Weighing structural damage and social susceptibility: A decision-making tool to perform longitudinal studies of geographically large hazard events.

Geographically large climatic hazard events are occurring more frequently, and with this increase, more research emphasis is being placed on their impact. However, a metrology for selecting which communities to survey following an event is not frequently discussed and as a result does not effectively incorporate all relevant disciplines in disaster research. This article provides a method for selecting communities for inclusion in field studies not only based on anticipated damage but also community-level social factors that show predictive power in long-term analyses. Due to the perishable nature of disaster data, this social metric and the field study decision tool were developed with the intent of being as rapidly implementable as possible while still providing insight regarding long-term post-event community trends. The community-level social metric was developed using a hindcasting technique for hazard events in the years 2011, 2012, and 2013. Thresholds for stability and decline were established for both the predicted and the actual community outcomes. Of the communities that the model predicted would recover, 73% recovered using the definition provided. Meanwhile 74% of the communities predicted to decline did indeed decline, again using the definition provided. To enhance operability of this social metric, a decision-making tool for community selection was also formalized and implemented in a field study conducted following the December 2021 quad-state tornado outbreak in the United States. The lessons learned from this first implementation were used to inform a refined version of the decision-making tool that is presented herein.

Murphy Scale: A locational equivalent intensity scale for hazard events.

Empirical cross-hazard analysis and prediction of disaster vulnerability, resilience, and risk requires a common metric of hazard strengths across hazard types. In this paper, the authors propose an equivalent intensity scale for cross-hazard evaluation of hazard strengths of events for entire durations at locations. The proposed scale is called the Murphy Scale, after Professor Colleen Murphy. A systematic review and typology of hazard strength metrics is presented to facilitate the delineation of the defining dimensions of the proposed scale. An empirical methodology is introduced to derive equivalent intensities of hazard events on a Murphy Scale. Using historical data on impacts and hazard strength indicators of events from 2013 to 2017, the authors demonstrate the utility of the proposed methodology for computing the equivalent intensities for earthquakes and tropical cyclones. As part of a new area of research called hazard equivalency, the proposed Murphy Scale paves the way toward creating multi-hazard hazard maps. The proposed scale can also be leveraged to facilitate hazard communication regarding past and future local experiences of hazard events for enhancing multi-hazard preparedness, mitigation, and emergency response.

Reflective Listening Visualization: Enhancing Interdisciplinary Disaster Research through the Use of Visualization Techniques.

Reflective Listening Visualization is an interdisciplinary research method and iterative process that includes the participation and involvement of multiple team members of different disciplines when (1) conducting in-depth interviews, (2) performing thematic analysis of the interview data, (3) using the emergent themes as basis to design visual representations of the themes, (4) presenting the visuals back to the interviewee for feedback, and (5) using the feedback to confirm the visual, refine the existing visual, or to create a new visual. Fundamentally, the Reflective Listening Visualization technique is an enhanced communication tool that aims to increase the community member's voice and to verify the understanding of their experiences, ideas, and concerns while also enhancing the interdisciplinary learning potential of the research team. In this article, we describe the Reflective Listening Visualization process and discuss how the Reflective Listening Visualization process allows for (1) improved communication between interdisciplinary team members, (2) understanding of residents' wants and needs for their community, (3) increasing rapport with residents, (4) building trust between residents and between residents and researchers, (5) accurate representation of residents ideas, and (6) community members to become motivated about the possibilities of the future of their community.

Cultivating Metacognition in Each of Us: Thinking About "Thinking" in Interdisciplinary Disaster Research.

Although there is an emerging literature on interdisciplinary disaster research (IDR), one of the overlooked aspects relates to our thinking itself: how to actively think about our thinking-metacognition-while embarking on our interdisciplinary journeys. This article argues that metacognition has an instrumental value both for IDR projects and for individual researchers involved in IDR. For IDR projects, metacognition can help: (1)overcome disciplinary barriers in IDR by revealing cognitive abilities and inabilities for each team member through identifying what is hindering or enabling individuals and the group to transcend disciplinary boundaries toward true integration across the disciplines; (2)deal with "wicked" problems that characterize disaster contexts in a more effective and creative manner; (3)oversee team functioning; and (4)monitor and evaluate progress toward meeting project goals and objectives. For individual researchers, metacognition can help them grow intellectually, and understand the fallacies and limitations in their thinking. It can also encourage them to live an authentic and unified life as an individual. The article concludes with guidance on how individual researchers, principal investigators of IDR projects, and institutions such as universities and funding agencies can cultivate metacognition. To our knowledge, this is the first article that introduces metacognition as a tool for enhancing our thinking on IDR.

Interdisciplinary Research as an Iterative Process to Build Disaster Systems Knowledge.

Disasters occur at the intersections of social, natural, and built environments, and robust understanding of these interactions can only occur through insight generated from different disciplines. Yet, there are cultural, epistemological, and methodological differences across the many disciplines concerned with hazards and disasters that can make conducting interdisciplinary research difficult. Approaches are needed to overcome these challenges. This article argues that interdisciplinary disaster research can be successful when it entails an iterative process in which researchers from different disciplines work collaboratively and exert reciprocal influence to generate disaster systems knowledge. Disaster systems knowledge is interdisciplinary and is defined as a comprehensive understanding of the intersections of built, natural, and human environmental factors and their interplay in hazards and disasters. The iterative process can reduce disciplinary biases and privileges by encouraging collaboration among researchers to help ensure disciplinary knowledge complements other disciplinary knowledge, to ultimately generate interdisciplinary disaster systems knowledge. The article concludes by illustrating the process by analyzing a research case study of an interdisciplinary approach to volcanic risk reduction.

Getting Interdisciplinary Teams into the Field: Institutional Review Board Preapproval and Multi-Institution Authorization Agreements for Rapid Response Disaster Research.

This article describes an interdisciplinary community resilience research project and presents a case study that supports bringing researchers together before a disaster to develop plans, procedures, and preapproved Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols. In addition, this article explains how researchers from various academic institutions and their federal agency partners can effectively collaborate by creating an IRB Authorization Agreement (IAA). Such preparations can support interdisciplinary rapid response disaster fieldwork that is timely, ethically informed, and scientifically rigorous. This fieldwork preplanning process can also advance interdisciplinary team formation and data collection efforts over the long term.

PhotoKwento: co-constructing women's narratives of disaster recovery.

A recent appraisal of disaster studies undertaken over the past 40 years draws attention to the urgency of advancing different epistemologies that reflect local realities of disaster experiences and of developing appropriate instruments with which to do so. This paper argues that feminist methods and perspectives can contribute greatly to this important endeavour of promoting epistemic diversity in research on disasters, advancing approaches that engender the co-construction of knowledge, and consequently challenging the 'hegemonic' (and often gender-blind) narratives that dominate disaster studies today. Specifically, the paper makes a case for a feminist photo-based approach that I designed (PhotoKwento) to examine women's experiences of disaster recovery in Tacloban City, Philippines. It demonstrates how the technique fosters engaged research relationships and participatory knowledge construction practices pertaining to disaster experiences. In addition, it highlights the potential of PhotoKwento to embody the qualities of research that are necessary for the progress of disaster studies 'from below'.

Research fatigue in COVID-19 pandemic and post-disaster research: Causes, consequences and recommendations.

PURPOSE: Research fatigue occurs when an individual or population of interest tires of engaging with research, consequently avoiding further participation. This paper considers research fatigue in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, to identify contributory factors and possible solutions for future post-disaster research. METHODOLOGY: We draw on examples from the literature and our own observations from the recruitment and data collection phases of qualitative and quantitative studies, to provide an overview of possible research fatigue in the current COVID-19 pandemic, with implications for future post-disaster research. FINDINGS: People affected by disasters sometimes receive multiple requests for study participation by separate teams who may not necessarily be coordinating their work. Not keeping participants informed of the research process or outcomes can lead to disillusionment. Being overburdened with too many research requests and failing to see any subsequent changes following participation may cause individuals to experience research fatigue. ORIGINALITY: Guidelines for researchers wishing to reduce the occurrence of research fatigue include ensuring greater transparency within research; sharing of results; and using oversight or gatekeeper bodies to aid coordination. Failure to restrict the number of times that people are asked to participate in studies risks poor participation rates. This can subsequently affect the quality of information with which to inform policy-makers and protect the health of the public during the COVID-19 pandemic or other public health disasters/emergencies.

Ethical Issues in Conducting Research With Children and Families Affected by Disasters.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We review topical evidence on ethical issues in conducting disaster research with children and families affected by natural disasters, with an emphasis on analyzing specific vulnerabilities associated with children and families affected by disasters, identifying significant findings and trends of ethical guidelines and approaches, and discussing key observations into ethical research in a disaster setting. RECENT FINDINGS: Current evidence indicates that there is a wide range of research methods for child disaster studies. Vulnerability as a concept in child disaster studies is more prevalent with several scholars underscoring the need for an ethical approach to disaster research. Current disaster research evidence suggests that there is specifically an interest in conducting disaster research with children and families. With the increase in investigations, it is strongly recommended that investigators adhere to ethical standards in research practice when conducting research with vulnerable populations (e.g., children) within a postdisaster context.

Business recovery: an assessment framework.

This paper presents a Business Recovery Assessment Framework (BRAF) to help researchers and practitioners design robust, repeatable, and comparable studies of business recovery in various post-disruption contexts. Studies assessing business recovery without adequately considering the research aims, recovery definitions, and indicators can produce misleading findings. The BRAF is composed of a series of steps that guide the decisions that researchers need to make to ensure: (i) that recovery is indeed being measured; (ii) that the indicators of recovery that are selected align with the objectives of the study and the definition of recovery; and, where necessary, (iii) that appropriate comparative control variables are in place. The paper draws on a large dataset of business surveys collected following the earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, on 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011 to demonstrate the varied conclusions that different recovery indicators can produce and to justify the need for a systematic approach to business recovery assessments.

Praktisches Wissen, Wissenschaft und Katastrophen. Zur Geschichte der sozialwissenschaftlichen Katastrophenforschung, 1949­1989.

Practical Knowledge, Science and Disasters. The History of Social Science Disaster Research, 1949-1979. During the second half of the twentieth century several US-American social science "disaster research groups" conducted field studies after earthquakes, factory explosions and "racial riots". Their aim was to provide practical knowledge that could be applied in the planning and managing of future disasters of both peace- and wartime nature. In this paper, I will elaborate on how this research goal conflicted with some scientists' aspirations to develop more theoretical knowledge and their own ideals of "scientificity". I will also show how the generated research results came to be 'impractical knowledge', which was difficult or impossible to apply. Furthermore this paper analyzes the scientific practices that were involved at different stages of the knowledge production process and contributed to disaster research's 'precarious' character.

Research in disaster settings: a systematic qualitative review of ethical guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Conducting research during or in the aftermath of disasters poses many specific practical and ethical challenges. This is particularly the case with research involving human subjects. The extraordinary circumstances of research conducted in disaster settings require appropriate regulations to ensure the protection of human participants. The goal of this study is to systematically and qualitatively review the existing ethical guidelines for disaster research by using the constant comparative method (CCM). METHODS: We performed a systematic qualitative review of disaster research ethics guidelines to collect and compare existing regulations. Guidelines were identified by a three-tiered search strategy: 1) searching databases (PubMed and Google Scholar), 2) an Internet search (Google), and 3) a search of the references in the included documents from the first two searches. We used the constant comparative method (CCM) for analysis of included guidelines. RESULTS: Fourteen full text guidelines were included for analysis. The included guidelines covered the period 2000-2014. Qualitative analysis of the included guidelines revealed two core themes: vulnerability and research ethics committee review. Within each of the two core themes, various categories and subcategories were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Some concepts and terms identified in analyzed guidelines are used in an inconsistent manner and applied in different contexts. Conceptual clarity is needed in this area as well as empirical evidence to support the statements and requirements included in analyzed guidelines.

SIMEDIS: a Discrete-Event Simulation Model for Testing Responses to Mass Casualty Incidents.

It is recognized that the study of the disaster medical response (DMR) is a relatively new field. To date, there is no evidence-based literature that clearly defines the best medical response principles, concepts, structures and processes in a disaster setting. Much of what is known about the DMR results from descriptive studies and expert opinion. No experimental studies regarding the effects of DMR interventions on the health outcomes of disaster survivors have been carried out. Traditional analytic methods cannot fully capture the flow of disaster victims through a complex disaster medical response system (DMRS). Computer modelling and simulation enable to study and test operational assumptions in a virtual but controlled experimental environment. The SIMEDIS (Simulation for the assessment and optimization of medical disaster management) simulation model consists of 3 interacting components: the victim creation model, the victim monitoring model where the health state of each victim is monitored and adapted to the evolving clinical conditions of the victims, and the medical response model, where the victims interact with the environment and the resources at the disposal of the healthcare responders. Since the main aim of the DMR is to minimize as much as possible the mortality and morbidity of the survivors, we designed a victim-centred model in which the casualties pass through the different components and processes of a DMRS. The specificity of the SIMEDIS simulation model is the fact that the victim entities evolve in parallel through both the victim monitoring model and the medical response model. The interaction between both models is ensured through a time or medical intervention trigger. At each service point, a triage is performed together with a decision on the disposition of the victims regarding treatment and/or evacuation based on a priority code assigned to the victim and on the availability of resources at the service point. The aim of the case study is to implement the SIMEDIS model to the DMRS of an international airport and to test the medical response plan to an airplane crash simulation at the airport. In order to identify good response options, the model then was used to study the effect of a number of interventional factors on the performance of the DMRS. Our study reflects the potential of SIMEDIS to model complex systems, to test different aspects of DMR, and to be used as a tool in experimental research that might make a substantial contribution to provide the evidence base for the effectiveness and efficiency of disaster medical management.

Collecting and communicating perishable data in a post-disaster context: rapid research and rapid dissemination.

Context: Puerto Rico experienced four natural disasters in 4 years (2017-2021): Hurricanes Irma and Maria, thousands of earthquakes reaching 6.4 magnitude, and the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, our team sought to understand the impact of disaster aid distribution on poverty and economic inequality, and their relationship to the spread of COVID-19 across Puerto Rico. Rapid research was required to ensure we could collect perishable data within this ever-changing context. Challenges: Our mixed methods design relied on both secondary and primary data. Because analyses of the former were to inform where and how to collect the latter, timing was of the essence. The data sources identified were not readily available to the public, and thus required gaining access through direct requests to government agencies. The requests coincided with a transition between administrations after an election. This resulted in unexpected delays. Once in the field, the team had to balance the rapid nature of the research with the mindful work to avoid compounding traumas experienced by participants, heightened risk for re-traumatization and fatigue, the risk of COVID-19, the digital divide, and intermittent electrical and telecommunication services. Adaptations: In response to the delayed access to secondary data, we adjusted our research question. We continued to collect data as they became available, incorporating some immediately into analyses, and cleaning and storing others for future research opportunities. To overcome ongoing trauma challenges and prevent fatigue, we recruited and hired a large temporary team, including members of communities where we collected data. By recruiting participants and co-researchers at the same time and place, we both collapsed time between these activities and increased our team's contextual competency. To adapt to challenges presented by the pandemic, we created hybrid data collection procedures where some data were collected online, and some in person, while maintaining COVID-19 protections. We used similar adaptations for dissemination. Lessons: Rapid research needs to be agile. Working within a convergence framework to investigate wicked problems had the unexpected added benefit of providing our team with a variety of disciplinary approaches which proved helpful in adapting to the changing conditions in the field. In addition to the resourcefulness of a transdisciplinary team, it is important to be willing to pivot in response to changes and to collect data where and when you can. To increase participation, opportunities need to be designed with flexibility, mindful of competing demands faced by individuals willing to collaborate. Collecting and analyzing data iteratively and utilizing local resources can enable rapid research that is rigorous and yields rich data. Contributions: Our team applied the lessons learned to structure a rapid and iterative dissemination plan. We combined member-checking with community-level dissemination, enabling us to hone findings further before presenting to policy makers and media. Rapid research creates opportunities to make data-informed program and policy adjustments when they can be most impactful. Both the media and policy makers pay closer attention to research on current events. Hence, our recommendation is to do more rapid research! The more we do, the better we will get at it, and the more accustomed community leaders, policy makers, and program designers will become to using data to inform decisions.

Using natural disasters to study the effects of prenatal maternal stress on child health and development.

Research on the developmental origins of health and disease highlights the plasticity of the human fetus to a host of potential teratogens. Experimental research on laboratory animals has demonstrated a variety of physical and behavioral effects among offspring exposed to prenatal maternal stress (PNMS). However, these studies cannot elucidate the relative effects of the objective stress exposure and the subjective distress in a way that would parallel the stress experience in humans. PNMS research with humans is also limited because there are ethical challenges to designing studies that involve the random assignment of pregnant women to varying levels of independent stressors. Natural disasters present opportunities for natural experiments of the effects of pregnant women's exposure to stress on child development. In this review, we present an overview of the human and animal research on PNMS, and highlight the results of Project Ice Storm which has been following the cognitive, behavioral, motor and physical development of children exposed in utero to the January 1998 Quebec Ice Storm. We have found that both objective degree of exposure to the storm and the mothers' subjective distress have strong and persistent effects on child development, and that these effects are often moderated by the timing of the ice storm in pregnancy and by the child's sex.

Pandemic publishing: A bibliometric review of COVID-19 research in the crisis and disaster literature.

Iconic events have traditionally instigated progression in the fields of crisis and disaster science. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pressing question is how this global health emergency impacted the research agendas of our field. We reviewed contributions in ten important crisis and disaster journals in the two and a half years following the COVID-19 outbreak from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2022. Specifically, we conducted a bibliometric review using thematic mapping analysis to distill the major themes covered by the emerging COVID-19 literature within crisis and disaster science (N = 239 articles). Our results indicate that several well-known topics are applied to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as risk, crisis communication, governance, resilience and vulnerability. The pandemic also gave rise to new topics, such as citizen behavior, state power, and the business and mental health impact of crisis measures. Several studies are already looking ahead by identifying lessons for preparedness and mitigation of future pandemics. By taking stock of the surge of COVID-19 studies while this academic literature is still taking shape, this review sets the stage for future contributions to the crisis and disaster literatures. It provides valuable lessons for what topics are studied and what themes need more attention. The COVID-19 pandemic is destined to become an iconic event for our literature that not only strengthens and deepens existing debates, but also clearly offers the opportunity to draw in new perspectives and broaden the horizon of crisis and disaster science.

Los eventos icónicos han instigado tradicionalmente la progresión en los campos de la ciencia de crisis y desastres. A raíz de la pandemia de COVID­19, la pregunta apremiante es cómo esta emergencia de salud global impactó las agendas de investigación de nuestro campo. Revisamos las contribuciones en diez revistas importantes sobre crisis y desastres en los dos años y medio posteriores al brote de COVID­19, desde el 1 de enero de 2020 hasta el 30 de junio de 2022. Específicamente, realizamos una revisión bibliométrica utilizando un análisis de mapeo temático para destilar los principales temas cubiertos por la literatura emergente sobre COVID­19 dentro de la ciencia de crisis y desastres (N = 239 artículos). Nuestros resultados indican que varios temas bien conocidos se aplican a la pandemia de COVID­19, como el riesgo, la comunicación de crisis, la gobernanza, la resiliencia y la vulnerabilidad. La pandemia también dio lugar a nuevos temas, como el comportamiento ciudadano, el poder estatal y el impacto comercial y de salud mental de las medidas de crisis. Varios estudios ya están mirando hacia el futuro identificando lecciones para la preparación y mitigación de futuras pandemias. Al hacer un balance del aumento de los estudios de COVID­19 mientras esta literatura académica aún está tomando forma, esta revisión sienta las bases para futuras contribuciones a la literatura sobre crisis y desastres. Proporciona lecciones valiosas sobre qué temas se estudian y qué temas necesitan más atención. La pandemia de COVID­19 está destinada a convertirse en un evento icónico para nuestra literatura que no solo fortalece y profundiza los debates existentes, sino que claramente ofrece la oportunidad de dibujar nuevas perspectivas y ampliar el horizonte de la ciencia de crisis y desastres.

Associating Increased Chemical Exposure to Hurricane Harvey in a Longitudinal Panel Using Silicone Wristbands.

Hurricane Harvey was associated with flood-related damage to chemical plants and oil refineries, and the flooding of hazardous waste sites, including 13 Superfund sites. As clean-up efforts began, concerns were raised regarding the human health impact of possible increased chemical exposure resulting from the hurricane and subsequent flooding. Personal sampling devices in the form of silicone wristbands were deployed to a longitudinal panel of individuals (n = 99) within 45 days of the hurricane and again one year later in the Houston metropolitan area. Using gas chromatography−mass spectroscopy, each wristband was screened for 1500 chemicals and analyzed for 63 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Chemical exposure levels found on the wristbands were generally higher post-Hurricane Harvey. In the 1500 screen, 188 chemicals were detected, 29 were detected in at least 30% of the study population, and of those, 79% (n = 23) were found in significantly higher concentrations (p < 0.05) post-Hurricane Harvey. Similarly, in PAH analysis, 51 chemicals were detected, 31 were detected in at least 30% of the study population, and 39% (n = 12) were found at statistically higher concentrations (p < 0.05) post-Hurricane Harvey. This study indicates that there were increased levels of chemical exposure after Hurricane Harvey in the Houston metropolitan area.

Malaysian Disaster Medicine Research: A Bibliographic Study of Publication Trends.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the increasing risks and complexity of disasters, education for Malaysian health care providers in this domain is limited. This study aims to assess scholarly publications by Malaysian scholars on Disaster Medicine (DM)-related topics. METHODOLOGY: An electronic search of five selected journals from 1991 through 2021 utilizing multiple keywords relevant to DM was conducted for review and analysis. RESULTS: A total of 154 articles were included for analysis. The mean number of publications per year from 1991 through 2021 was 5.1 publications. Short reports were the most common research type (53.2%), followed by original research (32.4%) and case reports (12.3%). Mean citations among the included articles were 12.4 citations. Most author collaborations were within the same agency or institution, and there was no correlation between the type of collaboration and the number of citations (P = .942). While a few clusters of scholars could build a strong network across institutions, most research currently conducted in DM was within small, isolated clusters. CONCLUSION: Disaster Medicine in Malaysia is a growing medical subspecialty with a significant recent surge in research activity, likely due to the SARS-CoV-2/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic. Since most publications in DM have been on infectious diseases, the need to expand DM-related research on other topics is essential.

Returning Individual Tap Water Testing Results to Research Study Participants after a Wildfire Disaster.

After the devastating wildfire that destroyed most of the town of Paradise, California in 2018, volatile organic compounds were found in water distribution pipes. Approximately 11 months after the fire, we collected tap water samples from 136 homes that were still standing and tested for over 100 chemicals. Each participant received a customized report showing the laboratory findings from their sample. Our goal was to communicate individual water results and chemical information rapidly in a way that was understandable, scientifically accurate, and useful to participants. On the basis of this process, we developed a framework to illustrate considerations and priorities that draw from best practices of previous environmental results return research and crisis communication, while also addressing challenges specific to the disaster context. We also conducted a follow-up survey on participants' perceptions of the results return process. In general, participants found the results return communications to be understandable, and they felt less worried about their drinking water quality after receiving the information. Over one-third of the participants reported taking some kind of action around their water usage habits after receiving their results. Communication with participants is a critical element of environmental disaster research, and it is important to have a strategy to communicate results that achieves the goals of timeliness, clarity, and scientific accuracy, ultimately empowering people toward actions that can reduce exposure.