Editorial
Post-Disaster Needs Assessments: The Critical First Step

There are a variety of reasons to carry out post-disaster assessments: determining the immediate, short-term emergency needs of the survivors (the topic of this editorial); inventorying damage to housing, hospitals and other public or private infrastructure; or assessing the economic impact by putting a dollar figure on the direct and indirect losses attributable to the disaster. (More)

Methanol Poisoning Emergency in Nicaragua

Forty-eight persons died and 15 were blinded by the toxic effects of methanol in an incident of mass poisoning in Nicaragua. Between 2-20 September, 801 people were treated for methanol poisoning following the ingestion of home-brewed local alcohol known as “guaro,” which had been adulterated by methanol. Most cases occurred in the departments of León and Chinandega. (More)

Survey Results on Preparedness in PAHO/WHO Member States

One year ago, the ministries of health of the Western Hemisphere asked PAHO/WHO to report on the status of disaster preparedness and risk reduction activities in the Americas. A survey conducted in the first half of this year illustrated that today, nearly all countries have adopted formal measures within the ministries of health to continually improve their level of preparedness and risk reduction. (More)

New Tool Being Developed to Measure Hospital Safety

PAHO/WHO’s commitment to Safe Hospitals emphasizes the importance of: a) building new hospitals with a level of protection so they remain functional in disaster situations; and b) applying appropriate mitigation measures to reduce risk to existing facilities. (More)

Measuring the Socioeconomic Impact of Health Crises

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and PAHO/WHO have a great deal of collective experience in assessing the economic and health impact (respectively) of natural disasters. (More)

When Every Minute Counts: Earmarked Funds Save Time in Emergencies

Without immediate access to funding, response operations can be delayed in humanitarian emergencies. Unfortunately, the normal grant proposal process is not conducive to the urgency of these situations. (More)

Disaster Myths Still a Popular Topic

For 30 years, the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado (U.S.) has served as a national and international clearinghouse of knowledge concerning the social science and policy aspects of disasters. (More)

Guatemala Reopens Health Facilities Devastated by Hurricane Stan

Although Hurricane Stan was never more than a category one storm, the heavy rainfall (as opposed to hurricane-strength winds) in the mountainous regions of Guatemala caused devastating landslides and along the coast, and the torrential rains caused rivers to overflow, producing widespread flooding. (More)

Andean Community to Develop Disaster Information Network

Member States in the Andean Region of South America recognize the importance of information management in the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters and of timely access to accurate information on emergencies and health. (More)

Tobago Broadens Scope of its Disaster Office

Trinidad and Tobago’s national emergency management agency has broadened its scope of work and has become the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, ODPM. (More)

Member States Continue Preparing
for Pandemic Influenza

There is broad agreement that a pandemic would not be solely a health issue, but rather a common challenge faced by many sectors and that high-level authorities must act to strengthen national capacity to respond to this type of health crisis. (More)

New Website Collects Andean Experiences

DIPECHO-funded project to collect risk management tools, models and methodologies in the Andean Region that can be used in other communities. Information about the activities related to this project is now available in a website. (More)

We Can Act! A Disaster Risk Management Communication Kit

National authorities in Guatemala, U.N. agencies and NGOs joined forces to produce this excellent communication tool for emergency preparedness and management before, during and following disasters. (More)

New Bibliography on Tsunami

The U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction has started a new bibliographic compilation series entitled ISDR-BIBLIO. Much like CRID’s Biblio-des series, each new edition will be dedicated to a specific hazard or aspect of disaster reduction. The first edition is devoted to tsunamis, in commemoration of the earthquake of December 2004 that triggered a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean. (More)

Health Action in Crises Annual Report 2005

In 2005, disasters affected more than 150 million people worldwide. WHO’s Health Action in Crisis Program has published its annual report of a year that started with the South East Asia tsunami and ended with the South Asia earthquake. (More)

CRID

The Regional Disaster Information Center (CRID)’s mission is to promote the development of a culture of prevention in Latin American and Caribbean countries through the compilation and dissemination of disaster-related information and the promotion of cooperative efforts to improve risk management in the Region. (More)