Emergency preparedness during a global pandemic: Individual preparedness for COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 99-113
Author(s):  
Kelly L. Brown, PhD

 Existing research on individual preparedness in the United States indicates that we are generally unprepared for disasters. While there is an abundance of research on emergency preparedness, there are gaps in our knowledge. For example, the results of extant research are unclear regarding what factors influence individual preparedness. The preparedness literature is also limited in the types of disasters examined and in understanding the timing of preparedness activities. The current COVID-19 global pandemic provides a tragic but albeit unique opportunity to address these limitations of previous research and examine emergency preparedness activities before and immediately following the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. This research is further distinctive because it examines preparedness activities related to the global pandemic rather than other types of disasters. Policy and research implications of the findings are presented.

Author(s):  
Whitney Hua ◽  
Jane Junn

Abstract As racial tensions flare amidst a global pandemic and national social justice upheaval, the centrality of structural racism has renewed old questions and raised new ones about where Asian Americans fit in U.S. politics. This paper provides an overview of the unique racial history of Asians in the United States and analyzes the implications of dynamic racialization and status for Asian Americans. In particular, we examine the dynamism of Asian Americans' racial positionality relative to historical shifts in economic-based conceptions of their desirability as workers in American capitalism. Taking history, power, and institutions of white supremacy into account, we analyze where Asian Americans fit in contemporary U.S. politics, presenting a better understanding of the persistent structures underlying racial inequality and developing a foundation from which Asian Americans can work to enhance equality.


Author(s):  
Kyra B. Phillips ◽  
Kelly N. Byrne ◽  
Branden S. Kolarik ◽  
Audra K. Krake ◽  
Young C. Bui ◽  
...  

Since COVID-19 transmission accelerated in the United States in March 2020, guidelines have recommended that individuals wear masks and limit close contact by remaining at least six feet away from others, even while outdoors. Such behavior is important to help slow the spread of the global pandemic; however, it may require pedestrians to make critical decisions about entering a roadway in order to avoid others, potentially creating hazardous situations for both themselves and for drivers. In this survey study, we found that while overall patterns of self-reported pedestrian activity remained largely consistent over time, participants indicated increased willingness to enter active roadways when encountering unmasked pedestrians since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Participants also rated the risks of encountering unmasked pedestrians as greater than those associated with entering a street, though the perceived risk of passing an unmasked pedestrian on the sidewalk decreased over time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masumi Ueda ◽  
Renato Martins ◽  
Paul C. Hendrie ◽  
Terry McDonnell ◽  
Jennie R. Crews ◽  
...  

The first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States was reported on January 20, 2020, in Snohomish County, Washington. At the epicenter of COVID-19 in the United States, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and University of Washington are at the forefront of delivering care to patients with cancer during this public health crisis. This Special Feature highlights the unique circumstances and challenges of cancer treatment amidst this global pandemic, and the importance of organizational structure, preparation, agility, and a shared vision for continuing to provide cancer treatment to patients in the face of uncertainty and rapid change.


Author(s):  
Alexander A. Kaurov ◽  
Vyacheslav Bazhenov ◽  
Mark SubbaRao

The COVID-19 global pandemic unprecedently disturbed the education system in the United States and lead to the closure of all planetariums that were providing immersive science communication. This situation motivates us to examine how accessible the planetarium facilities were before the pandemic. We investigate the most important socioeconomic and geographical factors that affect the planetarium accessibility using the U.S. Census Bureau data and the commute time to the nearest planetarium for each ZIP Code Tabulated Area. We show the magnitude of the effect of permanent closure of a fraction of planetariums. Our study can be informative for strategizing the pandemic response.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Finston ◽  
Nigel Thompson

In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the European Commission (EC) provided inclusive leadership, working as a team including EU member (national) officials, biopharmaceutical industry, NGOs, academic researchers and frontline health care personnel – acting with unprecedented collaboration and cohesion.  The emergence in early 2020 of the greatest public health threat in a century required new approaches and new collaborations. While the United States failed to provide leadership, the EU did not disappoint.


1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Lynch

This article explores the proliferation of nonfiction narratives which warn of an impending global pandemic of African origin. Through a reading of four texts — Richard Preston's The Hot Zone, Laurie Garrett's The Coming Plague, Richard Kaplan's The Ends of the Earth, and Jeffrey Goldberg's ‘Our Africa Problem’ — the author argues that such pandemic narratives reflect unease about the United States' current and future role in Africa or other non-Western places, after a half-century of largely unsuccessful ‘development’. Second, plague tales reflect anxieties about environmental devastation in Africa and elsewhere. The article concludes that the most frightening aspect of these contemporary ‘plague tales' is the solutions they suggest to the ‘problem’ of a coming plague.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Sara E. Gorman ◽  
Jack M. Gorman

In 2014, a deadly epidemic of Ebola hemorrhagic fever ravaged three countries in West Africa. While the disease barely hit the United States, it caused widespread panic that sometimes threatened the safety of African immigrants in the United States. Five years later, a global pandemic of a novel coronavirus, later named COVID-19, quickly picked up speed around the world. In the face of a serious and very real threat, many Americans ignored the warnings and a vocal minority even insisted that the pandemic was not real. While the particulars of each of these examples might be quite different, they have something very important in common: science denial. This introductory chapter provides an overview of how such widespread science denialist views come into existence and how they spread. The authors outline the eight chapters of this book, which go into depth on different psychological mechanisms behind this phenomenon. Finally, they provide a preview of some of the solutions we have devised in response to this grave problem.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Chloe Romanis ◽  
Jordan A Parsons ◽  
Nathan Hodson

Abstract In this paper we consider the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on access to abortion care in Great Britain (GB) (England, Wales, and Scotland) and the United States (US). The pandemic has exacerbated problems in access to abortion services because social distancing or lockdown measures, increasing caring responsibilities, and the need to self-isolate are making clinics much more difficult to access, and this is when clinics are able to stay open which many are not. In response we argue there is a need to facilitate telemedical early medical abortion in order to ensure access to essential healthcare for people in need of terminations. There are substantial legal barriers to the establishment of telemedical abortion services in parts of GB and parts of the US. We argue that during a pandemic any restriction on telemedicine for basic healthcare is an unjustifiable human rights violation and, in the US, is unconstitutional.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Walsh ◽  
Allan Graeme Swan

ABSTRACTThe process for developing national emergency management strategies for both the United States and the United Kingdom has led to the formulation of differing approaches to meet similar desired outcomes. Historically, the pathways for each are the result of the enactment of legislation in response to a significant event or a series of events. The resulting laws attempt to revise practices and policies leading to more effective and efficient management in preparing, responding, and mitigating all types of natural, manmade, and technological hazards. Following the turn of the 21st century, each country has experienced significant advancements in emergency management including the formation and utilization of 2 distinct models: health care coalitions in the United States and resiliency forums in the United Kingdom. Both models have evolved from circumstances and governance unique to each country. Further in-depth study of both approaches will identify strengths, weaknesses, and existing gaps to meet continued and future challenges of our respective disaster health care systems. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:161–164)


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