scholarly journals Telluric and Climate-Related Risk Awareness, and Risk Mitigation Strategies in the Azores Archipelago: First Steps for Building Societal Resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8653
Author(s):  
Ante Ivčević ◽  
Isabel Estrela Rego ◽  
Rui Gaspar ◽  
Vania Statzu
Keyword(s):  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Risk Awareness ◽  
Azores Archipelago ◽  
The North ◽  
Risk Mitigation Strategies

Islands are often considered excellent socio-ecological laboratories for testing the rapidity of global change since they experience the climate effects of sea-level rise faster than other areas. The Azores are a Portuguese volcanic archipelago located on the junction of the three tectonic plates: the Eurasian, the African and the North American plates. São Miguel, the main island of the Azores archipelago, hosts three active volcanoes, but the last significant volcanic eruption was the Capelinhos volcano on the island of Faial in 1957. Hence, the Azores offers the opportunity to assess insular risk awareness, facing both telluric and climate-related hazards. The key research question emerges from their natural situation: how does the local population perceive the threat of the natural hazards that occur in Azores? Because risks are socially constructed and depend on the uniqueness of territories, risk mitigation strategies must focus on the individual experiences of local dwellers, as a relationship between risk awareness and such strategies may be expected. To analyze this relationship, a web-based survey with a questionnaire including these variables was administered to a sample of Azoreans. The study aimed to assess risk awareness of the Azorean population and find a relationship between this and reported mitigation strategies. The results gave a preliminary insight into Azorean risk awareness of natural hazards and showed a significant positive relationship between risk awareness-raising activities and reported mitigation strategies. This is relevant information for municipalities and regional governments of areas with similar risk exposures, showing that, although risk awareness alone is not enough for measures to be implemented, it may be an important motivational first step for this to occur.

scholarly journals Happy New Year! Do New Year’s Eve Festivities Influence the Workload of the Emergency Department of an Urban Hospital?

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s133-s134
Author(s):  
Annelies Scholliers ◽  
Stefan Gogaert ◽  
Dimitri De Fré ◽  
Inge D’haese ◽  
Carine Vandycke
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Urban Hospital ◽  
Young Males ◽  
The North ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Risk Mitigation Strategies ◽  
New Year’S Eve ◽  
The Impact

Introduction:Bruges is the largest city in the province of West-Flanders in Belgium. Because of its ample canals, it is sometimes referred to as “Venice of the North.” As such, it is a major tourist destination, and during New Year’s Eve, there are many festivities. The AZ Sint-Jan is the largest hospital providing medical care to the area.Aim:To examine the impact of the New Year’s Eve festivities on the workload of the emergency department of AZ Sint-Jan.Methods:Data was analyzed for every patient presenting to the emergency department from the 31st of December starting from 06:00 PM until the 1st of January 08:00 AM from 2009 until 2018. The time of entry, type of injury, gender, age, and whether the patient was intoxicated were evaluated. Ten other dates in this time period were obtained for comparison via a random date generator. Data were analyzed using Jasp©.Results:There were 826 patients included for analysis. On average, 41 patients presented themselves to the emergency department on New Year’s Eve between 06:00 PM and 08:00 AM. On a random day, there were only 31 patients. Most of the patients on New Year’s Eve arrived between 00:00 AM and 08:00 AM. 57% of all patients were male. 22% of all patients were intoxicated with alcohol. From 00:00 AM until 08:00 AM, one in three patients were intoxicated. The average age on admission was 36 years.Discussion:During New Year’s Eve there is a consistently higher workload in the emergency department. There is an influx of young males who are intoxicated. These patients tend to stay a long time to “sleep it off” and put considerable stress on the available resources. More attention should be given to risk mitigation strategies tailored to this group to prevent excessive drinking.

scholarly journals Hydroxychloroquine: does prophylaxis work?

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 5805
Author(s):  
Atul Jha ◽  
Manish Bhartiya ◽  
Vijay R. Kumar ◽  
Vimal Upreti ◽  
Parag Deshmukh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
The North ◽  
Group I ◽  
Risk Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Front Line Workers ◽  
Group Ii ◽  
Exposure Prophylaxis

Background: Healthcare workers are front line workers in management of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The higher risk of acquiring the infection due to increased contact and exposures has prompted multiple risk mitigation strategies. To assess the role of hydroxychloroquine pre-exposure prophylaxis in prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst HCWs.Methods: This retrospective cohort study assessed the effect of HCQS prophylaxis amongst HCWs in a tertiary care hospital in the north-eastern part of India. All HCWs, involved in management of SARS-CoV-2 were enrolled. The subjects were retrospectively divided in two groups on HCQ prophylaxis. Group I (51.8%, n=116) taking HCQ prophylaxis and group II (48.2%, n=108) not taking the prophylaxis. The demographic characteristics, use of PPE, HCQ prophylaxis and side effect profile were noted. Results: Of the whole cohort, 22.8% (n=51) subjects tested positive. In group I (n=116), 24 subjects (20.7%) tested positive, whereas in Group II (n=108), 27 subjects (25.0%) tested positive. Further analysis of the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst the two groups demonstrated that the although the rate of infection was lower (20.7% vs 25%) in Group I as compared to group II [X2 (1, N=224)=0.371, p=0.5] but it was statistically insignificant.Conclusions: Our study involving HCWs, does not show a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of infection with pre-exposure prophylaxis. Based on our findings and published literature, a prophylaxis of HCQS against the SARS-CoV-2 infection cannot be recommended.

scholarly journals Use of failure modes and effects analysis to mitigate potential risks prior to implementation of an intravenous compounding technology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Ann Feemster ◽  
Melissa Augustino ◽  
Rosemary Duncan ◽  
Anand Khandoobhai ◽  
Meghan Rowcliffe
Keyword(s):  
Medication Safety ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Hazard Index ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Investigational Drug ◽  
Workflow Optimization ◽  
Proactive Approach ◽  
Risk Mitigation Strategies

Abstract Disclaimer In an effort to expedite the publication of articles related to the COVID-19 pandemic, AJHP is posting these manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify potential failure points in a new chemotherapy preparation technology and to implement changes that prevent or minimize the consequences of those failures before they occur using the failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) approach. Methods An FMEA was conducted by a team of medication safety pharmacists, oncology pharmacists and technicians, leadership from informatics, investigational drug, and medication safety services, and representatives from the technology vendor. Failure modes were scored using both Risk Priority Number (RPN) and Risk Hazard Index (RHI) scores. Results The chemotherapy preparation workflow was defined in a 41-step process with 16 failure modes. The RPN and RHI scores were identical for each failure mode because all failure modes were considered detectable. Five failure modes, all attributable to user error, were deemed to pose the highest risk. Mitigation strategies and system changes were identified for 2 failure modes, with subsequent system modifications resulting in reduced risk. Conclusion The FMEA was a useful tool for risk mitigation and workflow optimization prior to implementation of an intravenous compounding technology. The process of conducting this study served as a collaborative and proactive approach to reducing the potential for medication errors upon adoption of new technology into the chemotherapy preparation process.

A Low-Fidelity Stochastic Model of Viral Spread in Aircraft to Assess Risk Mitigation Strategies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh McCue
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Traffic Network ◽  
Computationally Efficient ◽  
Passenger Compartment ◽  
Stochastic Effects ◽  
Viral Spread ◽  
Risk Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Baseline Health

Abstract The purpose of this work is to develop a computationally efficient model of viral spread that can be utilized to better understand influences of stochastic factors on a large-scale system - such as the air traffic network. A particle-based model of passengers and seats aboard a single-cabin 737-800 is developed for use as a demonstration of concept on tracking the propagation of a virus through the aircraft's passenger compartment over multiple flights. The model is sufficiently computationally efficient so as to be viable for Monte Carlo simulation to capture various stochastic effects, such as number of passengers, number of initially sick passengers, seating locations of passengers, and baseline health of each passenger. The computational tool is then exercised in demonstration for assessing risk mitigation of intervention strategies, such as passenger-driven cleaning of seating environments and elimination of middle seating.

Administrative risks challenging the adoption of smart contracts in construction projects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asli Pelin Gurgun ◽  
Kerim Koc
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Risk Category ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Criteria Weights

PurposeAs a remedy to usually voluminous, complicated and not easily readable construction contracts, smart contracts can be considered as an effective and alternative solution. However, the construction industry is merely known as a frontrunner for fast adoption of recent technological advancements. Numerous administrative risks challenge construction companies to implement smart contracts. To highlight this issue, this study aims to assess the administrative risks of smart contract adoption in construction projects.Design/methodology/approachA literature survey is conducted to specify administrative risks of smart contracts followed by a pilot study to ensure that the framework is suitable to the research question. The criteria weights are calculated through the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process method, followed by a sensitivity analysis based on degree of fuzziness, which supports the robustness of the developed hierarchy and stability of the results. Then, a focus group discussion (FGD) is performed to discuss the mitigation strategies for the top-level risks in each risk category.FindingsThe final framework consists of 27 sub-criteria, which are categorized under five main criteria, namely, contractual, cultural, managerial, planning and relational. The findings show that (1) regulation change, (2) lack of a driving force, (3) works not accounted in planning, (4) shortcomings of current legal arrangements and (5) lack of dispute resolution mechanism are the top five risks challenging the adoption of smart contracts in construction projects. Risk mitigation strategies based on FGD show that improvements for the semi-automated smart contract drafting are considered more practicable compared to full automation.Originality/valueThe literature is limited in terms of the adoption of smart contracts, while the topic is receiving more attention recently. To support easy prevalence of smart contracts, this study attempts the most challenging aspects of smart contract adoption.

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