Disaster Research 190

March 15, 1996

This newsletter is reprinted with the full knowledge and consent of the Natural HazardsResearch and Applications Information Center in Boulder, CO.

Table of contents

  1. Seeking Information on How the Internet Has Changed Your Life in Emergency Management
  2. Need Help Determining the Total Costs of Disasters
  3. President Raises FEMA Director to Cabinet-Level Post
  4. Pan-Pacific Hazards - Yet Another Web Resource
  5. WWW Lightning Update from NLSI
  6. And for Volcanoes Try . . .
  7. Disaster Field Manual for Environmental Health Specialists Available
  8. Federal Report on Risk Assessment and Management Available On-Line
  9. Network on Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) Postgraduate Diploma in Humanitarian Aid
  10. Additional Conferences and Training


Seeking Information on How the Internet Has Changed Your Life in Emergency Management

Please help me with my research.

I am looking at how the net has been used in emergency management anddisaster mitigation. There are numerous examples of how the net hasvalue in the aftermath - for archives, education, and interaction.Please tell me in what ways the internet has been helpful to you. Whatare your favorite case studies?

I am particularly interested in applications of the internet *during*an event. Also, please let me know other lists where I should postthis query. I gladly will forward the results to whomever might beinterested.

Thanks for your help. Eve Gruntfest, Geography Dept. University ofColorado, P.O. Box 7150, Colorado Springs, CO 80933: (719) 593-3513;fax: (719) 593-3019; e-mail: ecg@serf.uccs.edu


Need Help Determining the Total Costs of Disasters

Can someone steer me to some references which contain info on thetotal cost in $$$ of some of the larger earthquakes in recent timesi.e. Kobe, Northridge, Loma Prieta? I have looked through the stuff Ihave access to and am not seeing what I want. Maybe I am not lookingin the right places. If there is commentary therein regardingcommunication infrastructure so much the better. Thanks.Terry Spurgeon3128 Beacon DriveCoquitlam, B.C. V3C 3W9e-mail: tspurgeo@sfu.cahome phone: 604 464-1984work phone: 604 666-5489 Transport Canada Aviation


President Raises FEMA Director to Cabinet-Level Post

On February 26, 1996, President Clinton announced that the director ofthe Federal Emergency Management Agency, James Lee Witt, would becomea member of the presidential cabinet. In a speech later that day, Wittreplied that the action "is a clear message to the American people ofthe importance President Clinton places on emergency management. ThePresident understands the urgency of our response and recovery effortsand fully supports our work to begin effective mitigation prior tofuture disasters."


Pan-Pacific Hazards - Yet Another Web Resource

Those interested in earthquake, tsunami and volcano hazards in thePacific Rim may want to review the abstracts of papers and postersscheduled for presentation at the Pan Pacific Hazards '96 conferencethis summer. The URL is:
http://hoshi.cic.sfu.ca/~anderson/hazards96/call.html
The abstracts (full text), titles and authors' names are in asearchable database. The conference program, registration and otherinformation is available at the same location.


WWW Lightning Update from NLSI

The National Lightning Safety Institute has updated its WWW page,which is accessible via a new URL:
http://www.lightningsafety.com/
Whether your interest is education about the safety hazard,engineering problems with structures, or curiosity about some "ReallyGood Links" to other lightning sites...check us out.


And for Volcanoes Try . . .

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/
Those people at the University of North Dakota must have a lot of timeon their hands - between waiting out the latest arctic blast andblizzard and trucking through the drifts to the next home hockey game.And they've put that time to good use (at least in the computerdepartment); UND was a pioneer in e-mail lists for disastercommunications and now they've put up a sharp Web site - called"Volcano World" - covering almost all aspects of volcanoes. The homepage includes the following items: What is Volcano World?: Volcanoesof the World; Volcanic Parks and Monuments; Learning about Volcanoes;Test your Knowledge of Volcanoes Contest; Ask a Volcanologist; SearchVolcano World; Search the Bulletin of Volcanology; Volcano News; and aspace for providing comments. Definitely worth a visit.


Disaster Field Manual for Environmental Health Specialists Available

The California Association of Environmental Health Administrators(CAEHA) publishes a Disaster Field Manual for Environmental HealthSpecialists. Ordering information may be obtained from Allison Carlosat CAEHA (916) 983-1846.


Federal Report on Risk Assessment and Management Available On-Line

The on-line publication RiskWorld (http://www.riskworld.com/) invitesthe risk community to take its first look at the draft report of thefederal Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management on April 24when the report is to be released. The commission's long-awaitedreport is expected to have a major impact on how the federalgovernment uses risk assessment and risk management in regulatoryprograms.

Although the report itself will not be available for public reviewuntil the April 24 release date, an advance news article is currentlyon-line in RiskWorld's news department. RiskWorld is making the reportavailable to the risk community via the Internet's World Wide Web atthe request of the commission's Executive Director Gail Charnley.

Mary Bryant
RiskWorld
Tec-Com Inc.
Knoxville, Tennessee
E-mail: bryant@usit.net
(423) 691-0176
Fax: (423) 691-0229


Network on Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) Postgraduate Diploma in Humanitarian Aid

Over the past decade, the scale of humanitarian crises has escalateddramatically. War, famine or persecution has erupted in locations asdiverse as ex-Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and theformer Soviet Union. Emergencies in these countries and many othershave shown the importance of assistance for survival. The expansion ofsuch activities has shown the need for more professional managers andspecialists, as well as a higher level of public awareness.

The Network on Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) postgraduate diploma waslaunched in 1993 as a contribution to professional training in thefield of humanitarian aid. The project was initiated by the EuropeanCommunity Humanitarian Office (ECHO), the body which finances andfacilitates humanitarian actions worldwide on behalf of the EuropeanUnion and its member states.

Organised under the auspices of the Erasmus-Socrates program ofpostgraduate exchanges in the European Union, the diploma is currentlytaught in five universities: Aix-Marseille III (France), Bochum(Germany), Deusto-Bilbao (Spain), Universite Catholique de Louvain(Belgium), Oxford (United Kingdom).

The one-year course is open to post-graduates. Preference is given tostudents with some field experience in humanitarian assistance. Thecourse comprises an intensive introductory program, general courses, aspecialisation, and a secondment on field work. For further detailsabout the course, contact a participating university listed below.

The course starts with a 10-day intensive course bringing together allstudents and lecturers involved in the network for introductory casestudies, discussions, lectures, and workshops. That is followed bygeneral courses in

On completing the core courses, students opt for a specialisation fromamong the five core topics, and may change universities to followtheir choice. The course finishes with a secondment to a humanitariannon-governmental organisation or an international institution.

NOHA Network: participation universities

GERMANY
Institut fur Friedenssicherungsrecht und
Humanitares Volkerrecht Ruhr-Universitat Bochum
Universitatsstr. 150,
D-44780 Bochum
Fax +49 234 709 4208

SPAIN
Univerdad de Deusto-Bilbao
Apartado 1
E-48080
Fax +34 4 445 0704

FRANCE
Universite d'Aix-Marseille III
Pavillon de Lanfant 346
Routes des Alpes
F-13100 Aix-en-Provence
Fax +33 42 23 09 71

BELGIUM
Departement des Sciences Politiques et Sociales
Universite Catholique de Louvain
Place Montesquieu 1/14
B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve
Fax +32 10 47 29 97

UNITED KINGDOM
Refugee Studies Program
University of Oxford
Queen Elizabeth House
21 St Giles
Oxford OX1 3LA
Fax +44 1865 270 721

Address for universities interested in joining NOHA Network:
ECHO, European Commission, 200 Rue de la Loi, 1049 Brussels, Belgium


Additional Conferences and Training

These are the latest announcements we've received regarding upcomingmeetings. Most previous issues of DR contain additional notices. For a*comprehensive* list of upcoming disaster-related conferences, see ourWorld Wide Web page:
http://adder.colorado.edu/~hazctr/Home.html

Upcoming ADPC Courses:
The following courses/conferences on being offered in 1996 by theAsian Disaster Preparedness Center, Asian Institute of Technology,P.O. Box 2754, Bangkok 10501, Thailand; tel: (66-2) 524-5391, 524-5362; fax: (66-2) 524-5360; e-mail: adpc@ait.ac.th:

Utah Floodplain Management Association Conference: "Fostering Publicand Professional Education in the Principles of Floodplain Management"and "Urban Encroachment into Floodways and Floodplains." Salt LakeCity, Utah: April 11, 1996. Contact: Judy Watanabe, ComprehensiveEmergency Management, 1110 State Office Building, Salt Lake City, UT84114; (801) 538-2750.

Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) Western RegionalTechnical Seminar: Earthquake Engineering for Dams. Sacramento,California: April 11-12, 1996. Contact: ASDSO, 450 Old Vine Street,Lexington, KY 40507; (606) 257-5140; fax: (606) 323-1958.

Satellite Videoconference: "Emergency Management: New Approaches toSafeguarding your Community." Sponsors: American Public WorksAssociation and Oklahoma State University. April 17, 1996, 10:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. CST. Contact: Sarah Kerwin, American Public WorksAssociation, 106 West 11th Street, Suite 1800, Kansas City, MO 64105-1806; (816) 472-6100, ext. 511; fax: (816) 472-1610.

Survive! Business Continuity Group Spring Conference: "Strategies andTechniques for Business Continuity Planning." London: April 17-18,1996. Contact: Survive! Secretariat, The Chapel, Royal VictoriaPatriotic Building, Fitzhugh Grove, London SW18 3SX, U.K.; tel: 0181-874 6266; fax: 0181-874 6446.

Women's Issues in Emergency Settlement: New Approaches toInternational Humanitarian Assistance and Gender. Sponsor: Universityof Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Engineering ProfessionalDevelopment, Disaster Management Center. Madison, Wisconsin: April 20,1996. Contact: Disaster Management Center, Department of EngineeringProfessional Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 432 NorthLake Street, Madison, WI 53706; (800) 462-0876 or (608) 262-2061; fax:(608) 263-3160; e-mail: custserv@epd.engr.wisc.edu, or listserv@epd.engr.wisc.edu, message: "send welcome"; WWW: http://epdwww.engr.wisc.edu.

International Seminar on Medical Response in Disasters. Host: HealthServices of Vina del Mar. Co-sponsors: Chilean Ministry of Health,National Emergency Office; and Pan American Health Organization/WorldHealth Organization (PAHO/WHO). Quillota, Chile: April 24-26, 1996.Contact: Dr. Pedro Olivares Tirado, Hospital de Quilpue, Quillota,Chile; tel: (56-32) 910-445, 910-436, 910-947; fax: (56-32) 921-875,926-837.

Health Emergencies in Large Populations. Sponsors: InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and PAHO/WHO. Host: John A. BurnsSchool of Medicine, University of Hawaii. Honolulu, Hawaii: April 29-May 17, 1996. Contact: ICRC, Medical Division, HELP '96-UH, 19 avenuede la Paix, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (022) 730-2810; fax: (022)733-9674.

Crisis: A Crisis Planning, Management and Communications Workshop forBusiness Communicators. Offered by: Strategic Research Institute(SRI). Denver, Colorado: May 9-10, 1996. Contact: SRI, 500 FifthAvenue, New York, NY 10110; (212) 302-1800, or (800) 599-4950; fax;(212) 302-9850.

International Diploma Course in Emergency Preparedness and CrisisManagement. (Focusing on health aspects of disasters.) Sponsors: WorldHealth Organization (WHO) and University of Geneva. Geneva,Switzerland: June 2-28, 1996. Contact: DHA/EPP, WHO, 20, Ave. Appia,CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland; fax: (41-22) 791-4844.

Survive! Business Continuity Group USA 3rd Annual Conference andExhibition. Chicago, Illinois: June 5-7, 1996. Contact: Survive!Secretariat, The Chapel, Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, FitzhughGrove, London SW18 3SX, U.K.; tel: 0181-874 6266; fax: 0181-874 6446.

Short Course in "Quantitative Risk Assessment for Environmental andOccupational Health Hazards." Sponsor: Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology - Program in Technology, Management and Policy. Cambridge,Massachusetts: Basic Course - June 24-28, 1996; Practicum - July 1-3,1996. Contact: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program inTechnology, Management and Policy, Room E40-242, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307; (617) 253-7693; fax: (617) 253-7140; e-mail: tpp@mit.edu(subject line: Risk Course).

RESCHEDULED:
7th National Institute of Urban Search and Rescue (NI/USR) Conferenceand Forum: Research and Development for Emergency Response. Las Vegas,Nevada: September 3-6, 1996. Contact: NI/USR, P.O Box 90909, SantaBarbara, CA 93190; (800) 767-0093; fax: (805) 966-6178; e-mail:3090usar@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu; WWW: http://niusr.org/~usar.

Survive! Business Continuity Group Southern Africa 2nd AnnualConference and Exhibition. Mid Rand, South Africa: September 10-11,1996. Contact: Survive! Secretariat, The Chapel, Royal VictoriaPatriotic Building, Fitzhugh Grove, London SW18 3SX, U.K.; tel: 0181-874 6266; fax: 0181-874 6446.

Fourth New Mexico Symposium on Disaster Medical Issues. Albuquerque,New Mexico: September 22-24, 1996. Contact: Carol Glavey, ConferenceCoordinator, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Schoolof Medicine, Office of Continuing Medical Education, Campus Box 713,Albuquerque, NM 87131-5126; (505) 277-3942; fax: (505) 277-8604;e-mail:cglavey@medusa.unm.edu

International Conference on Disaster Management - National Experiencesin Disaster Response and Rehabilitation. Merida, Venezuela: October11-14, 1996. Abstracts due March 30. Contact: Comite Organizador,Apartado Postal 344, Merida 5101, Venezuela; tel/fax: (58-74) 634-773;442-076; e-mail: confmer@bolivar.funmrd.gov.ve, or alejo@bolivar.funmrd.gov.ve.

Third Asia-Pacific Conference on Emergency and Disaster Medicine.Bali, Indonesia: October 15-19, 1996. Contact: Conference Secretariat,c/o Pacto Convex Ltd., Hotel Borobudur Intercontinental, 3rd Floor,Jalan Lapangan Banteng Selatan, Jakarta 10710, Indonesia; tel: 62-21-2311363, 3805555, ext. 76128-9; fax: 62-21-3810837.



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Last Modified: 03/18/96