Unit at the University of Bradford, UK.
Call for Papers
All professionals who work or carry out research in disaster,emergency planning, management and prevention fields are invited toparticipate. Abstracts for proposed papers on the theme ElectronicCommunication and Disaster Management are invited for the 1st March1996 and accepted papers will be published on the Internet between 1stJune 1996 and 31st August 1996. For further information contact bye-mail: Carolo@mcb.co.uk; or, a.z.keller@bradford.ac.uk
These are the latest announcements we've received regarding upcomingmeetings. Most previous issues of DR contain additional notices.Alternatively, our World Wide Web page:
http://adder.colorado.edu/~hazctr/Home.html
contains a *comprehensive* list of upcoming disaster-relatedconferences.
Basic and Advanced Critical Incident Stress Debriefing; PeerCounseling Techniques; Traumatic Stress Management; Critical IncidentStress Management: The Family Factor; Clinical Psychotraumatology(Concurrent Workshops). Sponsor: International Critical IncidentStress Foundation (ICISF). Reno, Nevada: February 8-11, 1996. Contact:ICISF, 5018 Dorsey Hall Drive, Suite 104, Ellicott City, MD 21042;(410) 730-4311; fax: (410) 730-4313.
Disaster Preparedness. Sponsor: EPRI Power Delivery Group. New YorkCity: March 12-14, 1996. Contact: Susan Bisetti, EPRI, 3412 HillviewAvenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304; (415) 855-7919.
European Conference on Traumatic Stress in Emergency Services. Fordetails, contact: Roderick Orner, European Conference Secretariat,Department of Clinical Psychology, Baverstock House, St. Annes Road,Lincoln, U.K. LN2 5RA.
New Zealand National Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZNSEE)Annual Conference. New Plymouth, New Zealand: March 22-24, 1996.Contact: Administrative Secretary, NZNSEE, P.O. Box 312, Waikanae, NewZealand; fax: 04-293-3059.
1996 National Flood Conference. Sponsor: Federal Emergency ManagementAgency. Nashville, Tennessee: May 19-23, 1996. Contact Beth O'Brien,(301) 918-1479.
American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting. Baltimore, Maryland: May20-24, 1996. Deadline for abstracts: February 29. Tel: 1-800-966-2481;e-mail: meetingsinfo@kosmos.agu.org; www: http://www.agu.org.
Third Annual Congress on Natural Disaster Loss Reduction. Sponsor:Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction (IIPLR). Dallas,Texas: June 10-11, 1996. Contact: IIPLR, 73 Tremont Street, Suite 510,Boston, MA 02108-3910; (617) 722-0200; fax: (617) 722-0202/
Second International Scientific Conference on the Global Energy andWater Cycle (includes sessions on flood and drought prediction).Washington, D.C.: June 17-21, 1996. Contact: International GEWEXProject Office, 409 Third Street, S.W., Suite 203, Washington, DC20024; (202) 863-0012; fax: (202) 488-5364; e-mail: gewex@cais.com;www: http://www.cais.com/gewex/conf.html.
Destructive Water: Water-Caused Natural Disasters, Their Abatement andControl (held in conjunction with the North American Water andEnvironment Congress). Sponsors: International Association ofHydrological Sciences, American Society of Civil Engineers, andothers. Anaheim, California: June 24-28, 1996. Contact: Randolph S.Parker, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046,M.S. 415, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225; (303) 236-4882,ext. 295.
Wetlands '96: Forming Fair and Effective Partnerships (including atraining session on "Improving Communications and Analysis: Wetland,Floodplain, and River On-line Services and GIS Applications").Washington, D.C.: July 9-12, 1996. A call for abstracts, due February1, has been issued. Contact: Association of State Wetland Managers,P.O. Box 269, Berne, NY 12023-9745; (518) 872-1804; fax: (518) 872-2171.
Flashfloods: What We Have Learned Since the Big Thompson Flood -Twenty Years Later. Sponsors: Federal Emergency Management Agency,Colorado Office of Emergency Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,University of Colorado-Colorado Springs; U. S. Bureau of Reclamation.Fort Collins, Colorado: July 10-13, 1996. Abstracts due February 15.Contact Eve Gruntfest, Big Thompson Symposium, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, CO 80933-7150; (719) 593-3513; fax: (719) 593-3019;e-mail: ecg@sprint.uccs.edu
Littoral '96: Partnership in Coastal Zone Management. Portsmouth,England: September 16-19, 1996. Contact: Christine Tonkin, Littoral'96, University of Portsmouth, Ravelin House, Museum Road, Portsmouth,PO1 2QQ, U.K.; tel: +44 (0) 1705 843153; fax: +44 (0) 1705 843612.
13th Conference on Fire and Meteorology: International Perspectives onLandscape Fires. Lorne, Australia: October 27-31, 1996. Deadline forabstract submission is July 1, 1996. Contact: 13th OrganizingCommittee, P.O. Box 328, Fairfield, WA 99012, U.S.A.; (509) 283-2397;fax: (509) 283-2264; e-mail: jgreenlee@apc.igc.org.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Denver, Colorado:October 28-31, 1996. Contact: Vanessa George, 3300 Penrose Place,Boulder, CO 80301; (303) 447-2020; fax: (303) 447-1133.
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