To investigate the social and living conditions of households in Haiti before and after the 2010 earthquake and to determine the prevalence of emotional and physical abuse of children aged 2 to 14 in households after the earthquake.

Nationally representative samples of Haitian households from the 2005/2006 and 2012 phases of the Demographic and Health Surveys were used. Descriptive data were summarized with frequencies and measures of central tendency. Chi-squared and independent t tests were used to compare pre-earthquake and post-earthquake data. Basic mapping was used to explore patterns of child abuse in relation to proximity to the epicenter.

Comparison of pre-earthquake and post-earthquake data showed noteworthy improvements in the education attainment of the household head and possession of mobile phones after the earthquake. The prevalence of emotional, physical, and severe physical abuse in 2012 was estimated to be 78.5%, 77.0%, and 15.4%, respectively. Mapping revealed no conclusive patterns between the proximity of each region to the epicenter and the prevalence of the different forms of abuse. However, the prevalence of severe physical abuse was notably higher in settlement camps (25.0%) than it was in Haiti overall (15.4%).

The high prevalence of child abuse in Haiti highlights an urgent need for interventions aimed at reducing occurrences of household child abuse.

Social media provides us with a new platform on which to explore how the public responds to disasters and, of particular importance, how they respond to the emergence of infectious diseases such as Ebola. Provided it is appropriately informed, social media offers a potentially powerful means of supporting both early detection and effective containment of communicable diseases, which is essential for improving disaster medicine and public health preparedness.

The 2014 West African Ebola outbreak is a particularly relevant contemporary case study on account of the large number of annual arrivals from Africa, including Chinese employees engaged in projects in Africa. Weibo (Weibo Corp, Beijing, China) is China’s most popular social media platform, with more than 2 billion users and over 300 million daily posts, and offers great opportunity to monitor early detection and promotion of public health awareness.

We present a proof-of-concept study of a subset of Weibo posts during the outbreak demonstrating potential and identifying priorities for improving the efficacy and accuracy of information dissemination. We quantify the evolution of the social network topology within Weibo relating to the efficacy of information sharing.

We show how relatively few nodes in the network can have a dominant influence over both the quality and quantity of the information shared. These findings make an important contribution to disaster medicine and public health preparedness from theoretical and methodological perspectives for dealing with epidemics. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:26–37)

To assess the hospital beds and intensive care unit (ICU) beds with a ventilator surge capacity of the health system in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

This study used relevant data from the National Health Emergency Operation Center to estimate general hospital and ICU bed surge capacity and tipping points under 3 distinct transmission scenarios.

The study results reveal that hospitals in the KSA need to be supplied with additional 4372 hospital beds to care for COVID-19 positive cases if the pandemic continues over a 6 months’ period. At the same time, it requires additional 2192 or 1461 hospital beds if the pandemic persists over a 12- or 18-month period, respectively, to manage hospitalized COVID-19 overloads. The health system surge capacity would suffer from a shortage of 1600, 797, and 540 ICU beds under the 3 transmission scenarios to absorb critical and intensive care COVID-19 cases.

Our findings highlight the urgent need for additional hospital and ICU beds in the face of critical COVID-19 cases in KSA. The study recommends further assessment measures to the health system surge capacity to keep the Saudi health system prepared during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The objective of the study was to research the basic seismic response capability (BSRC) of hospitals in Lima Metropolitana. A large number of wounded could be registered in case of an earthquake; therefore, operational hospitals are necessary to cure the injured. The study focused on the operational performance of the hospitals, autonomies of essential resources such as power, water, medical gases, and medicine, in addition to the availability of emergency communication system and ambulances.

Data by a probabilistic seismic risk analysis have been used to assess the operational level of the hospitals. Subsequently, availability of an essential resource has been combined with the immediately operational hospitals to evaluate the BSRC of the health facilities.

Forty-one of Lima’s hospitals have been analyzed for a seismic event with 72-100 years of a return period. Three hospitals (7.3%) were capable to work in a self-sufficient manner for 72 hours, another three (7.3%) for 24 hours, and one (2.4%) for 12 hours.

Results showed a low performance of the hospitals in case of an earthquake. The issue is due to the high seismic vulnerability of the existing structures. Given the importance of Lima city in Peru, structural and nonstructural retrofitting plans should be implemented to improve the preparedness of the health system in case of an emergency. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:138–143)

Dual-Polarization Radar and Twitter were analyzed to determine the impact on injuries sustained by the Hattiesburg EF-4 tornado.

Tracking data provided from the Dual-Pol radar systems in National Weather Service Jackson were reviewed. Twitter data from four local Twitter handles were obtained. The change in tweets and followers for the day of the storm were compared to historical averages. A Student t-test was utilized in determining statistical significance (p<0.05). Medical records from two local emergency departments were reviewed for patients treated up to 24 hours after the tornado. An Injury Severity Score (ISS) was calculated for trauma records related to the tornado.

Radar detection of the tornado gave approximately 30 minutes of advanced warning time. Statistical significance in follower growth was seen in all four Twitter handles. Out of 50 patients, the average ISS was 3.9 with a range of 1 to 29. There were zero fatalities.

An ISS average of 3.9 was significantly less than two previous tornadoes of similar strength that occurred prior to increased usage of Dual-pol radar and Twitter as a means for communicating severe weather information. Early detection from Dual-pol radar improved warning time. Tweets informed citizens to seek appropriate shelter. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;7:585-592)

To investigate the extent to which older residents feel they can remain “self-reliant” during future natural disasters and to compare the findings with the viewpoints of local policy-makers and with those charged with caring for the elderly both on a day-to-day basis and in times of crisis.

This study used an array of non-probability snowballing techniques to seek the participation of senior citizens over the age of 65 years, emergency services officers, community health carers, and local government disaster managers located in aging, remote, coastal Australian communities vulnerable to cyclones and storm surges. All respondents participated in either a face-to-face personal interview or a focus group, with senior citizens also completing a self-administered questionnaire.

This research found a discrepancy between policy expectations and the experiences of both the elderly and those who care for them, as well as a lack of understanding with regard to the term “self-reliant.”

These results highlight the inability of older adults in aging, remote, coastal Australian communities to remain “self-reliant” in the future, impacting both disaster management policies and the future capacity of these communities to remain resilient. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:14–18)

Hurricanes can interrupt communication, exacerbate attrition, and disrupt participant engagement in research. We used text messaging and disaster preparedness protocols to re-establish communication, re-engage participants, and ensure retention in a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) self-test study.

Participants were given HIV home test kits to test themselves and/or their non-monogamous sexual partners before intercourse. A daily text message-based short message service computer-assisted self-interview (SMS-CASI) tool reminded them to report 3 variables: (1) anal sex without a condom, (2) knowledge of partners’ testing history, and (3) proof of partners’ testing history. A disaster preparedness protocol was put in place for hurricanes in Puerto Rico. We analyzed 6315 messages from participants (N = 12) active at the time of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Disaster preparedness narratives were assessed.

All participants were able to communicate sexual behavior and HIV testing via SMS-CASI within 30 days following María. Some participants (n = 5, 42%) also communicated questions. Re-engagement within 30 days after the hurricane was 100% (second week/89%, third week/100%). Participant re-engagement ranged from 0–16 days (average = 6.4 days). Retention was 100%.

Daily SMS-CASI and disaster preparedness protocols helped participant engagement and communication after 2 hurricanes. SMS-CASI responses indicated high participant re-engagement, retention, and well-being.

The aim of this study was to conduct interviews with public health staff who responded to Hurricane Sandy and to analyze their feedback to assess response strengths and challenges and recommend improvements for future disaster preparedness and response.

Qualitative analysis was conducted of information from individual confidential interviews with 35 staff from 3 local health departments in New York State (NYS) impacted by Hurricane Sandy and the NYS Department of Health. Staff were asked about their experiences during Hurricane Sandy and their recommendations for improvements. Open coding was used to analyze interview transcripts for reoccurring themes, which were labeled as strengths, challenges, or recommendations and then categorized into public health preparedness capabilities.

The most commonly cited strengths, challenges, and recommendations related to the Hurricane Sandy public health response in NYS were within the emergency operations coordination preparedness capability, which includes the abilities of health department staff to partner among government agencies, coordinate with emergency operation centers, conduct routine conference calls with partners, and manage resources.

Health departments should ensure that emergency planning includes protocols to coordinate backup staffing, delineation of services that can be halted during disasters, clear guidelines to coordinate resources across agencies, and training for transitioning into unfamiliar disaster response roles. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:443–453)

This study empirically examines preparedness with a kit, medication, and a disaster plan on disaster outcomes including perceived recovery, property damage, and use of medical or mental health services.

Using a cross-sectional, retrospective study design, 1114 households in New York City were interviewed 21-34 months following Super Storm Sandy. Bivariate associations were examined and logistic regression models fit to predict the odds of disaster outcomes given the level of preparedness.

Respondents with an evacuation plan were more likely to report not being recovered (odds ratio [OR] = 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5-3.8), property damage (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1-1.9), and use of medical services (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). Respondents reporting a supply of prescription medication were more likely to report using mental health (OR = 3.5; 95% CI: 1.2-9.8) and medical services (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.8)

Having a kit, plan, and medication did not reduce risk of adverse outcomes in Superstorm Sandy in this sample. Disaster managers should consider the lack of evidence for preparedness when making public education and resource allocation decisions. Additional research is needed to identify preparedness measures that lead to better outcomes for more efficient and effective response and recovery.

We examined the impact of demographic confounding factors on responses to the Impact of Event Scale–Revised.

Participants were rescue workers aged 20 to 65 years who had responded during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. A multiple indicators, multiple causes model was used to examine associations between covariates and latent factors or items in the Impact of Event Scale–Revised.

Participants were recruited from April to August 2015. The model fit indices in the confirmatory factor analysis and the multiple indicators, multiple causes model suggested an acceptable model fit. Higher education and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale score were significantly associated with a decrease in intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Counseling was significantly associated with increased avoidance. In the direct path model using modification indices, counseling and early arrival were identified as significant covariates.

This study found that higher education and resilience reduced all 3 factors in the Impact of Event Scale–Revised and improved the symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Counseling and early arrival were also associated with improvement in certain items. However, counseling was also linked to increased avoidance and worsening psychophysiological reactions. Further research is recommended to clarify these relationships. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:309–318)