International Journal of Emergency Management (4 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• Pre-positioning facilities for collecting tents from communities for post-earthquake relief  
  by Jing-Xian Zhou, Zhi-Hua Hu, Xiang Li 
  Abstract: Pre-positioning facilities for collecting tents distributed in communities is critical to improve the efficacy of tent collection and supply in post-earthquake relief. This paper aims at a pre-positioning problem for facilities that collect the tents in communities by considering various earthquake scenarios. A bi-stage stochastic programming model is formulated for the facility location problem. The model minimises the economic costs and time-related penalty costs. Considering the effects of objective weights and known parameters on the solutions, five experiments were performed and analysed for studying the proposed model. A case illustrates the location problem for the facilities for collecting tents from communities in Pudong New District, Shanghai, China, in the relief of the Yaan earthquake.
  Keywords: emergency logistics; location problem; stochastic programming; uncertain scenario; earthquake.
  
  
• Investigating causal relationship of disaster risk reduction activities in the Indian context  
  by Akhilesh Barve, Ram Naresh Prasad, Devendra K. Yadav 
  Abstract: This study focuses on the identification of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities which are carried out during pre- and post-disasters to save the lives of the population under risk of disasters. Odisha, one of the disaster-prone states in India has been taken as to case to identify the relevant DRR activities for cyclone and later the efforts were made to explore the strength of identified DRR activities and causal relationship between them by using Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The activities used in these processes were finalised after detailed discussion with policy-makers and academicians working at the various levels and capacity of disaster management and allied domain of DRR. The results of this study show that cause group activities influence effect group activities, and emergency planning at various levels was found to be the most influencing DRR activity among other activities
  Keywords: disaster risk reduction; Odisha; DEMATEL.
  
  
• Twitter as a communication tool in the Germanwings and Ebola crises in Europe: analysis and protocol for effective communication management  
  by Carles Pont-Sorribes, Guillem Suau-Gomila, Salvador Percastre-Mendizábal 
  Abstract: We investigated Twitter communications by the media and institutions regarding two emergency situations which had a major impact in Europe: the accident of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps on 24 March 2015, and Ebola infection of Teresa Romero, a nursing assistant at the Hospital Carlos III in Madrid, reported on 6 October 2014. Our methodology was based on a new tool called Top Discussion Indicator (TDI). Our results indicate that media and institutions do not exploit all the possibilities offered by Twitter. We propose a decalogue of recommendations aimed at improving use of Twitter and ensuring greater communicative efficacy.
  Keywords: emergency communication; public institutions communication; media information; Twitter; Europe; Ebola emergency; Germanwings emergency; mixed methods; top discussion indicator; decalogue of recommendations.
  
  
• Social vulnerability determinants of individual social capital for emergency preparedness  
  by Julius Nukpezah 
  Abstract: The study uses data from the 2008 General Social Survey to construct a goal-specific individual social capital for emergency preparedness (ISCEP) scale. It draws on social vulnerability theory to propose determinants of ISCEP and OLS to estimate the coefficients of the regressions. The study findings contribute to extant scholarship about the role of investing in human capital on social capital outcomes. It also supports the idea that communication among groups nourishes individual social capital and that policy-makers should invest in policy narratives that shape perceptions of residents for emergency-related social capital that they would like to promote. Overall, the study makes three novel contributions to the scholarship. First, social capital should be goal-specific, and measured at the individual level as ISCEP to understand its formation. Second, ISCEP should be studied as an outcome variable, and not only as a causal variable. Third, social vulnerability provides a theoretical framework for investigating determinants of ISCEP.
  Keywords: social capital; social vulnerability; emergency preparedness; individual social capital; social network; risk perception; individual social capital for emergency preparedness; General Social Survey.