Hegemonic masculinity and the gendering of men in disaster management: implications for social work education

Disaster studies have been slow to address gender issues in the management of disasters. Given the neglect of gender in the previous scholarship on disasters, most of the recent writing on the gendering of disasters has understandably focused on women's experiences in relation to risk management, emergency responses, post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. There has been little interrogation of the ways in which hegemonic masculinity and men's privileged positioning in patriarchal gender regimes impact on the various stages of disaster management. In this paper I draw upon my experience in researching men and masculinities in Australia to draw connections between men's privilege, rural masculinities, men's experiences of trauma, men's violence and men's gendered experience of disasters, especially in relation to bush fires. The paper relates insights arising from these studies to men's responses to disasters, their involvement in disaster management and their post-disaster experiences. The implications of this analysis for a disaster curricula in social work education is outlined.

Security analysis and modelling framework for critical infrastructure systems

The provision and delivery of many of the services that modern society enjoys are the result of ubiquitous critical infrastructure systems that permeate across many sectors of the Australian community. Moreover, the integration of technological enhancements and networking interconnections between critical infrastructure systems has heightened system interdependence, availability and resilience, including the efficient delivery of services to consumers within Australia's industrialised society. This research delivers a system security analysis and system modelling framework tool based on an associated conceptual methodology as the basis for assessing security and conceptually modelling a critical infrastructure system incident. The intent to identify potential system security issues and gain operational insights that will contribute to improving system resilience, contingency planning development applicable to disaster recovery and ameliorating incident management responses for Australian critical infrastructure system incidents.

Critical infrastructure systems : security analysis and modelling approach

A system security analysis and system modelling framework tool is proposed adopting an associated conceptual methodology as the basis for assessing security and conceptually modelling a critical infrastructure system incident. The intent is to identify potential system security issues and gain operational insights that will contribute to improving system resilience, contingency planning, disaster recovery and ameliorating incident management responses for critical infrastructure system incidents. The aforementioned system security analysis and modelling framework is applied to an adverse critical infrastructure system incident case study. This paper reports on the practical application of the framework to a case study of an actual critical infrastructure system failure and the resultant incident implications for the system and the wider regional communities.

Owner-driven reconstruction in India: a case-study of Kosi River floods in Bihar

An Owner-Driven Reconstruction (ODR) approach was adopted in the Indian state of Bihar, post 2008 Kosi River floods. This ODR was unique as it was piloted prior to policy formation. The paper discusses preliminary observations from empirical investigations conducted in two settlements of Bihar - Orlaha and Puraini, during 2012 and 2014. The aim was to identify ‘key processes’ or effectiveness of ODR approaches that enhance long-term disaster-resilience of housing and community autonomy. From the case-study investigations, one of the themes – community facilitation is discussed, with its positives and negatives for future replication.

Examination of the "all hazards" approach to disaster management as applied to field disaster management and pre-hospital care in Australia

Disasters, emergencies, incidents, and major incidents - they all come back to the same thing regardless of what they are called. The common denominator is that there is loss of life, injury to people and animals and damage and destruction of property. The management of such events relies on four phases: 1. Prevention 2. Preparation 3. Response 4. Recovery Each of these phases is managed in a different way and often by different teams. Here, concentration has been given to phases 2 and 3, with particular emphasis on phase 3, Response. The words used to describe such events are often related to legislation. The terminology is detailed later. However, whatever the description, whenever prevention is not possible, or fails, then the need is to respond. Response is always better when the responders are prepared. Training is a major part of response preparation and this book is designed to assist those in the health industry who need to be ready when something happens. One of the training packages for responders is the Major Incident Medical Management and Support (MIMMS) Course and this work was designed to supplement the manual prepared by Hodgetts and Macway-Jones(87) in the UK. Included is what the health services responder, who may be sent to an event in which the main concern is trauma, should know. Concentration is on the initial response and does not deal in any detail with hospital reaction, the public health aspects, or the mental health support that provides psychological help to victims and responders, and which are also essential parts of disaster management. People, in times of disaster, have always been quick to offer assistance. It is now well recognised however, that the 'enthusiastic amateur', whilst being a well meaning volunteer, isn't always what is needed. All too often such people have made things worse and have sometimes ended up as victims themselves. There is a place now for volunteers and there probably always will be. The big difference is that these people must be well informed, well trained and well practiced if they are to be effective. Fortunately such people and organisations do exist. Without the work of the St John Ambulance, the State Emergency Service, the Rural Fire Service the Red Cross and the Volunteer Rescue Association, to mention only a few, our response to disasters would be far less effective. There is a strong history of individuals being available to help the community in times of crisis. Mostly these people were volunteers but there has also always been the need for a core of professional support. In the recent past, professional support mechanisms have been developed from lessons learned, particularly to situations that need a rapid and well organised response. As lessons are learned from an analysis of events, philosophy and methods have changed. Our present system is not perfect and perhaps never will be. The need for an 'all-hazards approach' makes detailed planning very difficult and so there will probably always be criticisms about the way an event was handled. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, provided we learn from it. That means that this text is certainly not the 'last word' and revisions as we learn from experience will be inevitable. Because the author works primarily in New South Wales, many of the explanations and examples are specific to that state. In Australia disaster response is a State, rather than a Commonwealth, responsibility and consequently, and inevitably, there are differences in management between the states and territories within Australia. With the influence of Emergency Management Australia, these differences are being reduced. This means that across state and territory boundaries, assistance is common and interstate teams can be deployed and assimilated into the response rapidly, safely, effectively and with minimum explanation. This text sets out to increase the understanding of what is required, what is in place and how the processes of response are managed. By way of introduction and background, examples are given of those situations that have occurred, or could happen. Man Made Disasters has been divided into two distinct sections. Those which are related to structures or transport and those related directly to people. The first section, Chapter 3, includes: • Transport accidents involving land, rail, sea or air vehicles. • Collapse of buildings for reasons other than earthquakes or storms. • Industrial accidents, including the release of hazardous substances and nuclear events. A second section dealing with the consequences of the direct actions of people is separated as Chapter 4, entitled 'People Disasters'. Included are: • Crowd incidents involving sports and entertainment venues. • Terrorism From Chapter 4 on, the emphasis is on the Response phase and deals with organisation and response techniques in detail. Finally there is a section on terminology and abbreviations. An appendix details a typical disaster pack content. War, the greatest of all man made disasters is not considered in this text.

Early Triassic disaster and opportunistic foraminifers in South China

Survival and recovery are important dynamic processes of biotic evolution during major geological transitions. Disaster and opportunistic taxa are two significant groups that dominate the ecosystem in the aftermath of mass extinction events. Disaster taxa appear immediately after such crises whilst opportunists pre-date the crisis but also bloom in the aftermath. This paper documents three disaster foraminiferal species and seven opportunistic foraminiferal species from Lower Triassic successions of South China. They are characterized by extreme high abundance and low diversity and occurred occasionally in Griesbachian, Smithian and Spathian strata. The characteristics (small size, simple morphology) and stratigraphic ranges of these groups suggest that r-selection is a commonly used strategy for survivors to cope with either harsh post-extinction conditions and/or environments lacking incumbents.

Developing an approach to assess the influence of integrating disaster risk reduction practices into infrastructure reconstruction on socio-economic development

Purpose: Disasters provide physical, social, economic, political and environmental development windows of opportunity particularly through housing and infrastructure reconstruction. The reconstruction process should not be neglected due to the opportunistic nature of facilitating innovation in development. In this respect, post-disaster "infrastructure" reconstruction plays a critical role in development discourse and is often essential to sustain recovery after major disasters. However, reconstruction following a natural disaster is a complicated problem involving social, economic, cultural, environmental, psychological, and technological aspects. There are significant development benefits of well-developed "Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Strategies" and, for many reasons, the concept of DRR can be more easily promoted following a disaster. In this respect, a research study was conducted to investigate the effects of integrating DRR strategies into infrastructure reconstruction on enhancing the socio-economic development process from a qualitative stance. The purpose of this paper is to document part of this research study; it proposes an approach that can be used to assess the influence of the application of the DRR concept into infrastructure reconstruction on socio-economic development. Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology included a critical literature review. Findings: This paper suggests that the best way to assess the influence of integrating DRR strategies practices into infrastructure reconstruction on socio-economic development is to assess the level of impact that DRR strategies has on overcoming various factors that form vulnerabilities. Having assessed this, the next step is to assess the influence of overcoming the factors that form vulnerabilities on achieving performance targets of socio-economic development. Originality/value: This paper primarily presents a framework for the concept of socio-economic development and a modelled classification of DRR practices.

Capacity building for post disaster construction and demolition waste management: a case of Sri Lanka

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework for capacity building in post disaster construction and demolition (C&D) waste management at a national level to address the identified capacity gaps in managing disaster waste resulting from natural hazards.

Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered through pilot interviews, case studies and expert opinion surveys representing government, non-government and other sector organisations involved in post disaster waste management.

Findings – The study revealed unavailability of a single point of responsibility and provision for disaster waste in existing policies and capacity constraints in prevailing peace time solid waste management practices which were identified as major capacity gaps. Establishment of a regulatory body and enforceable rules and regulations with necessary levels of capacities was identified and presented in a theoretical framework comprising of seven identified areas for capacity building in post disaster waste management.

Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to disaster C&D waste as debris generated from totally or partially damaged buildings and infrastructure as a direct impact of natural hazards or from demolished buildings and infrastructure at rehabilitation or early recovery stages. Waste generated during reconstruction phase of post disaster management cycle is not considered as disaster C&D waste for purposes of this study.

Originality/value – The research enabled analysis of existing capacities and presents approaches for capacity building for identified gaps in post disaster C&D waste management to attain sustainable post disaster waste management for future resilience.

Capacity gaps in post disaster construction & demolition waste management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the identification of the existing capacities of post disaster C&D waste management in developing countries, with a special emphasis on Sri Lanka to determine the capacity gaps and related influencing factors.

Design/methodology/approach – Multiple case studies and expert interviews were conducted to gather primary information on the existing capacities of disaster C&D waste management. Three case studies, including 15 individuals and six experts representing government, non-government institutions and others, were selected.

Findings – The results revealed the existing capacities, capacity gaps and influencing factors for post disaster C&D waste management in the areas of skills and confidence building, links and collaborations, continuity and sustainability, research and development, communication andcoordination, organisational implementation and investment in infrastructure.

Research limitations/implications – This study limited disaster C&D waste to debris generated from totally or partially damaged buildings and infrastructure as a direct impact of natural disasters orfrom demolished buildings and infrastructure at rehabilitation or at early recovery stages.

Originality/value – The research enabled an analysis of existing capacities and identified capacity gaps in post disaster C&D waste management with influencing factors developing countries.

Impact of integrating disaster risk reduction philosophies into infrastructure reconstruction projects in Sri Lanka

Major impacts on infrastructures due to natural and man-made hazards could result in secondary and additional impacts, compounding the problem for those communities already affected by the hazard. Integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR) philosophies into infrastructure projects has been an important solution to mitigate and prevent such disaster risks, as well as for a speedy recovery after disasters. Vulnerability reduction is defined by the research community as an enabler which facilitates the process of DRR. However, there is a research need to identify the most beneficial DRR strategies that would result in vulnerability reduction in an effective way. As part of this main aim, this paper seeks to explore the nature of various vulnerabilities within infrastructure reconstruction projects and their respective communities and to evaluate the DRR practises within these projects. Finally the paper attempts to map the effects of integration of DRR into infrastructure reconstruction on vulnerability reduction of infrastructure reconstruction projects and the communities which benefited from such projects. This study adopts the case study approach and the paper is entirely based on data collated from semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey conducted within one case study (a water supply and sanitation reconstruction project) in Sri Lanka and expert interviews conducted in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Results reveal that emergency preparedness strategies are the most important group of DRR strategies, while physical/technical strategies are also very important. However, none of the emergency preparedness strategies are satisfactorily implemented, while most of the physical/technical strategies are adequately implemented.

Recovery after stroke : a qualitative perspective

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of stroke on survivors of the condition and to identify their physical and psychosocial needs in rural and regional settings. Data were collected via focus group interviews with stroke survivors, carers and key informants. Data were managed using NUD*IST and analysed using a content analysis method identifying major themes related to the impact of living in the community after having a stroke. It was found that stroke survivors suffered severe physical and emotional effects. The findings also identified the vulnerability of this group and a lack of organised, on-going psychosocial and rehabilitative support. Recommendations are made to enhance the current management of stroke after the acute and subacute phases.

A new genus of Rhynchonellid Brachiopod from the Lower Triassic of South China and Implications for timing the recovery of Brachiopoda after the end-Permian mass extinction

A new genus, Meishanorhynchia, is proposed based on new material from the Lower Triassic of the Meishan section, South China. It is of a late Griesbachian age based on both associated biozones (ammonoids and
bivalves) and radiometric dates of the intercalated volcanic ash beds. Comparison with both Palaeozoic and Mesozoic-Cenozoic-related genera suggests that it may represent the first radiation of progenitor brachiopods in the aftermath of the end-Permian extinction. The lowest brachiopod horizon that contains the genus is estimated to be about 250.1±0.3 Ma. This implies that the initial stage of recovery of Brachiopoda in the Early Triassic was probably about 1.3±0.3 myr after the major pulse of the end-Permian mass extinction (dated as 251.4±0.3 Ma). This is in agreement with Hallam's expectancy that biotic recovery typically begins within one million years or so of major mass extinctions, in contrast to current views on the end-Permian extinction event which propose that the recovery of most if not all biotic groups in the Early Triassic was severely delayed and only began about five million years after the end-Permian extinction.

Narratives of recovery from traumatic injury: issues in the nursing care of patients in rehabilitation

Patients who sustain multiple orthopaedic injuries through trauma frequently undergo lengthy rehabilitation. There is little information available about how patients experience hospital rehabilitation programs. In particular, not much is known about factors that inhibit or facilitate the rehabilitation process. This paper describes a qualitative study that explored the rehabilitation  experiences of thirteen patients who had serious orthopaedic injuries.  In-depth interviews revealed issues about good and bad care, the importance of mateship, getting through the day and living with pain. In addition, participants spoke of the impact that the accident and resulting injuries had on their relationships, their experience of loss, how difficult it was to manage everyday issues and the ways in which the accident changed them. The findings of the study have been set into a framework of therapeutic emplotment, a novel way to view the role of the rehabilitation nurse.

Arsenic contamination in Bangladesh groundwater: a major environmental and social disaster

In attempting to eliminate disease caused by drinking polluted surface water, millions of shallow surface wells were drilled into the Ganges delta alluvium in Bangladesh. The latest statistics indicate that 80% of Bangladesh and an estimated 40 million people are at risk of arsenic poisoning-related diseases because the ground water in these wells is contaminated with arsenic. The clinical manifestations of arsenic poisoning are myriad, and the correct diagnosis depends largely on awareness of the problem. Patients with melanosis, leuco-melanosis, keratosis, hyperkeratosis, dorsum, non-petting edema, gangrene and skin cancer have been identified. The present article reviews the current arsenic contamination of ground water, hydrological systems, groundwater potential and utilization and environmental pollution in Bangladesh. This paper concludes by clarifying the main actions required to ensure the sustainable development of water resources in Bangladesh

The impact of grazing by eastern grey kangaroos (macropus giganteus) on vegetation recovery after fire at Reef Hills regional park, Victoria

In southeastern Australia ecological burning is frequently used to maintain a number of plant and animal populations. However, many of these prescribed fires are small, and may focus intense grazing activity on new regrowth. At Reef Hills Regional Park, Victoria shrub species have senesced, presumably due to the absence of fire. Ecological burning may be necessary to promote regeneration, however, the population density of the Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) is high (approx 38 per km2), and grazing pressure presents a significant risk to postfire vegetation recovery. An assessment of grazing patterns and their effects on postfire recovery was carried out at Reef Hills Regional Park through grazing exclusion plots. Preferential grazing by Eastern Grey Kangaroos occurred on small burnt plots compared to adjacent unburnt areas as determined by faecal pellet counts. On burnt areas, there was a significant reduction in shrub diversity on grazed plots compared to ungrazed plots. Most observations of kangaroos were of animals grazing on farmland surrounding the Park, and it is likely that any burning might shift grazing from farmland to burnt areas when new growth occurs. This needs to be considered before any ecological burn plan is applied to manage vegetation communities, particularly if the plan requires small areas to be burnt. We recommended that a large area up to 200 ha area be burnt and monitored to determine whether burning larger areas disperses grazing pressure from macropods to a level where impacts on vegetation are reduced and localized plant extinctions do not occur.