Search results

Coordination during disaster recovery is one of the most neglected areas of disaster risk management, as the majority of literature on coordination focuses on disaster response. The purpose of the study is to investigate the factors affecting coordination for long-term recovery. For this purpose, the study uses semi-structured interviews with different actors involved in the recovery process of th

South Africa is a complex and dynamic society, with overwhelming and increasing problems with disaster risk in the vulnerable urban communities in and around its rapidly growing metropolitan centres. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of the challenges for disaster risk reduction in such communities. It focuses on the case of Imizamo Yethu, in the Western Cape, in order to b

A conceptual framework for systematically studying and analysing risk governance is introduced. The framework, which is influenced by design science, is particularly valuable for relating the way risks are handled at the micro-level to aspects at the macro-level. Three central concepts are included in the framework: purpose, function, and form. A function is used to denote what a specific system d

To determine the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in the general population; the pathology associated with a knee sprain verified by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); and the agreement between clinical findings and MRI.Materials and methods: Inclusion criterion was an acute rotational trauma to the knee associated with effusion. One hundred and fifty-nine consecutive patients

A society’s ability to anticipate disaster is a fundamental part of its resilience. The purpose of this paper is to investigate potential gaps between theory, policy and practice concerning functions for risk assessment in the governmental systems of southern African development countries, particularly Botswana and Tanzania. It applies comparative case studies with data collected in focus groups a

It is increasingly suggested that societies must be resilient to be safe and sustainable. While there are many approaches to resilience available, not all of them operationalize the concept to the extent of guiding what to look for when observing actual communities. This is a requisite for linking the conceptual and the actual, and vital for our ability to develop societal resilience. Drawing on r

The interaction among various stakeholder organizations in modern crisis response is very similar to negotiation where each organization has its own goal in addition to a common goal. Decision makers in stakeholder organizations most often have to settle for win-win situations to attain higher joint benefit. In such cases willingness to contribute in joint tasks becomes a prerequisite. In our pres

We pursued the following three interconnected points: (1) there are unexplored opportunities for resilience scholars from different disciplines to cross-inspire and inform, (2) a systems perspective may enhance understanding of human resilience in health and social settings, and (3) resilience is often considered to be fractal, i.e., a phenomenon with recognizable or recurring features at a variet

Capacity development for disaster risk reduction is an important process to substantially reduce disaster losses, which threaten sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This paper presents seven elements for capacity development for disaster risk reduction that has been applied in practise with noteworthy results. The seven elements are: (1) Terminology, (2

Modern day crises demand organizations to collaborate and adapt to new roles, functions and structures. In such situations, lack of collaborative behaviour and openness between organizations can result in reduced adaptive ability. Therefore, it is important to facilitate collaboration between organizations.We have studied the extent to which crisis managers are prepared to work with personnel and

Resilience is becoming a prevalent agenda in safety research and organisational practice. In this study we examine how the peer-reviewed safety science literature (a) formulates the rationale behind the study of resilience; (b) constructs resilience as a scientific object; and (c) constructs and locates the resilient subject. The results suggest that resilience engineering scholars typically motiv

This article argues for the importance of explicit discussions of what is valuable as a foundation for any disaster risk reduction initiative to be effective. It does so by stating that it is impossible to talk about risk at all if not having some notion of uncertain potential impacts on something that humans value. What is assumed as valuable and important to protect is then determining what haza

Theorizing Power, by Jonathan Hearn, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, 264 pp., ISBN 9780230246560, £55.00 (hardback), ISBN 9780230246577, £19.99 (paperback).

Background: Targeted temperature management is recommended after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and may be achieved using a variety of cooling devices. This study was conducted to explore the performance and outcomes for intravascular versus surface devices for targeted temperature management after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Method: A retrospective analysis of data from the Targeted Temperatu

Increasing security in transports without negatively affecting the logistical flow makes efficiency a critical factor. To achieve a viable end-to-end security solution in a supply chain, with complex network of dependencies, requires a holistic perspective. The pilot project was driven by Volvo Technology and it involved important stakeholders in the supply chain and port domain focusing on the PoIncreasing security in transports without negatively affecting the logistical flow makes efficiency a critical factor. To achieve a viable end-to-end security solution in a supply chain, with complex network of dependencies, requires a holistic perspective. The pilot project was driven by Volvo Technology and it involved important stakeholders in the supply chain and port domain focusing on the Po

Background: We aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of S100 as an outcome predictor after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and the potential influence of two target temperatures (33 °C and 36 °C) on serum levels of S100. Methods: This is a substudy of the Target Temperature Management after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (TTM) trial. Serum levels of S100 were measured a posteriori