RELACIGER: 19 años impulsando la información de salud y desastres en las Américas / RELACIGER: 19 years promoting health and disaster information in the Americas

Durante 19 años, la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina de los Estados Unidos, ha ayudado a crear y coordinar una red de centros de información sobre desastres y salud en 15 países de América Latina, esto nació de un esfuerzo conjunto con la Organización Panamericana de la Salud, para ayudar a reconstruir la infraestructura de información en salud, en países azotados por el Huracán Mitch. Se destaca la participación de la Biblioteca Médica Nacional de Honduras, que hapermanecidodesde el inicio. El proyecto creció para convertirse en un trabajo colaborativo multiinstitucional, logrando sistematizar ydiseminar información producida en Latinoamérica, y apoyar la toma de decisiones en preparativos y respuesta a desastres, principalmente en salud. La iniciativa ha apoyado esfuerzos de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud, para "crear una cultura de prevención de desastres" en la región y contribuido a mejorar la visibilidad, capacidades y auto-sostenibilidad de bibliotecas y centros de información; incluyendo también comunidades autóctonas tradicionalmentesub-servidas...(AU)

Keeping Communications Flowing During Large-scale Disasters: Leveraging Amateur Radio Innovations for Disaster Medicine.

Medical facilities may struggle to maintain effective communications during a major disaster. Natural and man-made disasters threaten connectivity by degrading or crippling Internet, cellular/mobile, and landline telephone services across wide areas. Communications among staff, between facilities, and to resources outside the disaster area may be lost for an extended time. A prototype communications system created by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) provides basic communication services that ensure essential connectivity in the face of widespread infrastructure loss. It leverages amateur radio to provide resilient email service to local users, enabling them to reach intact communications networks outside the disaster zone. Because amateur radio is inexpensive, always available, and sufficiently independent of terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure, it has often augmented telecommunications capabilities of medical facilities. NLM's solution is unique in that it provides end-user to end-user direct email communications, without requiring the intervention of a radio operator in the handling of the messages. Medical staff can exchange email among themselves and with others outside the communications blackout zone. The technology is portable, is deployable on short notice, and can be powered in a variety of ways to adapt to the circumstances of each crisis. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:257-264).

Translating Battlefield Practices to Disaster Health.

We review aspects of the recently released National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report A National Trauma Care System: Integrating Military and Civilian Trauma Systems to Achieve Zero Preventable Deaths After Injury most relevant to disaster health, particularly the concepts of focused empiricism and building a learning health system. The article references battlefield success utilizing these concepts and the emerging Disaster Research Response Program. We call upon disaster health researchers to apply the report's recommendations to their work. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:510-511).

Integrating Health Research into Disaster Response: The New NIH Disaster Research Response Program.

The need for high quality and timely disaster research has been a topic of great discussion over the past several years. Recent high profile incidents have exposed gaps in knowledge about the health impacts of disasters or the benefits of specific interventions-such was the case with the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill and recent events associated with lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan, and the evolving health crisis related to Zika virus disease. Our inability to perform timely research to inform the community about health and safety risks or address specific concerns further heightens anxiety and distrust. Since nearly all disasters, whether natural or man-made, have an environmental health component, it is critical that specialized research tools and trained researchers be readily available to evaluate complex exposures and health effects, especially for vulnerable sub-populations such as the elderly, children, pregnant women, and those with socioeconomic and environmental disparities. In response, the National Institute of Environmental Health Science has initiated a Disaster Research Response Program to create new tools, protocols, networks of researchers, training exercises, and outreach involving diverse groups of stakeholders to help overcome the challenges of disaster research and to improve our ability to collect vital information to reduce the adverse health impacts and improve future preparedness.

Ebola outbreak response: the role of information resources and the National Library of Medicine.

The US National Library of Medicine (NLM) offers Internet-based, no-cost resources useful for responding to the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak. Resources for health professionals, planners, responders, and researchers include PubMed, Disaster Lit, the Web page "Ebola Outbreak 2014: Information Resources," and the Virus Variation database of sequences for Ebolavirus. In cooperation with participating publishers, NLM offers free access to full-text articles from over 650 biomedical journals and 4000 online reference books through the Emergency Access Initiative. At the start of a prolonged disaster event or disease outbreak, the documents and information of most immediate use may not be in the peer-reviewed biomedical journal literature. To maintain current awareness may require using any of the following: news outlets; social media; preliminary online data, maps, and situation reports; and documents published by nongovernmental organizations, international associations, and government agencies. Similar to the pattern of interest shown in the news and social media, use of NLM Ebola-related resources is also increasing since the start of the outbreak was first reported in March 2014.

National Library of Medicine Disaster Information Management Research Center: Achieving the vision, 2010-2013.

From 2010 to 2013, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) continued to build its programs and services on the foundation laid in its starting years, 2008-2010. Prior to 2008, NLM had a long history of providing health information, training, and tools in response to disasters. Aware of this legacy, the NLM long range plan (Charting a Course for the 21st Century: NLM's Long Range Plan 2006-2016) called for creation of a center to show "a strong commitment to disaster remediation and to provide a platform for demonstrating how libraries and librarians can be part of the solution to this national problem". NLM is continuing efforts to ensure that medical libraries have plans for the continuity of their operations, librarians are trained to understand their roles in preparedness and response, online disaster health information resources are available for many audiences and in multiple formats, and research is conducted on tools to enhance the exchange of critical information during and following disasters. This paper describes the 2010-2013 goals and activities of DIMRC and its future plans.

National Library of Medicine Disaster Information Management Research Center: Establishment and growth, 2008-2010.

In 2008, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) established the Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC). Prior to 2008, NLM had a long history of involvement in providing health information for disaster management. Aware of this legacy and moved by the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the NLM long range plan (Charting a Course for the 21st Century: NLM's Long Range Plan 2006-2016) called for creation of a center to show "a strong commitment to disaster remediation and to provide a platform for demonstrating how libraries and librarians can be part of the solution to this national problem". NLM was urged to "ensure continuous access to health information and effective use of libraries and librarians when disasters occur". In response to this charge, NLM has undertaken substantial efforts to ensure that medical libraries have plans for the continuity of their operations, librarians are trained to understand their roles in preparedness and response, online disaster health information resources are available for many audiences and in multiple formats, and research is conducted on tools to enhance the exchange of critical information during and following disasters. This paper documents the history, goals, initiatives, accomplishments and future plans of the Center.

Selected resources for emergency and disaster preparedness and response from the United States National Library of Medicine.

The Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program (TEHIP) of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) works to organize and provide access to a wide range of environmental health and toxicology resources. In recent years, the demand for, and availability of, information on health issues related to natural and man-made emergencies and disasters has increased. Recognizing that access to information is essential in disaster preparedness, a new focus of NLM's 2006-2016 Long Range Plan calls for the establishment of a Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) that will aid in collecting, disseminating, and sharing information related to health and disasters. This paper introduces several of TEHIP's resources for emergency/disaster preparedness and response, such as the Radiation Event Medical Management Web site (REMM) and the Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER) . Several of NLM's other disaster preparedness and response resources will also be reviewed.

Environmental health and toxicology resources of the United States National Library of Medicine.

For over 40 years, the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program (TEHIP) has worked to organize and to provide access to an extensive array of environmental health and toxicology resources. During these years, the TEHIP program has evolved from a handful of databases developed primarily for researchers to a broad range of products and services that also serve industry, students, and the general public. TEHIP's resources include TOXNET , a collection of databases, including online handbooks, bibliographic references, information on the release of chemicals in the environment, and a chemical dictionary. TEHIP also produces several resources aimed towards the general public, such as the Household Products Database , which helps users explore chemicals often found in common household products, and Tox Town , an interactive guide to commonly encountered toxic substances, health, and the environment. This paper introduces some of NLM's environmental health and toxicology resources.

The Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information.

PURPOSE: This paper describes an international outreach program to support rebuilding Central America's health information infrastructure after several natural disasters in the region, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and two major earthquakes in 2001. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND DESCRIPTION: The National Library of Medicine joined forces with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and the Regional Center of Disaster Information for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID) to strengthen libraries and information centers in Central America and improve the availability of and access to health and disaster information in the region by developing the Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information (CANDHI). Through CRID, the program created ten disaster health information centers in medical libraries and disaster-related organizations in six countries. RESULTS/OUTCOME: This project served as a catalyst for the modernization of several medical libraries in Central America. The resulting CANDHI provides much needed electronic access to public health "gray literature" on disasters, as well as access to numerous health information resources. CANDHI members assist their institutions and countries in a variety of disaster preparedness activities through collecting and disseminating information.

The use of the Internet for children's health and the environment.

The Internet can provide a wealth of information related to the effects of environmental exposures on children's health. This article provides guidance on searching the Internet for pertinent information and discusses how to evaluate such information. It also provides an extensive list of environmental-health-related websites hosted by governmental and nongovernmental agencies, and other organizations.

Environmental health information resources: healthy environments for healthy women and children.

Because of concerns about exposure (e.g., from pesticides in the garden to how much fish is safe to eat), health professionals are often asked to address the effect of environmental agents on women's health. Numerous environmental health resources are available on the Internet, but with so many Web sites, it can be difficult to identify high-quality, accurate information oriented toward a wide variety of needs and users. This article describes environmental health and toxicology databases and resources from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and other government agencies and organizations, that contain valuable information on potential environmental risks to women.