The Social Construction of Disaster Disaster is widely perceived as an event beyond human control. The capricious hand of fate has moved against unsuspecting human communities, creating massive destruction and despair.[i] The sudden randomness of the event accentuates the cruelty of its effects, as surely the victims would have acted differently, had they known the risk. Other nations and organ...

Previous studies in developing countries have demonstrated post-disaster stress disorders in a substantial share of the people living through a natural calamity, but questions have remained as to the severity of these mental health problems. This article reports information derived from a 1987 study of Ecuadorian earthquake victims that shows many of the victims had diagnosable psychiatric diso...

Disasters like terrorist attacks, earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcano eruptions are usually unpredictable events that affect a high number of people. We propose an approach that can be used as a decision support tool for a post-disaster response that allows the assignment of victims to hospitals and organizes their transportation via emergency vehicles. Exploiting Operational Research and Cons...

Health disparities are exacerbated during times of disasters. To decrease health disparities, it is essential that health care providers understand the specific needs, culture, and norms of individuals, groups, and populations in a disaster. Survivors respond and recover from disaster events within the context of their culture and beliefs; therefore, implementing cultural competent intervention...

of the Tohoku Region was the 4th largest earthquake recorded in human history. It was a very complex disaster because of an accident that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi (No. 1) Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO) which was triggered by a total loss of power after seven Tsunamis extending from 30 minutes to 6 hours after the earthquake occurred, thereby resulting i...

BACKGROUND The largest earthquake on record in Japan (magnitude 9.0) occurred on March 11, 2011, and the subsequent tsunami devastated the Pacific coast of Northern Japan. These further triggered the Fukushima I nuclear power plant accidents. Such a hugely complex disaster inevitably has negative psychological effects on general populations as well as on the direct victims. While previous disas...

In cases of mass disaster, there is often a need for managing, analyzing, and comparing large numbers of biological samples and DNA profiles. This requires the use of laboratory information management systems for large-scale sample logging and tracking, coupled with bioinformatic tools for DNA database searching according to different matching algorithms, and for the evaluation of the significa...

STUDY OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the role of social factors, especially social support for sleep, among victims living at home around 1-2 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. DESIGN A cross-sectional household survey was conducted between May and December 2012 (14-21 months after the disaster) in the Ishinomaki area, Japan. Univariate and multivariate logis...

Hurricane Katrina brought to the surface serious questions about the capacity of the public health system to respond to community-wide disaster. The storm and its aftermath severed developmentally protective family and community ties; thus its consequences are expected to be particularly acute for vulnerable adolescents. Research confirms that teens are at risk for a range of negative outcomes ...

BACKGROUND Earthquakes, floods, droughts, storms, mudslides, landslides, and forest wild fires are serious threats to human lives and properties. The present study aimed to study the environmental characteristics and pathogenic traits, recapitulate experiences, and augment applications of medical reliefs in tropical regions. METHODS Analysis was made on work and projects of emergency medical ...