Background: A coordinated disaster response needs a well-organized structure and a locally adapted framework. In light of this, the COVID-19 pandemic offered an opportunity to renovate the response structure, which exhibited deficiencies during the pandemic. Iran shares the experience of an integrated response structure named the Reform Incidents Command System. It includes an integrated approa...

TOPIC Meeting the mental health needs of disaster response volunteers. Voluntary disaster response organizations deployed volunteers across the country following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. PURPOSE Disaster response volunteers may experience mental health needs, particularly following extended or multiple deployments. This article attempts to heighten the awareness of psychiatric mental heal...

Nurses serve as leaders in disaster preparedness and response at multiple levels: within their own homes and neighborhoods, at disaster scenes, and the workplace, which can vary from a health care facility, in the community, or at the state, national, or international level. This chapter provides an overview on theories of leadership with a historical context for nursing leadership; setting the...

Classic sociological theory can be used to interpret the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in the United States on 29 August 2005. The delayed and ineffective response to the storm and the subsequent failure of the levees become more understandable when one considers the latent goals of social control in disaster recovery. Constructing the survivors as suspect or criminal and ...

During disaster times, we need specific information to rapidly plan a disaster response, especially in sudden-onset disasters. Due to the inadequate capacity of Routine Health Information Systems (RHIS), many developing countries face a lack of quality pre-disaster health-related data and efficient post-disaster data processes in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Considering the significan...

Disaster preparedness and disaster response should be a capability of all academic health centers. The authors explore the potential role and impact of academic medical centers (AMC)s in disaster response. The National Disaster Medical System and the evolution of disaster medical assistance teams (DMAT) are described, and the experience at one AMC with DMAT is reviewed. The recent deployment of...

Information is an essential part of disaster management. Information systems (IS) are a key means of providing the right information at the right time to support response to a disaster, and fostering collaborative facilitators such as situation awareness, common ground and communities of practice. However for these collaborative facilitators to support ‘downstream events’ (i.e. disaster respons...

In this study we use a cross-sectional survey to evaluate the nutritional response to the 1998 Bangladesh Flood Disaster by 15 relief agencies using standards developed by the Sphere Project. The Sphere Project is a recent attempt by agencies around the world to establish universal minimum standards for the purpose of ensuring quality and accountability in disaster response. The main outcomes m...

iran's health system is expanding the disaster and emergency higher education programs over the country to enhance the capacity of human resources for effective and efficient disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. in this article we present an overview about the initiatives and progress of disaster and emergency health higher education in iran. following the bam earthquake, i...