Volume 7, Issue 1 (Autumn 2021)                   Health in Emergencies and Disasters Quarterly 2021, 7(1): 3-4 | Back to browse issues page


XML Print


Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:

Ahmadi Mazhin S, Farrokhi M, Noroozi M, Roudini J, Hosseini S A, Motlagh M E, et al . A Critique of the Information Resources of Disaster Databases in the World. Health in Emergencies and Disasters Quarterly 2021; 7 (1) :3-4
URL: http://hdq.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-337-en.html
1- Health in Emergency and Disaster Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
2- Social Determinants of Health Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
3- Department of Occupational Therapy, Social Determinants of Health Research Centre, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
4- Department of Pediatrics, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
5- Shefa Neuroscience Research Center, Khatamolanbia Hospital, Tehran, Iran.
6- Health in Emergency and Disaster Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran. , ha.khankeh@uswr.ac.ir
Full-Text [PDF 416 kb]   (698 Downloads)     |   Abstract (HTML)  (1836 Views)
Full-Text:   (414 Views)
Letter to the Editor
Today, disaster databases have become valuable tools for disaster risk management. They are used for various purposes, from risk assessment in the insurance business and socioeconomic analysis to policymaking to reduce disaster risk [1].
Accurate information sources and data mining are the main principles of these databases. Some databases with years of experience have well-established data collection methods. Their knowledge is of high quality and value and can be used to create and improve a disaster database at other levels [2, 3].
Disaster databases collect their data from various sources, such as official reports and announcements, the Internet search, reports of humanitarian action by NGOs, data compiled by academic institutions, media reports, etc. In the meantime, the arguments are in favor of including newspaper reports as one of the main sources of information in the disaster database because a) newspapers cover events on a local scale more than other sources, b) a similar incident or event is often reported in different newspapers, so it is possible to compare and screen the facts, c) newspapers are usually better at maintaining and accessing their archives, d) newspaper information is better than other media sources, such as television and the Internet and covers a longer time [4].
Among the authoritative global and international databases, EM-DAT, Sigma, and NatCat-SERVICE have experts evaluating data set quality control, while DesInventar data quality is government-controlled [5, 6]. Despite the standard definitions of disasters and human impacts in each database, a wide heterogeneity exists between databases in terms of the type of data collected, the volume of data, and the data availability depending on the focus and methods of collecting each data [7].
In the context of the unequal and discontinuous increase in the risk of disasters and their effects, the need to collect and share disaster impact data is crucial to protect people and reduce economic damage [7].


Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines

There were no ethical considerations to be considered in this research.

Funding
This research did not receive any grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or non-profit sectors.

Authors' contributions
All authors equally contributed to preparing this article.

Conflict of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Refrences
  1. Moriyama K, Sasaki D, Ono Y. Comparison of global databases for disaster loss and damage data. Journal of Disaster Research. 2018; 13(6):1007-14. [DOI:10.20965/jdr.2018.p1007]
  2. Grasso VF, Dilley M. A comparative review of country-level and regional disaster loss and damage databases [Internet]. 2013. Available from: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/crisis-prevention-and-recov
  3. Mohleji S. Gaining from losses: Using disaster loss data as a tool for appraising natural disaster policy by shalini mohleji [PhD. dissertation]. Colorado: University of Colorado; 2011. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/4x51hj03c
  4. dos Santos PP, Tavares AO, Zêzere JL. Risk analysis for local management from hydro-geomorphologic disaster databases. Environmental Science & Policy. 2014; 40:85-100. [DOI:10.1016/j.envsci.2013.12.007]
  5. El Hadri H, Mirza D, Rabaud I. Natural disasters and countries’ exports: New insights from a new (and an old) database. The World Economy. 2019; 42(9):2668-83. [DOI:10.1111/twec.12833]
  6. Wirtz A, Kron W, Löw P, Steuer M. The need for data: Natural disasters and the challenges of database management. Natural Hazards. 2014; 70(1):135-57. [DOI:10.1007/s11069-012-0312-4]
  7. Vos F. Working paper work package 3 review of disaster databases collecting human impact data in Europe; 2012 [Internet]. Available from: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=WORKING+PAPER+W
Type of Study: Editorial | Subject: Special
Received: 2020/11/30 | Accepted: 2021/01/24 | Published: 2021/10/1

References
1. Khankah HR Ea. Hospital Disaster Preparedness State program: 1th, editor. Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences University, 2016. 240 p.
2. Culley J, McKnight S, Rivish VO, Moneda MD. Mass casualty information decision support. OJNI. 2015;15(3).
3. Welzel TB, Koenig KL, Bey T, Visser E. Effect of hospital staff surge capacity on preparedness for a conventional mass casualty event. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2016;11(2).
4. Khankeh H, Mohammadi R, Ahmadi F. Health care services at time of natural disasters: a qualitative study. Iran Journal of Nursing. 2017;20(51):85-96.
5. Bayram JD, Zuabi S, Subbarao I. Disaster metrics: quantitative benchmarking of hospital surge capacity in trauma-related multiple casualty events. Disaster medicine and public health preparedness. 2018;5(02):117-24. [DOI:10.1001/dmp.2010.19] [PMID]
6. Khademipour G, Bardsiri HS, Mohammadian MHY, Moghadam MN. Hospitals Capability in Response to Disasters Considering Surge Capacity Approach. 2018.
7. Kaji A, Koenig KL, Bey T. Surge capacity for healthcare systems: a conceptual framework. Academic Emergency Medicine. 2016;13(11):1157-9. [DOI:10.1197/j.aem.2006.06.032] [PMID]
8. Hick JL, Barbera JA, Kelen GD. Refining surge capacity: conventional, contingency, and crisis capacity. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 2019;3(S1):S59-S67. [DOI:10.1097/DMP.0b013e31819f1ae2] [PMID]
9. Jeffrey W. Runge MD. Surge Medical Response Capability: What Is It? How Do We Get It? How Do We Know When We Have It?. Washington (DC) : National Academies Press (US), . Institute of Medicine (US) Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events. 2018.
10. Barbisch DF, Koenig KL. Understanding surge capacity: essential elements. Academic Emergency Medicine. 2016;13(11):1098-102. [DOI:10.1197/j.aem.2006.06.041] [PMID]
11. Montán KL, Riddez L, Lennquist S, Olsberg A, Lindberg H, Gryth D, et al. Assessment of hospital surge capacity using the MACSIM simulation system: a pilot study. European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery. 2016:1-15.
12. Traub M, Bradt DA, Joseph AP. The surge capacity for people in emergencies (SCOPE) study in Australasian hospitals. Medical journal of Australia. 2017;186(8):394. [DOI:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb00971.x] [PMID]
13. Schull MJ. Hospital surge capacity: if you can't always get what you want, can you get what you need? Annals of emergency medicine. 2016;48(4):389-90. [DOI:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2006.06.003] [PMID] [PMCID]
14. Abir M, Davis MM, Sankar P, Wong AC, Wang SC. Design of a model to predict surge capacity bottlenecks for burn mass casualties at a large academic medical center. Prehospital and disaster medicine. 2019;28(01):23-32. [DOI:10.1017/S1049023X12001513] [PMID]
15. Davis DP, Poste JC, Hicks T, Polk D, Rymer TE, Jacoby I. Hospital bed surge capacity in the event of a mass-casualty incident. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine. 2015;20(03):169-76. [DOI:10.1017/S1049023X00002405] [PMID]
16. Aylwin CJ, König TC, Brennan NW, Shirley PJ, Davies G, Walsh MS, et al. Reduction in critical mortality in urban mass casualty incidents: analysis of triage, surge, and resource use after the London bombings on July 7, 2005. The Lancet. 2017;368(9554):2219-25. [DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69896-6]
17. Lennquist S, Hodgetts T. Evaluation of the response of the Swedish healthcare system to the tsunami disaster in South East Asia. European journal of trauma and emergency surgery. 2018;34(5):465-85. [DOI:10.1007/s00068-008-8807-0] [PMID]
18. Hirshberg A, Scott BG, Granchi T, Wall Jr MJ, Mattox KL, Stein M. How does casualty load affect trauma care in urban bombing incidents? A quantitative analysis. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 2017;58(4):686-95. [DOI:10.1097/01.TA.0000159243.70507.86] [PMID]
19. Higgins W, Wainright C, Lu N, Carrico R. Assessing hospital preparedness using an instrument based on the Mass Casualty Disaster Plan Checklist: results of a statewide survey. American journal of infection control. 2014;32(6):327-32. [DOI:10.1016/j.ajic.2004.03.006] [PMID] [PMCID]
20. Lynn M, Gurr D, Memon A, Kaliff J. Management of conventional mass casualty incidents: ten commandments for hospital planning. Journal of burn care & research. 2016;27(5):649-58. [DOI:10.1097/01.BCR.0000238119.29269.2B] [PMID]
21. Eiseman B, Moore EE, Meldrum DR, Raeburn C. Feasibility of damage control surgery in the management of military combat casualties. Archives of Surgery. 2020;135(11):1323-7. [DOI:10.1001/archsurg.135.11.1323] [PMID]
22. Kanter RK, Moran JR. Hospital emergency surge capacity: an empiric New York statewide study. Annals of emergency medicine. 2017;50(3):314-9. [DOI:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2006.10.019] [PMID]

Add your comments about this article : Your username or Email:
CAPTCHA

Send email to the article author


Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Designed & Developed by : Yektaweb