Twitter as a Potential Disaster Risk Reduction Tool. Part IV: Competency-based Education and Training Guidelines to Promote Community Resiliency

Strategies for disaster risk reduction education: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION

For many years, numerous researches and risk reduction activists have emphasized the importance of public awareness and education for disaster risk reduction (DRR). These needs, due to human natural manipulation, have increased. The present study was aimed to assess and determine the evidence on the strategies for education of DRR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was a systematic review of publications and gray literatures regarding to strategies for education of DRR conducted in December 2016. Fifteen articles and dissertations published during January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2016 were extracted through PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Ovid, Google Scholar, Scientific Information Database, Magiran, and Irandoc with the inclusion criteria of English and Persian language. Thematic analysis technique was used to analyze the articles.

RESULTS

The thematic analyses revealed eight major categories of DRR educational strategies such as raising knowledge, educational needs assessment, educational planning, educational approaches, educational content, educational tools, involved organizations, and educational learning barriers and challenges.

CONCLUSIONS

Most countries have launched DRR education activities, but these actions are not enough, and there are some gaps between what is it and what should be. More effective and efficient teaching and learning strategies are needed to increase the effectiveness of preparedness and DRR activities at all levels of community.

Assessment of the Public Health Risks and Impact of a Tornado in Funing, China, 23 June 2016: A Retrospective Analysis

(1) Background: Tornadoes are one of the deadliest disasters but their health impacts in China are poorly investigated. This study aimed to assess the public health risks and impact of an EF-4 tornado outbreak in Funing, China; (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis on the characteristics of tornado-related deaths and injuries was conducted based on the database from the Funing's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Funing People's Hospital. A change-point time-series analysis of weekly incidence for the period January 2010 to September 2016 was used to identify sensitive infectious diseases to the tornado; (3) Results: The 75 to 84 years old group was at the highest risk of both death (RR = 82.16; 95% CIs = 19.66, 343.33) and injury (RR = 31.80; 95% CI = 17.26, 58.61), and females were at 53% higher risk of death than males (RR = 1.53; 95% CIs = 1.02, 2.29). Of the 337 injuries, 274 injuries (81%) were minor. Most deaths occurred indoors (87%) and the head (74%) was the most frequent site of trauma during the tornado. Five diseases showed downward change-points; (4) Conclusions: The experience of the Funing tornado underscores the relative danger of being indoors during a tornado and is successful in avoiding epidemics post-tornado. Current international safety guidelines need modification when generalized to China.

Public Health, Population Health, and Epidemiology Informatics: Recent Research and Trends in the United States

Objectives: To survey advances in public and population health and epidemiology informatics over the past 18 months. Methods: We conducted a review of English-language research works conducted in the domain of public and population health informatics and published in MEDLINE or Web of Science between January 2015 and June 2016 where information technology or informatics was a primary subject or main component of the study methodology. Selected articles were presented using a thematic analysis based on the 2011 American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Public Health Informatics Agenda tracks as a typology. Results: Results are given within the context developed by Dixon et al., (2015) and key themes from the 2011 AMIA Public Health Informatics Agenda. Advances are presented within a socio-technical infrastructure undergirded by a trained, competent public health workforce, systems development to meet the business needs of the practice field, and research that evaluates whether those needs are adequately met. The ability to support and grow the infrastructure depends on financial sustainability. Conclusions: The fields of public health and population health informatics continue to grow, with the most notable developments focused on surveillance, workforce development, and linking to or providing clinical services, which encompassed population health informatics advances. Very few advances addressed the need to improve communication, coordination, and consistency with the field of informatics itself, as identified in the AMIA agenda. This will likely result in the persistence of the silos of public health information systems that currently exist. Future research activities need to aim toward a holistic approach of informatics across the enterprise.

Twitter as a Potential Disaster Risk Reduction Tool. Part I: Introduction, Terminology, Research and Operational Applications

Twitter, a popular communications platform, is identified as contributing to improved mortality and morbidity outcomes resulting from the 2013 Hattiesburg, Mississippi EF-4 Tornado. This study describes the methodology by which Twitter was investigated as a potential disaster risk reduction and management tool at the community level and the process by which the at-risk population was identified from the broader Twitter user population. By understanding how various factors contribute to the superspreading of messages, one can better optimize Twitter as an essential communications and risk reduction tool. This study introduces Parts II, III and IV which further define the technological and scientific knowledge base necessary for developing future competency base curriculum and content for Twitter assisted disaster management education and training at the community level.