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Originally published in French, this article was authored by Dr. Didier Fassin, physician of internal medicine, French anthropologist, sociologist, and an expert in public health. Dr. Fassin is also a professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. He has authored and edited numerous research articles and publications, in addition to receiving several awards for his work. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security that was founded on June 19, 1978. The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the emergency and recovery response efforts to a disaster that occurs within the United States. 

The author supports the main argument primarily by relying on anecdotal evidence from interviews with patients and individuals and on statistics on patients in the regions focused on by the author.

The authors relied principally on data procured through two research workshops conducted and on anecdotal evidence gathered.

The aforementioned research article was created by Andrew Lakoff of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Stephen Collier of The New School in New York City. Mr. Lakoff has a background in social theory, medical anthropology, and cultural anthropology. Mr. Collier holds a doctorate degree in philosophy from the University of California Berkeley and was a former chair and associate professor in the Department of International Affairs at The New School. The two authors have collaborated previously on several research articles pertaining to global health, security, and biopolitics.

The article does not focus on the immediate emergency response (law, fire, rescue, EMS), and instead focuses on the follow-up investigative response to major disasters, though this does often include fire investigation teams.

• "It’s the abuse and violence at Rikers that have received the most attention. But there’s another dimension to the ongoing disaster there: the dangerous environmental conditions. Rikers is built on a landfill. The ground underneath the facilities is unstable and the decomposing garbage emits poisonous methane gas. In addition to extreme heat and poor air quality, flooding and crumbling infrastructure pose a serious threat, especially when superstorms like Hurricane Sandy strike. As the violence and human rights violations worsen, so do the environmental circumstances surrounding Rikers."
• "It’s true that the damage to Rikers wasn’t extensive. However, Sandy’s impact brings up a major question: How will the island fare in future natural disasters? When bigger, stronger hurricanes and snowstorms strike? A year earlier, during Hurricane Irene, The New York Times revealed that the Department of Correction did not have a full evacuation plan for Rikers Island—or even a plan to evacuate the population in buildings prone to flooding."
• "'We’re pouring money into an archaic structure, when we should be asking how we can reduce the population in order to close it,' says Johnny Perez of Urban Justice Center. 'The problem with Rikers Island is Rikers Island. … [The conditions] really border on cruel and unusual punishment.' In the meantime, the next heatwave, hurricane, or big snowstorm could spell disaster."