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The purpose of this program is to educate students to become global leaders (dubbed Phoenix Leaders) in radiation disaster response. The program aims to use experience from the aftermath for Hiroshima to create an overarching program of “Radiation Disaster Recovery Studies”, with multiple disciplines of Medicine, Environmental Studies, Engineering, Sciences, Sociology, Education and Psychology. The eventual aim is to create a new and evolving system of response, safety, and security. 

After the Fukushima disaster, thyroid examinations were performed on residents less than 18 years of age. The first three years post disaster are noted as the "Initial phase" and act as a control. Of those tested, 113 cases were suspected of or found to have thyroid malignancies, 99 of those underwent surgery. After this, the goal became to compare and observe prevalence of thyroid cancer in this initial screen program with historical controls based off if there was a nuclear disaster or not.

For this study, the observed/expected ratio was calculated for residents less than 20 years old. Observed prevalence of cancer was calculated using numbers found in the initial thyroid screening program mentioned above. Expected prevalence was then calculated by using a life-table method utilizing national estimates of thyroid cancer incidences before the disaster. The population of Fukushima was taken into account.  A 5 year cumulative risk of thyroid cancer incidences was calculated for the year of 2010.  This 5 year risk was then converted to a 1 year cumulative risk using a method called spline smoothing. Then the age-specific prevalence of thyroid cancer was estimated by multiplying the 0 year old population by the age specific risk in 2010. 

I have done research involving cancer rates and their correlation with power plants (in my case Indian Point.) Doing that research caused me to read hundreds of studies similar to this one where estimates are made using calculations based off cancer rates before the incident and then taking them and putting them into context of a post disaster area. I wouldn't quite say that this method is new or inventive but it follows similar methodology to other studies of this same caliber, yet there are aspects that make it more unique such as converting the 5 year to 1 year cumulative risk using a spline smoothing method. 

The article addresses structural violence as a contributing factor in access to healthcare and ways to overcome certain cases. Structural violence is a term for social structures that are built to put a certain population in the way of harm. The article found that certain groups in the US and abroad have ingrained societal beliefs of healthcare and disease. Simply offering medical attention and services is not enough to fix issues. First the socioeconomic structures within a group must be changed.

The American Red Cross has volunteers in different sectors, some are blood drive volunteers, while others are disaster volunteers or digital advocates. Disaster volunteers form action teams and respond to single-family fires, or provide food and shelter, comfort, etc to areas of major disaster, a recent example would be the fires in California. Yet they also aid areas that recently have succumbed to hurricanes and tornados. They also act as disaster preparedness presenters and educate people on how to be prepared for disaster. The American Red Cross is always hosting blood drives, yet when there is a national disaster, they hold emergency drives and increase the amount of drives they have in order to get blood for those devastated by the disaster. American Red Cross doesn't just respond to disaster and act as an emergency response force but they actively hold seminars to educate people on being both prepared and preventative. 

In the case of this study, the vulnerable population examined was healthcare workers in Sierra Leone during the outbreak. These workers were found to be at a significant level of risk for transmission for a number of reasons. These include proximity to the virus (due to the occupation), lack of training in the area of infection control, and cultural factors (such as prevalence of self-medication and home management of illness). Nurses as a whole were most affected, with over half of the infected members. 

I would say that the perspectives of the government as well as first responders were not included in this film. They were not able to communicate the stresses as well as the lack of resources and man power. There were no viewpoints from first responders or volunteers, having that testimony would have more accurately depicted the hardships that first responders and aid were facing. 

This policy applies to "individuals directly impacted by the terrorist attack in New York City on September 11, 2001" The policy further specifies emergency responders, recovery workers, cleanup workers, residents, building occupants, and area workers in NYC.,

The author supports his arguments by discussing other events such as the US capitol building burning, the Hague Street boiler explosion, and Iroquois Theater Fire. The Capital Building section of the paper focused on the investigation that followed and what it revealed in terms of the people's concern of the meaning behind the burning of the building, rather than the building actually falling down. This section follows the investigation as well as the ultimate rebuilding of the Capitol. The Hague Street Explosion was similar in that there was an investigation. This investigation was focused on figuring out a party to blame. It was ultimate decided everyone involved with the boiler at all was responsible. The Iroquois theater fire section discussed mechanisms that caused and could have accounted for what occurred. Building codes were questioned as well and proved to be a unique disaster investigation. This was due to the factor of public responsibility at play in this disaster. 

The film looks at the work of MSF as an immediate relief effort, without too much in terms of long term sustainability. The doctors discuss this and how they can leave the clinic with some form of ongoing care, but that the infrastructure of the country itself does not support long term medical facilities. They look at it as an immediate fix to a forever existing problem. MSF is only there to help while they are there.