Emergency response is addressed in this article as mentioned above, stating how it should be the focus of disaster prepardness instead of disaster prevention. Schmid also discusses the important components necessary in an emergency response team including analysis of previous disasters and experience from disaster relief organizations like the UN, and improvisation instead of comparing one disaster to another as no two disasters are identical.
“Yet risk has never been determined solely by individual behavior: susceptibility to infection and poor outcomes is aggravated by social factors such as poverty, gender inequality, and racism”
“we have transplanted and adapted the “PIH model” of care, which was designed in rural Haiti to prevent the embodiment of poverty and social inequalities as excess mortality due to AIDS, TB, malaria, and other diseases of poverty”
“Physicians can rightly note that structural interventions are “not our job.” Yet, since structural interventions might arguably have a greater impact on disease control than do conventional clinical interventions, we would do well to pay heed to them.”
The article addresses the inequities in public health by showing how millions of tons of dust from concrete and asbestos were kicked up into the air after the tower collapses of 9/11 and was then determined to be safe per the EPA. A lawsuit was filed against the EPA on behalf of schoolchildren required to attend school in buildings near the site of the collapse and forced to breathe in so-called safe air. Emergency response is not directly addressed however plans of mandating that the EPA pay for the cleanup process are mentioned.
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“Today I announced $5 billion in funds to rebuild New Jersey and New York and here at NJIT tonight are the most remarkable design minds in the world,” said Donovan. “I spoke to President Obama for an hour about this design competition and he said this is exactly what the nation needs -- designers collaborating with government officials and residents affected by the storm. That’s the best way to rebuild and it’s our goal at HUD.”
Earlier in the day, the 10 design teams presented as many as five ideas to a jury assembled by Rebuild by Design, a Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force allied with HUD. The teams had three months to research their design ideas. Early next month, the jury will select one idea -- the best idea -- from each team. The teams will focus on refining those ideas and the competition will continue into 2014, when HUD will decide which team or teams to fund. "
"James Giresi, one of the students, said that Theodore’s class gave him the opportunity to get hands-on, real-life experience. His team visited the Jersey shore several times, studying the ecology of the lowlands and the highlands, as well as the demographics of the residents living along the coast. After they gathered their research, they shared their findings with Theodore and the Dutch experts on her team"
The program is situated in Hiroshima and is based on the benefits and disasters of radiation to humans, including the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is also based on the Fukushima disaster and the University's response to it, realizing that there is a need for global leaders in the field of emergency response.
The “PIH Model of Care,” research in Rwanda, and work in Haiti were followed up on
The policy addresses how healthcare workers should respond to a suspected ebola incident. This is directly to public health because it affects how the public will receive medical care in the event of an ebola incident.
Representatives of the Indian Health Service have made numerous congressional testimonies and numerous pieces of legislation have been passes to support the IHS, however, it does not appear that any relate to emergency response or disaster.
One argument presented is that public engagement in technical decisions can lead to great vigilance and confidence in emergency preparedness and that decisions governing technologies should not be left to the scientist. There is benefit in including lay people and STS scholars. This also includes public awareness about emergency response instead of one elite governing body controlling what is best for the public. Nuclear emergency responses must be transparent.