COVID-19 to go? The role of disasters and evacuation in the COVID-19 pandemic

Hurricanes and Health: A Scoping Review of Recent Developments in Physical Injuries, Mental Health, and Emergency Interventions

Hurricanes, as one of the most devastating natural disasters, significantly impact the public's health, causing both physical injuries and long-lasting mental health issues. Although substantial research has focused on hurricane-related injuries, this study aims to synthesize findings from recent literature, specifically evaluating the 10 most recent hurricanes, to identify research gaps and inform future studies. This scoping review, conducted in accordance with PRISMA-Scr guidelines, assessed studies from PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane databases, and Medline as of February 2024. Eligibility criteria focused on studies examining physical and mental health impacts, COVID-19 effects, and emergency medical services (EMS) interventions related to Hurricanes Ian, Nicholas, Ida, Zeta, Delta, Sally, Laura, Isaias, Hanna, and Dorian. Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria. The studies were categorized into four themes: physical injuries and fatalities, mental health impacts, hurricane-COVID-19 interplay, and EMS interventions. Findings revealed varied mechanisms of injuries and deaths, significant mental health challenges, compounded crises due to COVID-19, and diverse EMS strategies, including AI utilization and strategic planning for medical care delivery. Addressing the social determinants of health and evaluating hurricane readiness initiatives were two gaps in the literature identified. Future research should focus on the mental health impacts and concurrent crisis challenges to develop comprehensive disaster management practices that enhance community resilience against future hurricanes and public health crises.

Social capital's impact on COVID-19 outcomes at local levels

Over the past thirty years, disaster scholars have highlighted that communities with stronger social infrastructure-including social ties that enable trust, mutual aid, and collective action-tend to respond to and recover better from crises. However, comprehensive measurements of social capital across communities have been rare. This study adapts Kyne and Aldrich's (Risk Hazards Crisis Public Policy 11, 61-86, 2020) county-level social capital index to the census-tract level, generating social capital indices from 2011 to 2018 at the census-tract, zipcode, and county subdivision levels. To demonstrate their usefulness to disaster planners, public health experts, and local officials, we paired these with the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index to predict the incidence of COVID-19 in case studies in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Illinois, and New York City. We found that social capital predicted 41-49% of the variation in COVID-19 outbreaks, and up to 90% with controls in specific cases, highlighting its power as diagnostic and predictive tools for combating the spread of COVID.

A Perspective towards Multi-Hazard Resilient Systems: Natural Hazards and Pandemics

The concept of resilience has been used extensively across the sciences in engineering and the humanities. It is applied to ecology, medicine, economics, and psychology. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has posed an extraordinary challenge to the resilience of healthcare systems, communities, and nations and has profoundly altered our previous day-to-day operations. This paper presents a discussion of the definitions and characteristics of resilient systems. Scenarios are utilized to qualitatively explore key relationships, responses, and paths for recovery across different system types. The purpose is to develop an integrated approach that can accommodate simultaneous threats to system resilience, in particular, impacts from a natural hazard in conjunction with COVID-19. This manuscript is the first to advocate for more in-depth and quantitative research utilizing transdisciplinary approaches that can accommodate considerations across our built environment and healthcare system infrastructures in pursuit of designing systems that are resilient to both natural hazards and pandemic impacts.

Dental professionals' attitude and willingness to respond during disaster events: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

In the present times, natural and man-made threats have questioned our existence on this planet. Health care professionals need to be aware of all the procedures to follow during such an event that threatens to paralyze the entire community and should be able to respond effectively.

OBJECTIVE

The present study was conducted to assess the willingness and attitude of dental professionals to render help during any disaster or catastrophic event.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The present cross-sectional study among 480 subjects who were residing in Tricity (Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula). Informed consent was taken from all the subjects. Systematic random sampling methodology was employed for selection for study sample. The study utilized a self-designed close-ended questionnaire written in English and verified by experts. The questionnaire was divided into two parts to collect the required information. The data was analyzed using SPSS software version 21; chi-square test and multiple regression analysis were used to arrive at the results.

RESULTS

More than 85% of subjects had awareness regarding natural and manmade disasters. A positive response was given by 79.2% of subjects regarding willingness to help during disaster. Educational qualification of subjects was significantly associated with attitude towards some aspects of disaster response (p<0.05). Postgraduate subjects and subjects who were academicians were more willing to render help (OR: 2.18 & 3.65 respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The study emphasizes the need for educational and training programs for dentists' regarding disaster management. A short course on emergency and disaster management can be included in undergraduate and postgraduate dental curriculum.