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I am interested in seeing how social ties and networks have been used to cope with (un)natural disasters. My research focus on places under disasters conditions such as Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria, in which social ties have made the difference between life and death. Furthermore, “natural” disaster has been used to approved austerity measures and unjust policies to impoverished communities like in New Orleans after Katrina. These policies were not new, as they are rooted in structures of power to preserve the status quo. Yet, people have resisted, “through a network of branches, cultures, and geographies” that has stimulated a reflective process of looking within for solutions rather than outside. As often this outside solutions are not only detached from community’s reality but can perpetuate social injustices and inequalities.

McKittrick, K., & Woods, C. A. (Eds.). (2007). Black geographies and the politics of place. South End Press.

Bullard, R. D., & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2009). Race, place, and environmental justice after Hurricane Katrina: Struggles to reclaim, rebuild, and revitalize New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Westview Press.

The report comes within a much larger book edited by Richard Hindmarsh focused on the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The book as whole explores social, environmental, and political issues in the aftermath of the incident. It appears to be available at multiple collegiate libraries including Boston College, Williams College, Harvard University, MIT, and Cornell University.

BSVAC was founded during the height of the crack-cocaine epidemic, when gang and drug violence were rampant throughout the city. While violence has decreased in Bed-Struy, felony assaults as of 2013 stood at around 5.9/1000, well over double the NY city-wide rate of 2.4/1000. This is an area rife with poverty, with median income of about $19,000 and a population heavily dominated by non-white individuals (latino, african-american, multi-race, ect.). Hence, the organization has been heavily molded by this urban, highly volatile environment. The vast majority of BSVAC personnel are of color and outreach is primarily aimed at keeping non-white youth away from street or drug life. The heavy emphasis on gun and drug violence in the area shapes the call volume and type, with shooting and stabbing wounds being a regular occurrence. The agency, for the most part, is a trauma-based service. Thus, their responses to calls would be different than an ambulance without this lengthy history and experience. Moreover, BSVAC has played a role in volunteering and responding to large-scale disasters, such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and Haiti. As members are highly experienced in high volumes of large traumatic injuries, they are well-equipped to handle larger emergencies (similar to the ER physicians in County Hospital of LA or the trauma surgeons in Cook County outside Chicago).

The report quite clearly details the need to change our approaches to healthcare and epidemic emergencies. Currently, we seem to address these events in a singular method, and are unwilling to alter this approach. This is partially due to the narrow scope of patient care; for the most part, administering care to patients follows a standard guideline that does not seek to reach beyond that singular case. It is beyond the scope of a practitioner to attempt to mitigate socioeconomic discrepancies within their clinics alone. However, as Farmer and his colleagues argue, broadening this standard is necessary to combat illness. Biosocial factors, not just medicinal factors, need to be tackled in order to fully combat disease.

The article seems to be primarily composed of thoughts from the author supported by evidence from historical, well-known occurrences. Moreover, both authors seem to have personal research in the fields identified here, making many of their arguments based on field experiences. There are cited reports and publications, but there does not appear to be an associated "Works Cited" page provided.