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This study was published in 1998 in the American Journal of Community Psychology. It is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on research devoted to community psychology. Community psychology attempts to place an individual's context within communities/community structure and in society. This includes quality of life for certain individuals, populations, and communities. The impact factor is only about 2, indicating that the journal is infrequently cited and does not have the prowess of larger journal publications. 

The report encompasses reports on the proceedings of the UN Scientific Comittee during its 60th session, May 2013. The UN report presents an unbiased plethora of data surmising Fukushima radiation exposure to both human an biological life. It primarily focuses on 2 reports detailing aspects of radiation exposure during the 2011 nuclear accident. The first report gives estimated levels of radiation experienced by individuals and non-human biota. Human individuals estimates are based on age and ongoing proximity to the accident. Evacuated adult citizens had an estimated exposure <10 mSv, while workers experienced doses >10mSv, with the highest exposure  an estimated 100 mSv. It places these values within the context of lifelong anticipated exposure and international expected exposures. This first report also briefly discusses effects beyond radiation, including the adverse outcomes thousands faced by evacuating. The second report concentrates on radiation exposure of children during the accident. While it concludes longer epidemological studies are needed to accurately assess the prevailing biolgogical effects, several important facts are highlighted. At a given radiation dose, children are more at risk of tumor induction than adults. In addition to this increased radiosensitivity (partially due to physical factors such as size), children also demonstrate increased prevalence of several cancers. These include leaukemia, brain, and thyroid cancers, all of which show radiosensitivity. The report also suggests narrowing the scope of inquiry, as radiation-induced cancers can be influenced by factors such as age and gender.

The agency itself is an illustration of emergency response; before BSVAC ambulance response time averaged around thirty minutes-- a far cry from the standard eight minutes aimed for by ambulatory agencies around the Capital region. The original goal of BSVAC was to cut down these times, thereby increasing patient outcomes and creating a sense of safety in a community rippling with gang and drug violence. In addition to this initial goal, BSVAC also reaches out to the surrounding community, teaching CPR, first-aid, and BLS to Bed-Stuy residents. This aids in emergency response, as CPR and first-aid measures can be delivered quickly to a patient even before the ambulance arrives. 

The latter part of the piece addresses current plans to combat the cholera epidemic sparked during relief efforts post-quake. However, due to many of the factors discussed earlier in the article, donors are hesitant to put money towards efforts. Moreover, the UN's plan worked on a 10-year timeline given the appropriate funding; stalling finances have pushed that timeline out to almost 40 years. Currently a lawsuit is being put forth by the Haitian government to obtain the promised money and support from the UN.

1) Definition of humanitarian crisis: This article denotes a multitude of situations, all of which seem to have a drastic effect on human health and well-being. That being said, some crisis or armed conflicts are not deemed a humanitarian crisis. According to several sources, the definition is incredibly subjective, and must be event(s) which harm the health, safety, or well-being of a community or large group of people.

2) Humanitarian worker protections: At this time, there does not seem to be a true movement to legally prosecute those who harm humanitarian or aid workers. However, within the Geneva Convention and later Protocols, there are legal protections for non-combatants during armed conflicts; this is in addition to a UN Security Council Resolution (1502) which gives greater protection to aid workers, classifying attacks on them as a war crime.

3) Non-combatants: This is where definitions of humanitarian aid workers and their protections under both the Geneva Convention and UN Resolution fall apart. The current climate and disregard for international sanctions has left many aid workers at the mercy of those who do not recognize the UN or global entities. As such, they are faced with the choice to remain non-combatants (those who do not carry or use a weapon during a conflict) and most likely be harmed; or to carry defensive arms and proclaim themselves a combatant, and thus be a target. Hence, the difficulty in being a health care worker in an age of general militarization. This is also a topic heavily discussed in the book Trauma by Dr. James Cole. As a member of the special operations, Dr. Cole was always well within danger; he discusses the choice to carry or not carry a weapon, and how discharging the weapon (even in self-defense) changes the nature of the health care provider and their position in an armed conflict. 

1) "Approaches based on preparedness may not be guided by rigorous cost-benefit analysis. Rather, they are aimed at developing the capability to respond to various types of potentially catastrophic biological events"

2) "This analytical approach, when turned to the field of biosecurity, makes neither broad prescriptions for the improvement of health and security, nor blanket denunciations of new biosecurity interventions. Rather, it examines how policymakers, scientists, and security planners have constituted potential future events as biosecurity threats, and have responded by criticizing, redeploying, or reworking existing apparatuses"

3) "But increased attention and funding to health preparedness by no means implies consensus around a single approach. The existing institutions of public health are not easily reconciled with the new demands and norms of health preparedness and there is considerable disagreement about the appropriate way to achieve preparedness."

1) "The most bizarre, and perhaps most telling, moment in the hearing occurred when Rep Anthony D. Weiner of New York, addressing the panel of experts, asked for the person in charge of the investigation to raise his hand. When three hands went up..."

2) "Clashes over authority among powerful institutions both public and private, competition among rival experts for influence, inquiry into a disaster elevated to the status of a memorial for the dead: these are the base elements of the World Trade Center investigation. And yet, even a brief historical review shows us that these elements are not unique."

3) "They were not reassuring, or especially enlightening answers. Some things were already known."

1) "In this new state of social world, the body of the immigrant has become illegitimate as labor force, since it is always suspected of deleteriously affecting the job market, but the body of the foreigner has found a new source of legitimacy through illness, which, under certain conditions of seriousness and impossibility of receiving treatment in the country of origin, makes it possible to obtain a residence permit on "humanitarian grounds."

2) "Yet the variation in medical opinions observed was due less to the form of the procedure than to the use the medical officer made of it."

3) "Evaluation of this criterion, however, was not the outcome of a unilateral decision by the examining doctor or the social worker. Foreigners and their families might also develop tactics once they knew how the system worked."

The overarching goal of the report appears to be an overarching analysis of the current systems in place to address and research mental health outcomes in disaster events. The article firstly presents comorbidities known to predispose individuals to development of mental illness.This would be in the hands of the response team to recognize that a certain population may be more predisposed to developing PTSD from the event-- such as children or females, who have shown increased levels of PTSD and MDD. Recognizing that students from an all-girl's K-12 School who have just come from, say, a forest fire will be more likely to develop mental health complications after the disaster than a population of older, male welders will help streamline appropriate responses.

Secondly, by exploring and recognizing these factors (pre, peri, post), emergency responses can help prepare and minimize mental health effects. For example, by implementing PFA in all government agencies, this help mitigate the traumatic effects of experiencing a disaster; PFA includes three distinct goals in treating these patients, including limiting stress reactions and regaining feelings of control. 

Thirdly, while studying mental health in the wake of disasters is crucial to ensuring successful and adequate interventions, there are four major challenges, all discussed in the report (defining target population, obtaining representative sample, implementing an appropriate study design, and measuring key constructs). The authors contend that for future research, several key changes can be made to benefit overall research outcomes. These include widening the scope of psycho-pathological inquiry from to include other disorders such as GAD and panic disorder, the time ranges studied (with higher emphasis on pre/peri factors to help tailor interventions), other factors that create predisposition, and further intervention implementation.

The major stakeholders are those exposed to the contaminated water (and subsequently suffer from cancer and other major illnesses) and the Marine Corps. Unfortunately, the Marine Corps and other government agencies show fairly limited attempts to aid those fighting for information about Camp Lejeune. Moreover, several meetings within Washington DC reveal the nature of policy making; how special interest groups often overshadow the common welfare of the public. Jerry Ensingmer and his counterparts often deal with the harsh realities of fighting giants with slingshots, and often have to choose between family and trying to help those also effected by the contaminated water. There are many questions raised about how much governing bodies actually care about soldiers, and how deep the "semper fi" motto actually goes.