Analyze

I hope to be involved in projects that aim to gather scientific evidence to inform environmental decision making and advocate for greater equity and justice in environmental governance. Through this work, I hope to learn the skills needed to engage in community based research and leverage community knowledge as expert knowledge. In my department, things are often siloed and issues are only seen through one perspective. I really want to gain more experience in collaborating with a wide array of stakeholders to come up with approaches to mitigate the environmental injustices experienced in under-resourced communities.

I am currently in the process of transitioning my M.A. level course on Science, Technology, and Development with 11 students to virtual instruction. One of my interests in engaging with COVID-19 is to examine how it (should) informs development ideologies and practices. How should students of development studies retool -- conceptually, methodologically, practically -- in wake of the pandemic?

Columbia University was one of the first medical schools to open a program in Narrative Medicine. This program was built within their College of Physicians and Surgeons. Rita Charon is the executive director of the program and is on the forefront of spreading the need for narrative medicine in the medical field. Colleagues of hers also believe that medicine has become too professional and clinical, and doctors focus on treating medical problems based off symptoms, not the patient. The educational program at Columbia created the opportunity to earn a Masters of Science degree in Narrative Medicine in 2009, making to one of the first programs devoted to only narrative medicine. 

The authors include Paul E Farmer, Bruce Nizeye, Sara Stulac, Salmaan Keshavjee. Paul Farmer is a physician and anthropologist that is very active on this subject and has many different publications on the matter. Paul and the other authors are all involved with Partners in Health. All authors are doctors and very active in global health and efforts. Partners in Health focuses on developing healthcare in countries of need.  

Miriam Ticktin is a professor of anthropology and co-director of Zolberg Institute for Migration and Mobility. She has a PhD in social sciences from Stanford and has many recent publications, all focused around immigration and humanitarianism, mainly overseas, as well as social research in these areas.

http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/faculty/?id=4d54-6379-4e44-4d35

A recent article was published about the technologies that the American Red Cross relies on and offers. Red Cross offers a free mobile app that provides lifesaving information on anyones phone who wants and needs it. Many volunteers utilize this information to be able to respond on scene when necessary. Their national shelter system and home fire geographic information system also helps them map out the best escape routes and prevention methods utilizing technology as well as providing them with fast response alarm times. The American Red Cross also depends on other organizations as well as technologies to help transport people, volunteers, medicine, etc to areas in need. They also depend on other organizations for response orders and collaboration of technologies, resource, hospitals and knowledge. 

It is said that EMTALA doesn't apply to ambulance services, technically this would be true. Yet, EMTALA does indeed effect our patients, and anything that effects our patients can effect us and should be a concern of ours as EMS providers. If EMTs are spending time in the hospital sorting out insurance issues and payment, that is more time they are out of service. Also, if the patient's treatment time is delayed, not only will the hospital be blamed, but so will EMS. If a patient is in cardiac arrest, EMTs will not be stopping and wasting time to find out insurance and payment issues from family members, that will be the last thought on their mind. They will be transporting and attempting to stabilize the patient. EMTs and EMS will not compromise the health of a patient due to insurance or payment issues, just like hospitals are now mandated to do.

The topic of biosecurity comes up a lot in this article. The prevalence of this threat is greatly discussed as well as the importance of preparedness. Global health and emergency response efforts are also greatly discussed. Citing emerging diseases as one of the major threats to global security. Public threat response is an aspect that is also widely discussed in this paper as well. Adaptations and improvements in responses are necessary due to new science and technologies that have and are developing. Overall, biosecurity needs to be addressed and threat response improved. 

The funding for this study came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), grant number #5PO1TP000307-05.  

I researched the Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago as well as the US Capitol Building burning in 1814 and the Hague Street boiler explosion. I wanted to learn more about the magnitude of each of these disasters and the type of repercussions they had on the people surrounding as well as any implications it could have on the after math. This allowed me to better understand the investigation's findings in the research article. I also researched the political fallout behind the 9/11 attacks as well as the structural issues with the building that occurred after the planes hit.