Return to Index of Disaster Research Newsletters
[A request taken from the APD-L listserve - APD-L@website.tamc.amedd. army.mil - a discussion list managed by the Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance]
Dear colleagues:
The Department of International Health of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health is conducting a survey among NGOs, international organizations, governmental/state organizations, universities, the private sector, and others on training material for humanitarian assistance.
The purpose of this survey is to get an overview of all training material and courses for humanitarian assistance available. The findings will be published in a catalogue, and posted on the Web site of the Department of International Health. Once posted this catalogue will provide a resource of available training materials, which can be consulted by all NGOs, international organizations, etc. By encouraging sharing of training materials we hope to reduce time and effort of NGOs and others in developing materials that are already available.
We would be grateful for your help in setting up this training material catalogue. We would highly appreciate your filling out [a] questionnaire. You can return the forms to Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Department of International Health, Attn: Elisabeth Pluut at the address [below]. Thank you for your cooperation.
[The questionnaire was too lengthy to include here, but should be available from the address below. - ed.]
Sincerely, Elisabeth Pluut, M.P.H.
Johns Hopkins University
School of Hygiene and Public Health
Department of International Health
Division of Health Systems
615 North Wolfe Street, 8th Floor
Baltimore, MD, 21205
(410) 955-3928
Fax: (410) 614-1419
E-mail: epluut@jhsph.edu
I'm trying to locate information about emergency communications centres whose primary purpose is to serve as a regional information gathering and dissemination facility (clearinghouse) in support of local EOCs rather than as a primary response/coordination facility.
Regards
Peter Anderson
Director, Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology
Simon Fraser University - Harbour Centre Campus
515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 5K3
Tel: (604) 291-4921
Fax: (604) 465-8797
VE7PSA/VE7SFU
E-mail: anderson@sfu.ca
Emergency Preparedness Information Exchange:
http://hoshi.cic.sfu.ca/epix
[We recently received the following note and wondered if those of you involved in search and rescue could help out Michael . . .]
I remember only part of an incredible story of a woman rescued from a collapsed building many days after an earthquake. The way I remember it was a woman found some two weeks after an earthquake in Mexico (I think). I remember that she was protected in either a stairway or elevator shaft. By that time, of course, the searchers were no longer looking for survivors, only bodies. That's why I remember the story.
I need the details for a program to motivate volunteer workers to persevere in search efforts. However, I don't want to use it without accurate details and was hoping someone familiar with natural disasters (earthquakes in particular) would remember such a miraculous rescue.
Thanks for any help you can provide,
Mike Wenger
michaelwenger@sprintmail.com
The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) has written a grant proposal to establish a Hazard Mitigation Mentoring Program in Central America. The Mentor Program would build on and be implemented in coordination with an ongoing program conducted by the Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment (USDE) of the Organization of American States (OAS). Based on a pilot project in Honduras, OAS is establishing a program throughout Central America with a focus on pre- and post-event mitigation planning, emergency preparedness planning, and simple flood warning systems for small river valleys. This OAS program, supported by the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and currently in its third phase, is providing a framework for integrated floodplain management in Central America.
The Mentor Program will provide a venue for discussion of floodplain management issues between the ASFPM and Central American professionals and organizations concerned with reduction of vulnerability to floods. The intent of the program is to build "in-house" capabilities in these countries. It would match approximately five professionals (engineers, planners, and/or hydrologists) from the U.S. with professional teams from five Central American countries. The U.S. experts will be selected from ASFPM, based upon mitigation experience, language capabilities, and availability. The professionals in Central America will be identified through their ongoing involvement in the program being executed by the OAS.
The Mentor Program would fund one or two week-long visits by each participant to their counterpart's country to exchange information on floodplain management. Visits by U.S. professionals to Central America would be to assess flood problems and suggest management strategies. The U.S. professionals will be briefed on recent flood disasters and problems of the host country by OAS before their first visit. Visits by Central American professionals to the U.S. would be to observe how the host's community manages its floodplains, for example. The mentors and their counterparts would sustain an ongoing dialogue throughout the life of the program by mail, e-mail, and additional visits where possible.
The purpose of the relationships between mentors and counterparts is to identify specific issues and develop potential workable solutions based on the mentors' experience and the local constraints and opportunities as identified by the local participants. In addition, the mentor relationship would provide professional peer contacts for the exchange of ideas and techniques on floodplain management. To culminate the project all participants would attend the ASFPM annual conference in 1999 and present their experience and accomplishments. Added products will be reports and published professional papers on lessons learned, both from the point of view of the ASFPM mentors and from that of the host communities.
The ASFPM is currently seeking funding for this proposal. Anyone with information on possible funding sources should contact Vince Parisi, Illinois Department of Natural Resources; (847) 705-4570; e-mail: Vparisi@dnrmail.il.state.us.
Inaugurated in November 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) Mediterranean Centre for Vulnerability Reduction was created to serve as a regional technical institution and reference center for the Mediterranean basin, focusing on the development of technical approaches and programs to help communities at risk strengthen their capacity to reduce vulnerability and manage risk. The center will also support the work of the numerous multilateral and bilateral organizations and international NGOs active in the fields of vulnerability reduction and risk management - agencies whose work all too often lacks larger institutional support and is difficult to sustain. Above all, the center will work to ensure that efforts to reduce vulnerability are consonant with the aim of long-term, sustainable human development.
- Center's Mandate as Defined by WHO -
The objective of the center is to undertake health research and multisectoral studies on different aspects of vulnerability reduction at the community level, within the framework of sustainable human development. The center will also be a tool for human resource development and for promotion of these goals. Specifically, the center will:
For further information about this new WHO initiative, contact the center director, Samir Ben Yahmed, WHO Mediterranean Centre for Vulnerability Reduction, 10 Rue Hannibal, Gammarth Superieur, 2070 Tunis, Tunisia; tel: 2161 774564; fax: 2161 741170: e-mail: oms.tunisie@rns.tn.
I am Edward Addy the executive director or NACEC, the North American Center For Emergency Communications.
Last year we launched a new system called DVIS (Disaster Victim Information System). The purpose of DVIS is to provide a very fast and easy way for victim information to be centralized and exchanged between agencies and organizations working within the disaster area. It is also used to assist those outside of the disaster who are looking for information on their family members and friends within the effected area.
The system has proven to work well. We believe that it could work much better if we were to change our current data entry method, from only allowing data to be entered into the system under the direct supervision of our response team staff, to making it possible for organizations, agencies, and individuals to also work with data entry. We believe that this would be possible by simply training and certifying those who would be entering data to make sure that the data is collected and entered into the system properly. We believe that the training and certification will take about 12 hours per person.
Information on the DVIS training and certification program can be found in the disaster services area of our web site: http://www.nacec.org
We hope to start this training and certification program next month on a national and international basis.
Would you please get this information out to your participating organizations so that they will be made aware of the DVIS system, should they be interested in participating.
Should you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Warmest Regards,
Edward Addy
NACEC Center
Minneapolis, MN
(6120 798-4269
E-mail: eaddy@nacec.org
Each Wednesday, the Emergency Information Infrastructure Partnership (EIIP) Virtual Forum presents fresh ideas, updates on current issues and programs, and the latest information from the world of emergency management. April begins a quarter with panel discussions devoted to preparedness issues:
To access any of the sessions above, as well as the informal "Brown Bag" sessions each Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. (EST), and the Round Table discussion each Thursday at 8:00 p.m. (EST), log in to http://www.emforum.org/vforum/formchat.htm. Transcripts of Wednesday and Thursday sessions are available from http://www.emforum.org/vlibrary/livechat.htm.
For more information, contact Avagene Moore, EIIP Coordinator, (931) 762-4768; e-mail: amoore@emforum.org - or - Ashley Streetman; e-mail: astreetman@emforum.org.
These are some more of the latest Internet resources we've discovered. For a list of selected Internet/Web sites dealing with disaster management, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html.
http://www.nifc.gov
The National Interagency Fire Center, in Boise, Idaho, is the
nation's primary logistical support center for wildland fire
suppression. The center is home to federal wildland fire experts in
fields as diverse as fire ecology, fire behavior, technology,
aviation, and weather. Working together and in concert with state and
local agencies, NIFC's role is to provide national response to
wildfire and other emergencies and to serve as a focal point for
wildland fire information and technology. The NIFC Web site provides
current fire information (including daily incident management
situation reports, National Weather Service fire weather forecasts,
and national fire news), information about and links to cooperating
agencies, and other information about NIFC projects.
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/gisbib
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/CID
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/test/alabama_cd.html
The NOAA Coastal Service Center (CSC) Web site includes several
resources, available from the URLs above, that could be useful to
coastal hazard managers:
The CSC site also provides information about CSC library services, coastal mapping and remote sensing, grant opportunities, the Coastal Change Analysis Program, and other CSC projects. Additional information about these resources is available from the NOAA Coastal Services Center, 2234 South Hobson Avenue, Charleston, SC 29405-2413; (803) 974-6200, 1-800-789-2234; fax: (803) 974-6224; e-mail: clearinghouse@csc.noaa.gov.
http://water.swc.state.nd.us/Devils_Lake/home.html
The "Devil's Lake On-line" Web site is a unique Internet
offering, focusing on a single emerging flood hazard - the rising
waters of this upper Great Plains lake. Produced by the North Dakota
State Water Commission, the site includes assorted situation reports,
news from and about the various groups, organizations, and govern-
mental agencies dealing with the flooding, the full text of "Devils
Lake Flood, 'Managing the Problem'" - a document prepared by a broadly
based flood task force that outlines a multifaceted strategy to combat
the problem, and a downloadable version of the "Devil's Lake Flood"
video that was prepared for Senate hearings on the disaster.
http://www.asce.org/govnpub/start.html
Many of America's dams have exceeded their intended life span,
are in critical need of repair, and pose a serious safety risk,
according to a report recently issued by the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE) and available from the Web site above. On March 6,
1998, the ASCE released its 1998 "Report Card for America's
Infrastructure," which examines policy issues related to civil
engineering structures in the U.S., including roads and bridges, mass
transit, schools, dams, and waste management systems. The report notes
that an alarming number of dams across the country are showing signs of age and lack proper maintenance.
Downstream development is increasing. Most older dams were built without adequate spillways . . .
Dam safety officials estimate that thousands of dams are at risk of failing or are disasters waiting to happen.
The ASCE also points out that, in the past 10 years, more than 200 dam failures have occurred; approximately 9,200 regulated dams nationwide are categorized as high-hazard - that is, their failure will likely cause significant loss of life and property; 35% of these dams have not been inspected since 1990 or earlier; and, the owners or managers of a majority of these dams do not have emergency action plans in place for timely downstream warning and evacuation. The report estimates the cost of repairing these structures and provides recommendations for improving dam safety across the nation.
http://www.rsc.ca/idndr/
The Canadian National Committee (CNC) for the International
Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) was established under
the auspices of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy
of Engineering to develop a national program to mitigate natural
disasters in Canada and to provide leadership in pursuing that goal.
The committee now publishes its newsletter, "Action," exclusively on
this CNC-IDNDR Web site, which also offers background information
about the committee and its work, lists upcoming events and new
publications, and provides links to other useful sites and sources of
information.
http://rmlectc.dri.du.edu/npstc/
Formed May 1, 1997, the National Public Safety Telecommunications
Council (NPSTC) is a federation of associations and federal agencies
involved with and concerned about public safety telecommunications.
The NPSTC Web site includes information about the council, press
releases, the full text of the National Institute of Justice report
"State and Local Law Enforcement Wireless Communications and
Interoperability," as well as several other reports.
http://WWW.nena9-1-1.org/
This is the Web site of the National Emergency Number Association
(NENA) - an organization with over 5,000 members concerned about the
effective use of "911" emergency telephone communications. NENA's
mission is to foster the technological advancement, availability, and
implementation of a universal emergency telephone number system. The
association promotes research, planning, training, and education in
order to further the protection of human life, the preservation of
property, and the maintenance of general community security.
http://www.geo.mtu.edu/department/classes/ge404
Students in a senior-level natural hazards class for geological
engineers at Michigan Tech University have developed a number of Web
documents "designed to produce some value added to hazard mitigation
efforts." All titles are accessible via links from the URL above; they
include:
El Nino: What? When? and How? by Andrea M Depoy
Volcanic Ash Clouds and Aircraft Safety by Gari C Mayberry
A Child's Look At Floodplains by Joy M Parke
The Volcanic Hazards of Ash and Tephra Fall by Jeremy Shaha
The Flood of the Century:
A Look into the 1997 Red River Flood by Michelle Broderson
Wildfire: Nature's Hottest Fury by Paul Brandes
Tornadoes by Jeremy Lewandowski
Meteor Impacts and Effects by Pat P Duby
Avalanche Defense Page by Richard H Sawall
Hurricanes: A Homeowner's Guide by Rebecca Chuhran
[Adapted from "IDNDR Informs" - the International Decade for Natural
Disaster Reduction newsletter for Latin America and the Caribbean]
http://www.netsalud.sa.cr/crid
We recommend the Web site of the Centro Regional de Informacion
Sobre Desastres (Regional Disaster Information Center - CRID) as an
excellent place to begin a search for information in either Spanish or
English on disasters and disaster management in Latin America and the
Caribbean. In addition, below are a few other useful Web sites:
http://www.sinfo.net/cepredenac/enos.html
The Centro de Coordinacion para la Prevencion de los Desastres
Naturales en America Central (Central American Center for Coordination
of Disaster Prevention - CEPREDENAC) was founded 10 years ago to
mitigate natural disasters in the Central America region. This Web
site provides information, in both Spanish and English, about the
center and its many programs; geographical, historical, and
statistical information and maps concerning hazards in the region;
recent news about specific events; a section on El Nino - including
general information, recent developments, regional activities and
plans, contacts, and new publications/documents; and links and contact
information for other individuals, institutions, and programs dealing
with hazards in the region.
http://www.cdera.org
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) is an
intergovernmental, regional management organization established in
1991 by an Agreement of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM). Its headquarters are in the Barbados. At present, CDERA has
sixteen participating states. CDERA's main function is to launch an
immediate and coordinated response to any disastrous event affecting
any participating state, once the state requests such assistance.
Other functions include:
The CDERA Web site provides information on the organization and programs of the agency; details about emergency management arrange- ments in each of the participating states; a list of upcoming events; situation reports; links; weekly news; facts sheets on the various hazards of the region; and details about CDERA's "Disaster Emergency Response and Management Systems (DERMS) Project."
http://www.itdg.org.pe/LaRed/index.htm
Red de Estudios Sociales en Prevencion de Desastres (Social
Studies Network for Disaster Prevention in Latin America - La Red) was
founded in 1992 to promote study of the social dimensions of
disasters, to strengthen links among social science disaster
researchers in the region, and encourage dissemination of scientific
disaster information to all segments of society. The La Red Web site
(in Spanish) describes the organization, provides an index of members,
and lists its many projects and publications.
La Red recently developed a computer-based disaster inventory system called "DesInventar," which allows users to collect and organize various information about natural disasters and to present the information in spatial and temporal formats. Information about DesInventar is available from the Observatorio Sismologico del Suroccidente Web site: http://osso.univalle.edu.co/desinventar/
"An Investigation of Interaction Between Human and Automation Elements in Alerting Systems," funding agency: National Science Foundation, $50,000, 12 months. Principal Investigator: Pamela McCauley-Bell, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Administration Building, Orlando, FL 32816-0150; (305) 275-2351.
"On-Line Weather Studies: Introduction to the Atmosphere Through the Use of Internet-Delivered Meteorological Information," funding agency: National Science Foundation, $125,000, 24 months. Principal Investigators: Ira W. Geer and Robert S. Weinbeck, American Meteorological Society, 45 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108-3631.
"Role of Insurance and Other Policy Instruments in Managing Catastrophic Risk," funding agency: National Science Foundation, $388,839, 24 months. Principal Investigators: Howard C. Kunreuther and Paul R. Kleindorfer, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104; e-mail: kunreuther@wharton.upenn.edu.
"NSF Representation on Performance-Based Design Project Steering Committee," funding agencies: National Science Foundation and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), $6,880, nine months. Principal Investigator: Susan K. Tubbesing, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, 499 14th Street, Suite 320, Oakland, CA 94612-1928; (510) 451-0905; fax: (510) 451-5411; e-mail: eeri@eeri.org.
Below are recent conference announcements received by the Natural
Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming disaster-related
meetings and training is available from our World Wide Web site:
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html
Disaster Recovery Planning. Offered by Binomial International Inc.
Dallas (April 6-8)
Boston: April 27-29
Atlanta: May 11-13
Chicago: June 1-3
Denver: Aug 17-19
Chicago: Sept 28-30
Dallas: Oct 19-21
Atlanta: Nov 16-18
Contact: Educational Division, Binomial International, 812 Proctor
Avenue, Ogdensburg, NY 13669, attn: Conference Coordinator;
1-800-361-8398; fax: (613) 692-2425; WWW:
http://www.binomial.com/
;
http://www.disasterrecovery.com
PPP 2000 Forum: "A Global Perspective on Reducing Losses from Natural Disasters." Washington, D.C.: April 14, 1998. Contact: Matthew Gentile, Institute of Business and Home Safety, 73 Tremont Street, Suite 510, Boston, MA 02108-3910; (617) 722-0200, ext. 208; fax: (617) 722-0202; e-mail: mgentile@ibhs.org.
International NGO Disaster Response in Russia Seminar. Organized by The Family. Saint Petersburg, Russia: April 28, 1998. Contact: David Kees, The Family; 7-812-5837039; e-mail: family@thefamily.spb.su.
Annual Catastrophe Conference. Sponsor: Property Claims Services. San Diego, California: May 4-6, 1998. Contact: Dorothy Knap, (732) 388- 5700; e-mail: gkerney@aisg.org;WWW: http://www.aisg.org/pcs/cat98/index.html.
Planning for the Next Drought: A National Drought Mitigation Center Workshop. Sponsors: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and National Governors' Association.
Contact: Vicki Wilcox, National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, P.O. Box 830749, Lincoln, NE 68583-0749; (402) 472-6707; fax: (402) 472-6614; e-mail: ndmc@enso.unl.edu; WWW: http://enso.unl.edu/ndmc/new/confinfo.htm.
American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) Annual Meeting. Seattle, Washington: May 9-13, 1998. Includes sessions on emergency management, including, on May 10, an "Emergency Management Higher Education Roundtable" (single day registration is available). For details, contact: ASPA, 1120 G Street, N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 393-7878; fax: (202) 638-4952; e-mail: info@aspanet.org; WWW: http://www.aspanet.org.
IT Disaster Recovery. Offered by: ICM - International Communications for Management and Exabyte Corporation. May 13-14, 1998; New York, New York. Contact: ICM Conferences, 303 East Wacker Drive, 20th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601; (312) 540-3010; fax: (312) 540-3015; WWW: http://www.icmconferences.com.
Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Invitational Workshop on Defining the Research Links Between Planning, Policy, Economics, and Earthquake Engineering. Berkeley, California: May 14-15, 1998. Contact: PEER, c/o University of Southern California School of Urban Planning and Development, 351 Von KleinSmid Center, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0042; e-mail: Mary Comerio, comerio@ced.berkeley.edu; or Peter Gordon, pgordon@usc.edu.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Annual Meeting and Fire Safety Exhibit. Cincinnati, Ohio: May 17-21, 1998. Contact: NFPA, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269-9101; (617) 770-3000; fax: (617) 770-0700; e-mail: custserv@nfpa.org; WWW:http://www.nfpa.org.
Disaster and After: An International Conference on the Practicalities of Information Service in Times of War and Other Catastrophes. University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K.: September 4-6, 1998. For details, seehttp://www.la-hq.org.uk/conf.htm.
Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) 1998 Annual Meeting: "Assessing and Managing Risks in a Democratic Society." Phoenix, Arizona: December 6- 9, 1998. Contact: SRA, 1313 Dolley Madison Boulevard, Suite 402, McLean, VA 22101; (703) 790-1745; fax: (703) 790-2672; e-mail: sra@burkinc.com; WWW: http://www.sra.org.
Sixth International Research and Advisory Panel Conference on Forced Migration. Sponsor: International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) and Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Gaza Strip: December, 13-16, 1998. Abstracts due July 1. For details on submission, contact: Karin Geuijen, Chair of the IRAP Programme Committee, University of Utrecht, Department of Cultural Anthropology, P.O. Box 80.140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands; tel: +31-30-253-4103; fax: +31-30-253-4666); e-mail: K.Geuijen@fsw.ruu.nl. To pre-register for the conference, contact: Husam El-Nounou, Public Relations Coordinator, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, P.O. Box 1049, Shuhada Street, El-Rimal Gaza City, Palestinian Areas via Israel; tel +972-7-824073/-965949/-825700; fax: +972-7-824072); e-mail: pr@gcmhp.net.
Symposium on Fire Economics, Planning, and Policy: Bottom Lines. San Diego, California: April 5-9, 1999. Contact: Philip N. Omi, Western Forest Fire Research Center (WESTFIRE), Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523; (970) 491-2626; fax: (970) 491-6754; e-mail: westfire@lamar.colostate.edu.
PROMIT 98 International Expo: "Solutions for Natural and Man-Made Disasters" and National Mitigation Summit. Chicago, Illinois: May 11- 13, 1999. Contact: National Building Protection Council, 6300 Park of Commerce Boulevard, P.O. Box 3051, Boca Raton, FL 33487-8229l (561) 988-0932; fax: (561) 241-1247; e-mail: nbpc@nbpc.org; WWW: http://www.promit.com.
Return to Index of Disaster Research Newsletters
Return to Hazards Center Home Page
hazctr@colorado.edu