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Do not fill this in! == Disaster response technologies == {{See also|:Category:Emergency management software|#Collective communication and behaviour}} ===Ad hoc infrastructure=== A range of infrastructures could be restored ad hoc quickly after a disaster using technologies. ====Communications==== The [[Government Emergency Telecommunications Service]] supports federal, state, local and tribal government personnel, industry and non-governmental organizations during a crisis or emergency by providing emergency access and priority handling for local and long-distance calls over the public switched telephone network.<ref>[[Government Emergency Telecommunications Service]] was copied from the Wikipedia article about the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service; see that article for references</ref> There is a [[Nationwide Wireless Priority Service]] that allows a user to wait for cellular bandwidth to open.<ref>[[Nationwide Wireless Priority Service]] was copied from the Wikipedia article about the Nationwide Wireless Priority Service; see that article for references</ref> [[Wireless mesh network]]s can be deployed rapidly<ref>{{cite news |last1=Decristofaro |first1=Michael A. |last2=Lansdowne |first2=Chatwin A. |last3=Schlesinger |first3=Adam M. |title=Heterogeneous Wireless Mesh Network Technology Evaluation for Space Proximity and Surface Applications |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2014-1600 |access-date=22 July 2021 |work=SpaceOps 2014 Conference |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |date=2 May 2014 |doi=10.2514/6.2014-1600|isbn=978-1-62410-221-9 }}</ref> to enable Internet connectivity, substitute failed mobile phone networks and [[Emergency communication system|emergency-]] and post-disaster communication โ including for disaster response coordination and emergency calls.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hodson |first1=Hal |title=When the internet dies, meet the meshnet that survives |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229653-700-when-the-internet-dies-meet-the-meshnet-that-survives/ |website=New Scientist |access-date=22 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Masterson |first1=Andrew |title=Meshnets serve communities when internet fails |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/meshnets-serve-communities-when-internet-fails-20140515-zrdqe.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=22 July 2021 |language=en |date=15 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A mesh network spontaneously erupts in the US and helps connect Puerto Rico |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/14/a-mesh-network-spontaneously-erupts-in-the-us-and-helps-connect-puerto-rico/ |website=TechCrunch |date=14 November 2017 |access-date=22 July 2021}}</ref> Mesh networks such as [[B.A.T.M.A.N.]] are often developed and deployed [[open-source]] by volunteer communities with little resources. ====Electricity==== [[Emergency power system]]s โ such as mobile [[microgeneration]] units, mobile charging- and power supply-stations or specially designed or extended [[smart grid]]s<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lallanilla |first1=Marc |title=What is a Smart Grid? |url=https://www.livescience.com/41920-smart-grid.html |website=livescience.com |date=12 December 2013 |access-date=22 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Engineering project aims at improving disaster response networks |url=https://fullcircle.asu.edu/faculty/engineering-project-aims-at-improving-disaster-response-networks/ |website=Full Circle |date=5 December 2013}}</ref> โ could support important electrical systems on loss of normal power supply or restore power supply for small regions whose connections to the main power grid were cut off. ====Transportation==== The transportation infrastructure may have become unpassable due to a disaster, complicating logistics, evacuation and disaster response. Technologies may allow for quick ad hoc sufficient restoration of the transportation network or substitutions of parts of it. Such include the rapid construction of stable bridges based on mobile lightweight and/or locally sourced materials or components, which militaries have been involved in.{{additional citation needed|date=July 2021}}<ref>{{cite news |title=How the German military is helping in flood-hit areas {{!}} DW {{!}} 19.07.2021 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-german-military-is-helping-in-flood-hit-areas/a-58319840 |access-date=28 July 2021 |work=Deutsche Welle}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nine killed, 1,037 Thai villages affected in Nakhon Si Thammarat floods |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2020/12/04/nine-killed-1037-thai-villages-affected-in-nakhon-si-thammarat-floods |website=The Star |access-date=28 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=German flood survivors emerged from homes 'like ghosts' |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-flood-survivors-emerged-homes-like-ghosts-2021-07-21/ |access-date=28 July 2021 |work=Reuters |date=21 July 2021}}</ref> ====Waste management==== Disaster waste is often managed in an ad hoc manner.<ref>{{cite web |title=Disaster Waste Management Guidelines |url=https://www.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/DWMG.pdf |access-date=28 July 2021 |archive-date=30 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330061534/https://www.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/DWMG.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The waste generated by a disaster can overwhelm existing solid waste management facilities and affect other response activities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Charlotte |last2=Milke |first2=Mark |last3=Seville |first3=Erica |title=Disaster waste management: A review article |journal=Waste Management |date=June 2011 |volume=31 |issue=6 |pages=1085โ1098 |doi=10.1016/j.wasman.2011.01.027|pmid=21334871 |bibcode=2011WaMan..31.1085B |hdl=10092/6199 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Depending on the type of disaster, its scope and recovery duration conventional waste may need to be managed in similar ways and both may be associated with the transportation network restoration. ====Emergency accommodation==== Accommodation in terms of emergency accommodation is sometimes considered to be an element of infrastructure. Temporary accommodation for people and animals after disasters is an issue.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emergency Management in the United States |url=https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/is111_unit%204.pdf |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Temporary Emergency Accommodation (TEA) Plan |url=https://www.chde.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/9585/TemporaryEmergencyAccommodationSubPlan.pdf |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref> Sometimes existing private accommodation infrastructure and logistics are repurposed for the disaster response.<ref>{{cite news |title=Volunteers rally to help German flood victims {{!}} DW {{!}} 17.07.2021 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/volunteers-rally-to-help-german-flood-victims/a-58298987 |access-date=28 July 2021 |work=Deutsche Welle}}</ref> ====Water supply==== Water supply, drainage and sewerage infrastructure, and the functioning of wastewater treatment plants may be disrupted by disasters.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guidance on Water Supply and Sanitation In Extreme Weather Events |url=https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/165665/e96163.pdf |access-date=28 July 2021 |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303204444/https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/165665/e96163.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> <!--====Health infrastructure====-->====Vaccination infrastructure==== Long-term disaster response, as well as medical infrastructure local to disaster regions with increased health risk, may include vaccination infrastructure.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leach-Kemon |first1=Katherine |last2=Graves |first2=Casey M |last3=Johnson |first3=Elizabeth K |last4=Lavado |first4=Rouselle F |last5=Hanlon |first5=Michael |last6=Haakenstad |first6=Annie |title=Vaccine resource tracking systems |journal=BMC Health Services Research |date=December 2014 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=421 |doi=10.1186/1472-6963-14-421 |pmid=25246005 |url=https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC4263052 |access-date=28 July 2021|pmc=4263052 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Short-term EU health preparedness for COVID-19 outbreaks |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0318 |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=A retrospective and prospective analysis of the west African Ebola virus disease epidemic: robust national health systems at the foundation and an empowered WHO at the apex |journal=The Lancet |date=9 May 2015 |volume=385 |issue=9980 |pages=1902โ1909 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60644-4 |url= |language=en |issn=0140-6736|last1=Gostin |first1=Lawrence O. |last2=Friedman |first2=Eric A. |pmid=25987158 |s2cid=39277878 }}</ref> ===Response coordination websites=== Volunteers, as well as other people involved in a disaster response such as locals and civil organizations like the [[Technisches Hilfswerk|Technische Hilfswerk]], can be coordinated and coordinate with the help of websites and similar ICTs such as for preventing traffic jams,<ref>{{cite news |title=German police ask volunteers to stay away from flood disaster area |url=https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/german-police-ask-volunteers-to-stay-away-from-flood-disaster-area/ar-AAMvPgr |access-date=28 July 2021 |work=www.msn.com}}</ref> "disaster tourists" and other obstruction of the transportation network, for allocating different forms of help to locations in need, reporting missing persons and increasing efficiency. Such websites for specific individual affected regions have been set up after the [[2021 European floods]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hochwasser & รberschwemmungen: So kannst du helfen |url=https://www.dasding.de/update/hochwasser-ueberschwemmungen-helfen-rheinland-pfalz-hilfe-100.html |website=dasding.de |access-date=28 July 2021 |language=de }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> ===Emergency response systems=== [[Smart Emergency Response System]] (SERS)<ref>Smart Emergency Response System, team website.</ref> prototype was built in the SmartAmerica Challenge 2013โ2014,<ref>SmartAmerica Challenge, website.</ref> a United States government initiative. SERS has been created by a team of nine organizations led by MathWorks. The project was featured at the White House in June 2014 and described by Todd Park (U.S. Chief Technology Officer) as an exemplary achievement. The SmartAmerica initiative challenges the participants to build cyber-physical systems as a glimpse of the future to save lives, create jobs, foster businesses, and improve the economy. SERS primarily saves lives. The system provides the survivors and the emergency personnel with information to locate and assist each other during a disaster. SERS allows to submit help requests to a MATLAB-based mission center connecting first responders, apps, search-and-rescue dogs, a 6-feet-tall humanoid, robots, drones, and autonomous aircraft and ground vehicles. The command and control center optimizes the available resources to serve every incoming requests and generates an action plan for the mission. The Wi-Fi network is created on the fly by the drones equipped with antennas. In addition, the autonomous rotorcrafts, planes, and ground vehicles are simulated with Simulink and visualized in a 3D environment (Google Earth) to unlock the ability to observe the operations on a mass scale.<ref>Video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oofHMaEWwP8] Smart Emergency Response System</ref> The [[International Charter Space and Major Disasters]] provides for the charitable retasking of satellite assets, providing coverage from 15 [[space agency|space agencies]], etc. which is wide albeit contingent. It focuses on the beginning of the disaster cycle, when timely data is of the essence. Digital technologies are increasingly being used in humanitarian action, they have shown to improve the health and recovery of populations affected by both natural and man-made disasters. They are used in humanitarian response to facilitate and coordinate aid in various stages including preparedness, response, and recovery from emergencies. More specifically, mobile health ([[mHealth]]), which is defined as the use of communication devices such as mobile phones for the purpose of health services information. Nowadays, millions of people use mobile phones as a means of daily communication and data transference, out of which 64% live in developing countries.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Alonso|first1=Wladimir J|last2=Schuck-Paim|first2=Cynthia|last3=Asrar|first3=Ghassem R|date=2014|title=Global health and natural disaster alerts: preparing mobile phones to endure the unthinkable|journal=Earth Perspectives|volume=1|issue=1|pages=24|doi=10.1186/2194-6434-1-24|issn=2194-6434|url=http://www.earth-perspectives.com/content/1/1/24|doi-access=free}}</ref> One of the most important characteristics of disasters are the harms caused to infrastructures, accessibility issues, and an exponential need of medical and emergency services. In such situations, the use of mobile phones for mHealth can be vital, especially when other communication infrastructures are hindered. In such conditions, the abundance of mobile technology in developing countries provide the opportunity to be harnessed for helping victims and vulnerable people.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tavakoli|first1=Nahid|last2=Yarmohammadian|first2=MohammadH|last3=Safdari|first3=Reza|date=2015|title=Role of mhealth in effective response to disaster|journal=International Journal of Health System and Disaster Management|volume=3|issue=3|pages=129|doi=10.4103/2347-9019.157363|issn=2347-9019 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Mobile health information technology platforms, in the acute phase of disaster response, create a common operational framework that improves disaster response by standardizing data acquisition, organizing information storage, and facilitating communication among medical staff. One of the challenges in disaster response is the need of pertinent, effective and continuous analysis of the situation and information in order to evaluate needs and resources.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chan|first1=Theodore C.|last2=Griswold|first2=William G.|last3=Buono|first3=Colleen|last4=Kirsh|first4=David|last5=Lyon|first5=Joachim|last6=Killeen|first6=James P.|last7=Castillo|first7=Edward M.|last8=Lenert|first8=Leslie|date=August 2011|title=Impact of Wireless Electronic Medical Record System on the Quality of Patient Documentation by Emergency Field Responders during a Disaster Mass-Casualty Exercise|journal=Prehospital and Disaster Medicine|volume=26|issue=4|pages=268โ275|doi=10.1017/s1049023x11006480|pmid=21993045|s2cid=7675898|issn=1049-023X}}</ref> mHealth has been shown to provide effective disaster preparedness with real time collection of medical data as well as helping identify and create needs assessments during disasters.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tavakoli|first1=Nahid|last2=Fooladvand|first2=Maryam|last3=Jahanbakhsh|first3=Maryam|date=2013|title=Developing health information documentation in disaster|journal=International Journal of Health System and Disaster Management|volume=1|issue=1|pages=11|doi=10.4103/2347-9019.122426|issn=2347-9019 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Using mobile technology in heath has set the stage for the dynamic organization of medical resources and promotion of patient care done through quick triage, patient tracking, and documentation storage and maintenance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ahmadizad|first1=Arman|last2=Varmaghani|first2=Maryam|date=2017-08-01|title=A Pattern for the Effective Factors influencing the Adoption and Implementation of the E-marketing in the Tourism industry|journal=Journal of Business Administration Researches|volume=9|issue=17|pages=197โ224|doi=10.29252/bar.9.17.197|issn=2008-014X|doi-access=free}}</ref> Managing an effective and influential response requires cooperation, which is also facilitated through mHealth. A retrospective study demonstrated that applying mHealth can lead to up to 15% decrease of unnecessary hospital transfers during disasters.<ref name="Marres-et-al-2013">{{Cite journal|last1=Marres|first1=Geertruid M.H.|last2=Taal|first2=Luc|last3=Bemelman|first3=Michael|last4=Bouman|first4=Jos|last5=Leenen|first5=Luke P.H.|date=2013-05-13|title=Online Victim Tracking and Tracing System (ViTTS) for Major Incident Casualties|journal=Prehospital and Disaster Medicine|volume=28|issue=5|pages=445โ453|doi=10.1017/s1049023x13003567|pmid=23663377|s2cid=3472581|issn=1049-023X}}</ref> In addition, they provide field hospital administrators with real-time census information essential for planning, resource allocation, inter-facility patient transfers, and inter-agency collaboration. mHealth technology systems can improve post-operative care and patient handoffs between volunteer providers.<ref name="Marres-et-al-2013" /> Data entry with mobile devices is now widely used to facilitate the registration of displaced individuals, to conduct surveys, identify those in need of assistance, and to capture data on issues such as food security, vaccination rates, and mortality. Above all, mHealth can harness the power of information to improve patient outcomes. Efforts led by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Operational Medicine Institute during the Haiti earthquake resulted in the creation of a web-based mHealth system that created a patient log of 617 unique entries used by on-the-ground medical providers and field hospital administrators.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Callaway|first1=David W.|last2=Peabody|first2=Christopher R.|last3=Hoffman|first3=Ari|last4=Cote|first4=Elizabeth|last5=Moulton|first5=Seth|last6=Baez|first6=Amado Alejandro|last7=Nathanson|first7=Larry|date=April 2012|title=Disaster Mobile Health Technology: Lessons from Haiti|journal=Prehospital and Disaster Medicine|volume=27|issue=2|pages=148โ152|doi=10.1017/s1049023x12000441|pmid=22588429|s2cid=31328634|issn=1049-023X}}</ref> This helped facilitate provider triage, improve provider handoffs, and track vulnerable populations such as unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, traumatic orthopedic injuries and specified infectious diseases. Also, during the Haiti earthquake, the International Red Crescent sent more than 45 million SMSs to Viole mobile phone users. This resulted in 95% of the receiver reporting they had gained useful information, and out of these 90% reported the SMS helped in their preparedness.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.readkong.com/page/mobile-technology-2997912|title=Mobile technoloGY in emerGencies|website=www.readkong.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-10}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page