Emergency and Disaster Management Commons^™

Gamification And Serious Games In Undergraduate Nursing Education For Disaster Preparedness In The United States, Jacob Fast

Dissertations

Disaster preparedness is a critical component of undergraduate nursing education, yet traditional instructional approaches often inadequately prepare students for the complexity and uncertainty of real-world emergencies. Emerging literature suggests that gamification and serious games may enhance engagement and applied learning; however, limited research has examined their integration within nursing curricula from the perspective of faculty responsible for instructional design. This convergent mixed-methods study investigated the extent of integration, perceived effectiveness, and practical utility of gamification and serious games in undergraduate nursing education for disaster preparedness. Quantitative data were collected through a national survey of faculty teaching in CCNE- and ACEN-accredited …

The Impact Of Household Preparedness And Work-Family Conflict On Medic-Firefighter Ability And Willingness To Respond For Duty In A Disaster, Joshua S. Simmons

Dissertations

There is a general assumption in disaster planning that emergency responders will respond for duty in any emergency or disaster. Role abandonment by medic-firefighters could impede an organization’s ability to effectively manage the impact of a disaster. This study investigated household preparedness and work-family conflict levels, identified as primary variables affecting ability and willingness to respond in the literature. The aim was to determine if these factors impacted the ability and willingness of medic-firefighters in a coastal Virginia fire department to respond during disaster scenarios. The results showed that emergency preparedness levels were low, and that there were moderate levels …

Predicting Hurricane Evacuation Decisions With Interpretable Machine Learning Methods, Yuran Sun, Shih-Kai Huang, Xilei Zhao

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Abstract Facing the escalating effects of climate change, it is critical to improve the prediction and understanding of the hurricane evacuation decisions made by households in order to enhance emergency management. Current studies in this area often have relied on psychology-driven linear models, which frequently exhibited limitations in practice. The present study proposed a novel interpretable machine learning approach to predict household-level evacuation decisions by leveraging easily accessible demographic and resource-related predictors, compared to existing models that mainly rely on psychological factors. An enhanced logistic regression model (that is, an interpretable machine learning approach) was developed for accurate predictions by …

Disaster Movies And The Perception Of Human Behavior Myths In Disasters, John Carr

Dissertations

This study explored if disaster movies change the perceptions viewers hold regarding human behavior in disasters, and if so, whether these effects are observable six weeks after watching the disaster movie. The study documented the anticipation of disaster myths in human behavior for 121 respondents, providing data that can better inform the discussion of disaster myths and realities. The study found changes to anticipation of disaster myths in human behavior and realities across multiple categories, with statistically significant results related to the factor of Looting Myth. Limitations for this study include a small sample size, and the external influence of …

Using Industry Sector Entropy To Predict Economic Community Disaster Resilience: Real-World Verification From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Thomas Brindle

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for disaster science researchers to gain insight into the underlying nature of community resilience through comparing the socioeconomic effects of government action to a common threat across urban population centers of varying economic compositions. For example, the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment related to public health mitigation efforts in the leisure and hospitality sector of Las Vegas, NV, during the onset of the pandemic were well publicized. In comparison, other population centers of similar size but with different economic sector composition varied in the degree to which employment were affected, …

Exploring The Information-Seeking Behaviors And Decision-Making Processes Of Couples In Response To Unfamiliar Tornado Threats, Chih-Chun Rosie Lin

Dissertations

The unique disaster, tornado, causes significant damage and casualties in the US every year, and tornado warnings are crucial to helping people take protective action and reduce the negative impact, especially in an unfamiliar situation. It is important for authorities to better understand how households in low-risk areas rely on information, perceive risk, and make protective action decisions because tornadoes can occur in many geographic locations and might cause significant damage. However, tornado information search behavior and the dynamic decision-making process are not well understood in the existing literature. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect of the interaction …

Qualitative Analysis Of The Lived Experience Of Tornado Survivors And Factors Affecting Community Resilience: A Case Study Of An Ef3 Tornado In Jacksonville, Alabama, Chongming Wang, Erin Rider, Scott Manning, Jacob Fast, Tanveer Islam

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Residents in the Southeast region of the United States are frequently threatened by tornadoes. Previous research indicates that it is important to study the experience of tornado victims to better understand individual risk perception, preparedness, protective action, response, and recovery strategies that contribute to overall community resilience. In this study, we employ an oral-history approach and analyze the lived experience of survivors of an EF3 (on the enhanced Fujita scale) tornado in Jacksonville, Alabama. Using snowball sampling, we conducted in-depth interviews of 25 residents of Jacksonville, Alabama, who experienced the EF3 tornado on 19 March 2018. The recorded interviews were …

Assumptions And Understanding Of Success In Home Buyout Programs, Simon Manda, Alessandra Jerolleman, Elizabeth Marino

Research, Publications & Creative Work

In the US, the role and importance of voluntary buyout and property acquisition programs (buyouts) as a policy tool to relocate property owners out of flood risk riverine and coastal environments has increased since the 1990s, but how federal and other agencies frame success remains less understood. This review paper uses the case of an early implementation of a buyout program that encompassed a portion of Valmeyer to illustrate how success has been framed, and why. Analysis shows definitions of success by different actors emphasized acquisition of properties, construction of new residential and business areas including the incorporation of sustainable …

Communication Matters: A Study Of Communication Between Emergency Managers And Water Systems Professionals Regarding Insufficient Access To Drinking Water, Paula R. Buchanan

Dissertations

In 2021, the United States – specifically the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation – declared its first-ever drinking water shortage for the Colorado River and the Hoover Dam, resulting in cuts to water access for the southwestern United States. Unfortunately, incidents like this one are increasingly likely to occur as access to drinking water has become a more pervasive issue that not only impacts the work of water systems professionals, but also impacts the field of emergency management and its practitioners. In addition, these incidents underscore the need to put a spotlight on communication processes between water systems professionals and emergency …

How Do Perceptions Of Risk Communicator Attributes Affect Emergency Response? An Examination Of A Water Contamination Emergency In Boston, Usa, Amy Hyman, Sudha Arlikatti, Shih-Kai Huang, Michael K. Lindell, Jeryl Mumpower, Carla S. Prater, Hao-Che Wu

Research, Publications & Creative Work

A water main break that contaminated the Boston area's water distribution system prompted a four-day “boil water” order. To understand risk communication during this incident, 600 randomly sampled residents were mailed questionnaires, yielding 110 valid responses. This article describes how perceptions of different social stakeholders influenced whether respondents complied with the Protective Action Recommendation—PAR (i.e., drank boiled water), took alternative protective actions (i.e., drank bottled water or/and self-chlorinated water), or ignored the threat (i.e., continued to drink untreated tap water). Respondents perceived technical authorities (i.e., water utility, public health, and emergency management) to be higher on three social influence attributes …

Should We Wear A Mask? Household Assessment Of Mask Wearing For Covid-19 In Ya’An, China, Leonard Peterson

Dissertations

In late 2019 and 2020, the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide and resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic, the second deadliest pandemic in modern history since the 1918 influenza pandemic. Since the virus was novel, no therapeutics and vaccines existed. Effective implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions was essential to reducing the transmission of the disease until the discovery of effective therapeutics and vaccines. This study explores the influence of the facilitating protective action attribute on adopting mask-wearing as a protective action in Ya’an, Sichuan Province, China. The study found that perceptions of mask effectiveness to reduce the probability of contracting and spreading …

Sirencide: The Impact Of Acute Stress On Emergency Vehicle Crashes, Dustin Lambert

Dissertations

Emergency services provide an invaluable service to communities and cities around the world. Research has shown these professionals encounter significant acute psychological stress throughout their work shifts. Acute stress has been shown to impact human performance in various realms, from increased risk-taking to cognitive decline. While the actual work varies between firefighters, law enforcement, and emergency medical services, a shared commonality is the operation of emergency vehicles. Emergency vehicle crashes are recognized as a serious issue by FEMA. The current work aimed to measure the impact of acute stress on emergency responders as measured by fatal emergency vehicle crashes in …

Infrastructure Risk Reduction: The Case Of Drinking Water Emergencies, Mark Paine

Dissertations

Public water systems are an integral part of community infrastructure. Drinking water contamination or service disruptions have the potential to cause economic losses, limit fire suppression capability, and result in human illnesses. Until 2016, the United States federal government had not issued a disaster declaration due to contaminated water. The first federal drinking water disaster declaration due to contaminated water serves as a sentinel event demonstrating the need to increase focus on public water systems during all phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. Previous studies evaluating risks to vulnerable populations associated with drinking water primarily utilized qualitative …

Examining Media Dependency And Parasocial Relationship On Protective Action Behaviors During Covid-19, Amy Hyman

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the significant role that mass media plays in disseminating messages to the public during disasters and public health crises. Information disseminated during a disaster influences individuals’ decision-making process regarding protective actions, or mitigation behaviors. This study examined the relationship between media dependency theory, parasocial relationship, and media effects (cognitive, affective and behavioral) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative approach was used with a convenience sample. The sample focused on residents in the state of Arkansas and specific generational cohorts. The results found that the generational cohorts had different media preferences during the height of …

The Willingness And Ability Of First Responders To Report For Duty During Disasters: A Case Study Of Local Law Enforcement Officers, William Peak

Dissertations

Role abandonment of employees is a vulnerability of first responder organizations that can be exposed when disasters occur. Organizational vulnerabilities created by role abandonment of first responders can be reduced by understanding the willingness and ability of employees to report for duty during disasters. To gain a better understanding of law enforcement organizational vulnerability to disasters, this study utilizes an online survey disseminated to police officers (n = 314) working for a police department along the Gulf Coast to determine their willingness and ability to report for duty and examines the barriers and facilitators impacting their decision to report …

Determinants Of Residents’ Shadow Evacuation Intention During A Hurricane In The Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Manpreet Jaiswal

Dissertations

Studies on hurricane evacuation behaviour focus primarily on why individuals do not evacuate when they are instructed to, while few examine the reasons why individuals choose to evacuate under conditions that would not require them to, termed shadow evacuation. Such behaviour might delay the timely evacuation of more at-risk coastal residents. To better understand the reasons for shadow evacuation, this study analyzes data from a household evacuation behavioural survey administered between 2012-2013 to 479 households in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties, Texas, known as the Rio Grande Valley. This area features a number of Colonia neighborhoods with high rates …

The Influence Of Social Capital On Risk Attitude Toward Covid-19 Amongst Traditional Undergraduates, Jordan Titera

Dissertations

This dissertation assesses the influence of the three types of social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking) on the risk attitude of traditional undergraduate students (under 25 years old who enroll directly from high school, attend full-time, and do not have major life and work responsibilities). The research is motivated by three research questions: (1) What is the risk attitude of traditional undergraduate students surveyed about COVID-19 (addicted, seeking, tolerant, averse, paranoid); (2) What are the social capital characteristics for traditional undergraduate respondents surveyed; and (3) What influence does social capital have on the risk attitude of traditional undergraduate students regarding …

‘Drop, Cover And Hold On’ Or ‘Triangle Of Life’ Attributes Of Information Sources Influencing Earthquake Protective Actions, Sudha Arlikatti, Shih-Kai Huang, Chin-Hsien Yu, Chunlin Hua

Research, Publications & Creative Work

A well-known fact is that an earthquake or earth shaking does not cause injuries and deaths. Rather, buildings and infrastructure systems collapsing on people do. Hence, reputable government organizations from countries prone to high earthquake risks are heavily invested in advising their populations on immediate lifesaving protective actions (PAs). One such action is the ‘Drop, Cover and Hold on’ strategy proven to have saved countless lives. Unfortunately, in recent years another action known as the ‘Triangle of Life’ has been trolled through internet sites and hearsay. It is believed that adopting such an unsubstantiated erroneous action is likely to put …

Immediate Behavioral Response To The June 17, 2013 Flash Floods In Uttarakhand, North India, Michael K. Lindell, Sudha Arlikatti, Shih-Kai Huang

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The 2013 Uttarakhand flash flood was such a surprise for those at risk that the predominant source of information for their risk was environmental cues and, secondarily, peer warnings rather than official warnings. Of those who received warnings, few received information other than the identity of the flood threat. A survey of 316 survivors found that most people's first response was to immediately evacuate but some stayed to receive additional information, confirm their warnings, or engage in evacuation preparations. Unfortunately, engaging in these milling behaviors necessarily delayed their final evacuations. Mediation analysis revealed that psychological reactions mediated the relationship between …

Perceptions And Expected Immediate Reactions To Severe Storm Displays, Ihnji Jon, Shih-Kai Huang, Michael K. Lindell

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The National Weather Service has adopted warning polygons that more specifically indicate the risk area than its previous county-wide warnings. However, these polygons are not defined in terms of numerical strike probabilities (p_s). To better understand people’s interpretations of warning polygons, 167 participants were shown 23 hypothetical scenarios in one of three information conditions—polygon-only (Condition A), polygon + tornadic storm cell (Condition B), and polygon + tornadic storm cell + flanking nontornadic storm cells (Condition C). Participants judged each polygon’s p_s and reported the likelihood of taking nine different response actions. The polygon-only condition replicated the …

The Effect Of Cobra Training On First Responder Self-Confidence To Work In A Toxic Chemical Or Biological Agent Environment, Robert A. Mann

Dissertations

First responders are our nation’s front line defense against intentional or accidental releases of toxic chemical or biological agents. Self-confidence which is a building block of self-efficacy is hypothesized to be malleable and increased through training. The purpose of this study was to determine the change if any, which first responders undergo during Chemical, Ordnance, Biological, and Radiological (COBRA) training, in their self-confidence to operate in a toxic chemical or biological agent environment. That is to determine if there is a correlation between increased self-confidence and COBRA training. The methodology of this study was based on quantitative methods of analysis …

Preparing Nursing Students To Respond To Disasters: Faculty Perspectives, Melissa Jayne Freshwater

Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored emergency preparedness and disaster response in the concept-based learning curriculum adopted by the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) in 2016. The concept-based curriculum employs active learning in lieu of the traditional lecture-style teaching methods.

This study addressed the problem that educators may be unfamiliar with this content and are unsure how to present this material to students. The purpose of this study was to gain insight on teaching methodologies, to better prepare nursing students on this content.

Kolb’s 1984 Experiential Learning Theory was the framework that parallels closely with this curriculum. Kolb emphasizes four stages …

Status Of The Profession Of United States Emergency Management: An Exploratory Analysis Based On Select Attributes Of Occupational Closure, Timothy Wayne Sevison

Dissertations

Emergency management as a concept has been evolving since the early 19th century, but the occupation of emergency management, and discourse concerning professional status has primarily occurred within the last 30 years. This dissertation is an exploratory analysis of the current status of the profession of United States emergency management based on perceptions of leaders from state level emergency management organizations and state level emergency management professional organizations. A mixed methods approach (survey instrument, open-source data collection, semi-structured interviews) was utilized to explore the perceptions of emergency management leaders on two key attributes of occupational closure: control of entry into …

Estimated Time Of Restoration (Etr) Guidance For Electric Distribution Networks, David Wanik, Emmanouil Anagnostou, Brian Hartman, Thomas Layton

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Electric distribution utilities have an obligation to inform the public and government regulators about when they expect to complete service restoration after a major storm. In this study, we explore methods for calculating the estimated time of restoration (ETR) from weather impacts, defined as the time it will take for 99.5% of customers to be restored. Actual data from Storm Irene (2011), the October Nor’easter (2011) and Hurricane Sandy (2012) within the Eversource Energy-Connecticut service territory were used to calibrate and test the methods; data used included predicted outages, the peak number of customers affected, a ratio of how many …

Local Residents’ Risk Perceptions In Response To Shale Gas Exploitation: Evidence From China, Chin-Hsien Yu, Shih-Kai Huang, Ping Qin, Xiaolan Chen

Research, Publications & Creative Work

In 2014, China became the world’s third country to accomplish shale gas commercial development, following the United States and Canada. China still however lacks a comprehensive analysis of its public’s concerns about potential environmental risks of shale gas exploration, particularly those of local residents near extraction sites. This paper specifically aims to explore risks perceived as associated with shale gas development in the Changning-Weiyuan area of Sichuan Basin, by conducting a face-to-face household survey with 730 participants interviewed. Some 86% of respondents reported their belief that shale gas exploitation causes more than three types of negative impacts, the most commonly …

Perceptions And Reactions To Tornado Warning Polygons: Would A Gradient Polygon Be Useful?, Ihnji Jon, Shih-Kai Huang, Michael K. Lindell

Research, Publications & Creative Work

To better understand interpretations of National Weather tornado warning polygons, 145 participants were shown 22 hypothetical scenarios in one of four displays deterministic polygon, deterministic polygon + radar image, gradient polygon, and gradient polygon + radar image. Participants judged each numerical strike probability (ps ) and reported the likelihood of taking seven different response actions. The deterministic polygon display produced ps that were highest at the centroid and declined in all directions from there. The deterministic polygon + radar display, the gradient polygon display, and the gradient polygon + radar display produced ps that were high at the centroid and …

The Fort Mcmurray Wildfire 2016: Risk Perceptions And Behaviours Among Evacuees, Christopher James Kearns

Dissertations

The devastating wildfires in the Fort McMurray, Alberta, region in May of 2016 forced the evacuation of almost 90,000 people from their homes. This study examines and compares risk perceptions and evacuation behaviours between young adults, 18 to 24 years of age and older adults, 25 years and older, and between genders. The study participants (n = 299) were students and staff at Keyano College in Fort McMurray. They indicated only slight differences in their perceptions of risk and their evacuation behaviours between both the age groups and by gender. Environmental cues were significant indicators of risk for all participants. …

Planning For A Medical Surge Incident: Is Rehabilitation The Missing Link?, Mary Kay Vonderschmidt

Dissertations

This study explores planning considerations for patients needing rehabilitative care in the event of mass casualty incidents, in particular, patient surge. While planning for a patient surge usually considers prehospital and hospital care, the final step for many disaster patients, rehabilitation is often overlooked. Rehabilitative care begins in the hospital, before discharge, with the consultation of a physician specialist. By including early physiatrist care there are documented decreases in hospital length of stay, fewer medical complications and better functional outcomes.

Based on past disaster studies, the variables of Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START), Injury Severity Score (ISS), and hospital …

Predicting Residents’ Responses To The May 1-4, 2010, Boston Water Contamination Incident, Michael K. Lindell, Shih-Kai Huang, Carla S. Prater

Research, Publications & Creative Work

This study examined 110 local residents’ warning sources, warning channels, warning receipt times, message content, risk perception, and behavioral responses (warning confirmation, and consumption of untreated tap water, boiled water, bottled water, and personally chlorinated water) during the May 1-4 2010 Boston water contamination incident. Most residents received warnings from peers and news media and these warnings mentioned 2.35 of five recommended elements of a warning message—most commonly the threat and the recommended protective action. TV was the most frequent channel for additional information, partly because it was the most frequent channel of routine information, but the Internet was also …

The Flint Water Crisis And The Role Of Professional Emergency Managers In Risk Mitigation, Mark Paine, Jane A. Kushma

Research, Publications & Creative Work

A federal emergency was declared in Flint, Michigan on January 16, 2016 because of elevated lead levels in the city drinking water system. Resulting from a number of technical mistakes and a lack of oversight by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, this crisis may have implications for the professional practice of emergency management. This paper explores the relationship between critical infrastructure and disaster theory, reviews the Flint crisis as a representative case study, and presents recommendations for emergency managers to begin to assess the drinking water systems within their own communities. As this is a still-evolving event, the discussion …