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I'm interested in better understanding the ongoing geological processes that shape St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley region. So far, I've been looking into the history of seismicity in the region, focusing on the fascinating but little known history of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 -- the most devastating earthquakes to have hit the US east of the Rockies. I've also been exploring how St. Louis and surrounding areas are dealing with the possibility of another earthquake occurring in the future. According to one article I read, one of the biggest uncertainties is what would happen to the heavily engineered Mississippi River in the case of another major tremblor. The shaking could break the levees, flooding wide areas along the river and creating cascading effects. The flow of the river might also reverse completely, as occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes.

On these possibilities and the lack of scientific consensus surrounding intraplate seismicity in this zone, see this article in The Atlantic.

On current efforts to create earthquake hazard maps in St. Louis, see this overview on the US Geological Survey site.

For a deeper dive into the history of the New Madrid earthquakes, see this book by historian of science Conevery Bolton Valencius. 

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.  

I further researched narrative medicine and  to see how widely it is applied to medical fields today. I also researched the areas in the Middle East that were discussed int eh chapter and read about their customs and traditions to further my understanding of how it may influence their actions medically. I also read other parts of the book in order to gain more information on the topic in general. 

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. 

This policy was received in good light by the public for the most part. Patients were only to benefit from this, especially those who lacked insurance. Even those with insurance didn't have to waste time proving it any longer, they were treated and stabilized and insurance issues and payment were brought up later. Any ethically sound doctors, such as the ones working in hospitals that were already implementing the actions set forth by EMTALA (before it was law) had no issues with EMTALA. No doctor should have any issues with it due to their duty to act as well as ethical and moral standards they should be holding themselves up to, written in their oath they took to become doctor. The only people that would stand to receive this act negatively would be the doctors who were actively turning away patients in need, who are clearly morally compromised. Yet, media, patients, a majority of doctors and staff found and received this act positively or with little reservation.

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. 

Through the use of surveying, this study identified that there are in fact inequalities in people's understanding of proper responses to pandemic influenza outbreaks. This study helped identify these vulnerable groups, and that social media and forms of mass media are the main ways to reach these groups. To address this vulnerable population, the public needs an increased accessibility to information, overall increasing the public's level of knowledge about the pandemic.

The references show that there was an intense amount of research done by the author. There were a lot of new articles and some studies on disasters in the bibliography. The articles also date back to the times of the actual events, showing an extensive about of work and research on the author's part.

"This delegitimization was not limited to France. When humanitarian reason was introduced into French law in order to protect sick immigrants against the risk of deportation, it was optimistically thought that, under pressure from nongovernmental organizations..the provision would be extended throughout the Union."

"The logic of state sovereignty in the control of immigration clearly prevailed over the universality of the principle of the right to life."

"Should we accept 'getting our hands dirty' by agreeing to work with the immigrants' service of the prefect's office on the difficult issue of deportations?"

The program ideology and purpose is based off preparing students for career paths in "(a) communities that are affected by and vulnerable to disaster destruction and disruption; (b) organizations that focus on all phases of disaster management (preparedness, response, recovery, and risk reduction); and, (c) leadership in organizations and communities that require leadership that promotes resilience."

Students can earn a DRLS Master of Science in 2 years (or a 1 year accelerated) and is made up of 36 credits . Courses required to be taken are centered around leaderhsip analytics and environmental hazards. Students are trained and educated under the 5 core competencies or pillars- Human and social factors, Economics of disaster, Environmental and Infrastructure, disaster operations, measurement and evaluation. The goal is to produce competent practitioners in disaster relief, create partnerships within the academic community and provide leadership, research and evaluation abilities in their students.