Facilitators and barriers to effective information sharing during international disaster response

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 469-486
Author(s):  
Sara Waring, PhD, PGCert L&T, MSc, BSc (Hons) ◽  
Michael Humann, PhD, PGCert L&T, MSc, BSc (Hons) ◽  
Natasha Dawson, MSc, BSc (Hons)
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Interdisciplinary Teams ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Emergency Responders ◽  
Facilitators And Barriers ◽  
The Uk ◽  
International Boundaries

Effective information sharing is essential for the successful management of disasters. But as 30 years’ worth of UK public inquiries repeatedly highlight, differences in terminology and goals across agencies can make this difficult to achieve. The growing scale and intensity of disasters raises additional challenges, with emergency responders being required to work across regions and even countries. The following study focuses on identifying facilitators and barriers to information sharing in dynamic contexts, where interdisciplinary teams from across geographic regions form ad hoc to rapidly address challenges. This case study draws on 257 naturalistic observations made by subject-matter experts during the largest disaster management exercise to take place in Europe to date. The 4-day exercise, funded by the European Commission, involved over 5,000 emergency responders from the UK, Cyprus, Hungary, and Italy, providing a unique opportunity to examine information sharing practices across international boundaries. Results of a mixed-method analysis highlight that barriers within and between countries are particularly prevalent during periods of greater uncertainty. These barriers include language and technological difficulties, differences in roles and responsibilities, and failure to co-locate and coordinate activities. Developing shared frames of reference, including adopting common structures for presenting information and understanding roles and responsibilities, facilitates information sharing, potentially reducing cognitive load. Implications for developing evidence-based approaches to disaster response are discussed.

Programme administration and fail-safe

2020 ◽  
pp. 123-130
Author(s):  
Rebecca Smith
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Care Delivery Model ◽  
Ensure Patient Safety ◽  
Free Health Care ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Fail Safe

Effective administration and fail-safe is essential to any screening programme. It helps ensure that the programme functions successfully to a high quality, but most importantly, it helps identify the patient cohort and ensure patient safety at all points in the pathway. A clear structure needs to be in place identifying roles and responsibilities, with procedures, policies, and regular audits in place. The programme needs the capacity to produce performance reports on an ad hoc basis to show how it is performing and to improve its service for its patients. Screening programmes in different countries will adapt their protocols and administration according to their primary- and health-care delivery model and provision. This chapter sets out that used in the UK model, which has the national health service provision with free health care at its core.

Low-carbon Electricity Market Transition in the UK: A Multi-level Perspective Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Ting Lu ◽  
Tze-Luen Lin
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Electricity Market ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Market Transition ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Energy Domain ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
The Uk

<p>As climate change issues arise and become a global concern, to reduce carbon emissions has become an urgent issue to respond to. Therefore, the application of renewable energy plays more and more important roles in the energy domain nowadays, which may also bring significant impacts to the low-carbon electricity market transition. With the advantages of developing renewable energy, the Taiwan government anticipates achieving the goal of reaching 20% renewable energy in electricity structure by 2025. Moreover, Taiwan has carried out the most vigorous amendment on the Electricity Act in history to open the electricity market so that more stakeholders can participate in it to propel energy transition. Since the UK is the lead in this field, it is worth investigating. This paper takes the UK as a case study to analyze its evolution in recent decades after the deregulation of its electricity market from the retail side perspective. It expects to explore how the transition drove actors to empower their roles, or even create new roles and responsibilities, and engage in the low-carbon electricity market transition pathway. This paper expects the UK case as a great reference for Taiwan, which echoes the current scenario in Taiwan with the potential to deliver further insights.</p>

scholarly journals The process of setting micronutrient recommendations: a cross-European comparison of nutrition-related scientific advisory bodies

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 716-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lada Timotijevic ◽  
Julie Barnett ◽  
Kerry Brown ◽  
Richard Shepherd ◽  
Laura Fernández-Celemín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Problem Area ◽  
Advisory Committees ◽  
Micronutrient Intake ◽  
Scientific Advisory ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Desk Research ◽  
Advisory Bodies

AbstractObjectiveTo examine the workings of the nutrition-related scientific advisory bodies in Europe, paying particular attention to the internal and external contexts within which they operate.DesignDesk research based on two data collection strategies: a questionnaire completed by key informants in the field of micronutrient recommendations and a case study that focused on mandatory folic acid (FA) fortification.SettingQuestionnaire-based data were collected across thirty-five European countries. The FA fortification case study was conducted in the UK, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic and Hungary.ResultsVaried bodies are responsible for setting micronutrient recommendations, each with different statutory and legal models of operation. Transparency is highest where there are standing scientific advisory committees (SAC). Where the standing SAC is created, the range of expertise and the terms of reference for the SAC are determined by the government. Where there is no dedicated SAC, the impetus for the development of micronutrient recommendations and the associated policies comes from interested specialists in the area. This is typically linked with anad hocselection of a problem area to consider, lack of openness and transparency in the decisions and over-reliance on international recommendations.ConclusionsEven when there is consensus about the science behind micronutrient recommendations, there is a range of other influences that will affect decisions about the policy approaches to nutrition-related public health. This indicates the need to document the evidence that is drawn upon in the decisions about nutrition policy related to micronutrient intake.

Information-Sharing in Out-of-Hospital Disaster Response: The Future Role of Information Technology

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey L. Arnold ◽  
Brian Neil Levine ◽  
R. Manmatha ◽  
Francis Lee ◽  
Prashant Shenoy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Timely Access ◽  
Promising Solution ◽  
The Many ◽  
Effective Use

AbstractNumerous examples exist of the benefits of the timely access to information in emergencies and disasters. Information technology (IT) is playing an increasingly important role in information-sharing during emergencies and disasters.The effective use of IT in out-of-hospital (OOH) disaster response is accompanied by numerous challenges at the human, applications, communication, and security levels.Most reports of IT applications to emergencies or disasters to date, concern applications that are hospital-based or occur during non-response phases of events (i.e., mitigation, planning and preparedness, or recovery phases). Few reports address the application of IT to OOH disaster response.Wireless peer networks that involve ad hoc wireless routing networks and peer-to-peer application architectures offer a promising solution to the many challenges of information-sharing in OOH disaster response. These networks offer several services that are likely to improve information-sharing in OOH emergency response, including needs and capacity assessment databases, victim tracking, event logging, information retrieval, and overall incident management system support.

Legal Preparedness for the Facilitation of International Humanitarian Assistance in the Aftermath of Vanuatu’s Cyclone Pam

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
REBECCA Barber
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
National Planning ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
National Governments

AbstractThis paper uses the response to Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu, 2015, as a case-study to review one country’s legal preparedness to manage a large influx of international humanitarian assistance, and the international humanitarian community’s respect for national laws and institutions. It describes provisions in international disaster response law and the developing international law on the protection of persons in the event of disaster regarding the role of the affected state, and juxtaposes this with what happened in the cyclone response—namely, the introduction by international actors of a range of international humanitarian tools and services that were neither described in national legislation nor rehearsed in national planning processes. It concludes by suggesting that national governments and international humanitarian responders advance their efforts to promote the inter-operability of their disaster management systems, and to develop an improved mutual understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities under international law.

Neither Victors nor Victims

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Whetham
Keyword(s):  
First Century ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
High Street ◽  
National Survival ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Realistic Goal

Between 2007 and 2011, Wootton Bassett, a small Wiltshire town in the UK, became the focus of national attention as its residents responded to the regular repatriations of dead soldiers through its High Street. The town’s response came to symbolize the way that broader attitudes developed and changed over that period. As such, it is a fascinating case study in civil–military relations in the twenty-first century. Success may be the same as victory, but victory, at least as it has been traditionally understood, is not a realistic goal in many types of contemporary conflict. Discretionary wars—conflicts in which national survival is not an issue and even vital national interests may not be at stake—pose particular challenges for any government which does not explain why the cost being paid in blood and treasure is ‘worth it’.

First Responders’ and Librarians’ Intention to Use Web-Based Resources for Response Information During Biological, Chemical, and Radiological Terrorism Events

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Turner ◽  
Terri Rebmann ◽  
Travis Loux ◽  
Donghua Tao ◽  
Alexander Garza
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Response ◽  
First Responders ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
National Library ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Emergency Responders ◽  
Internet Connection ◽  
Response Information

AbstractEmergency planners and first responders often access web-based information resources during disasters; however, these tools require an active Internet connection, which may be unavailable during a disaster. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) provides several free non-web-based disaster response tools. This study assessed intention to use web-based and non-web-based informational and response tools during disasters among emergency responders and librarians. Educational workshops were held in four Missouri cities in spring, 2016. The NLM tools were presented and attendees practiced using the tools during disaster scenarios. Pre- and post-intervention data about NLM tool awareness and intention to use these tools versus other web-based resources was collected. McNemar tests assessed a pre/post change in intention to use each resource. Four workshops were held, with a total of 74 attendees. Intention to use the NLM tools was low prior to the workshops (range: 20.3–39.2%), but increased significantly immediately afterwards (p < .001 for all pre/post comparisons). The workshops resulted in increased NLM tool awareness and increased intention to use the tools during future disasters. This provides evidence of attendees’ perceptions of the usefulness of the non-web-based NLM tools in place of other web-based tools in situations without Internet access.

The political economy of and practical policies for inclusive growth—a case study of Scotland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Houston ◽  
Georgiana Varna ◽  
Iain Docherty
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Regional Governance ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Inclusive Growth ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Inclusive Governance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Civic Institutions

Abstract The concept of ‘inclusive growth’ (IG) is discussed in a political economy framework. The article reports comparative analysis of economic and planning policy documents from Scotland, England and the UK and findings from expert workshops held in Scotland, which identify four key policy areas for ‘inclusive growth’: skills, transport and housing for young people; city-regional governance; childcare; and place-making. These policies share with the ‘Foundational Economy’ an emphasis on everyday infrastructure and services, but add an emphasis on inter-generational justice and stress the importance of community empowerment as much as re-municipalisation. Factors enabling IG policy development include: the necessary political powers; a unifying political discourse and civic institutions; and inclusive governance and participatory democracy.

scholarly journals Rain Erosion Maps for Wind Turbines Based on Geographical Locations: A Case Study in Ireland and Britain

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Pugh ◽  
M. M. Stack
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
The Uk

AbstractErosion rates of wind turbine blades are not constant, and they depend on many external factors including meteorological differences relating to global weather patterns. In order to track the degradation of the turbine blades, it is important to analyse the distribution and change in weather conditions across the country. This case study addresses rainfall in Western Europe using the UK and Ireland data to create a relationship between the erosion rate of wind turbine blades and rainfall for both countries. In order to match the appropriate erosion data to the meteorological data, 2 months of the annual rainfall were chosen, and the differences were analysed. The month of highest rain, January and month of least rain, May were selected for the study. The two variables were then combined with other data including hailstorm events and locations of wind turbine farms to create a general overview of erosion with relation to wind turbine blades.

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