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Burn mass casualty incident (BMCI) preparedness is lacking across Canada. A focused exploration of the current policies, protocols and practices in Alberta that address the response to a BMCI was conducted. In this case study, data were gathered from documents outlining the health system response to a mass casualty incident and health care professionals directly involved. Interviews were conducted online, recorded and transcribed. Qualitative description was used to code common themes across documents and transcripts. Fifteen documents and nine participant interviews were included in this study. Overall, the current policies, protocols and practices in place were limited to all-hazards mass casualty incident planning and did not address the specialized needs of burn patients. Deficiencies included no burn-specific plan at each of the two burn centres, a lack of provincial-level recognition of the unique challenges associated with a BMCI and no established Canadian burn disaster communication plan. Suggestions of strategies for a burn plan included forward triage, patient movement, use of telemedicine, partnering skilled and non-skilled staff, and procuring additional supplies. For best patient outcomes the provincial health authority needs to provide dedicated time for burn care experts to develop BMCI response plans to better address this unique hazard. • All hazards mass casualty (MC) plans do not work for multiple burn injured patients. • Participant communication and decision-making practices deviated from the MC plan. • Participants expressed concerns about the overall ability to respond to a burn MC. • Creating burn capacity includes strategies for space, staffing, and supplies needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate crisis significantly impacts the health and well-being of older adults, both directly and indirectly. This issue is of growing concern in Canada due to the country's rapidly accelerating warming trend and expanding elderly population. This article serves a threefold purpose: (i) outlining the impacts of the climate crisis on older adults, (ii) providing a descriptive review of existing policies with a specific focus on the Canadian context, and (iii) promoting actionable recommendations. Our review reveals the application of current strategies, including early warning systems, enhanced infrastructure, sustainable urban planning, healthcare access, social support systems, and community engagement, in enhancing resilience and reducing health consequences among older adults. Within the Canadian context, we then emphasize the importance of establishing robust risk metrics and evaluation methods to prepare for and manage the impacts of the climate crisis efficiently. We underscore the value of vulnerability mapping, utilizing geographic information to identify regions where older adults are most at risk. This allows for targeted interventions and resource allocation. We recommend employing a root cause analysis approach to tailor risk response strategies, along with a focus on promoting awareness, readiness, physician training, and fostering collaboration and benchmarking. These suggestions aim to enhance disaster risk management for the well-being and resilience of older adults in the face of the climate crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of various extreme weather events that occurred in 2023. It attributes the global heat to El Niño and global warming, resulting in record-breaking temperatures and droughts in some areas. The year began with extreme heat and cold, accompanied by major flooding in Africa, the Philippines, and New Zealand. The article also mentions the "Zombie Cyclone" that caused heavy rain, high winds, and flooding as it traveled from Indonesia to Madagascar and Mozambique. It further discusses Canada's historic wildfire season, extreme summer heat in North America and Asia, and other notable events such as record-breaking temperatures in Algeria, Morocco, and Albania, scorching temperatures in China, historic flooding in the eastern Mediterranean, deadly monsoon flooding in South Asia, Hurricane Otis in Mexico, and storms in Europe causing flooding and power outages. The article concludes by mentioning the forecasted dissipation of El Niño in 2024, which may result in lower global temperatures. [Extracted from the article]

This study aims to advance knowledge on multi-hazard damage to shallow foundation bridges subjected to simultaneous scour, earthquake, and vehicular loads. While most water-crossing bridges have deep foundations, still, a significant number of water-crossing bridges have shallow foundations. In addition, there is limited research focusing on damage assessment of bridges with shallow foundations under multi-hazard scenarios. Therefore, this study proposes a probabilistic multi-hazard damage assessment framework for bridges with shallow foundations exposed to seismic, scour, and vehicular loadings. The proposed framework includes steps for hazard modeling, multi-hazard finite element modeling, non-linear time history analysis, and multi-hazard fragility modeling, and it was showcased on Chemin des Dalles Bridge, which is a typical bridge located in the Province of Quebec in Canada. Demand and fragility models parameterized on hazard and soil parameters were developed for the bridge components and a system fragility model was also developed using a series system assumption. The results from the analysis of these damage and fragility models indicated that scour notably increases component- and bridge-level response in typical shallow foundation bridges. However, until the scour depth is lower than the foundation height, the increased damage does not impose a significant threat to the bridge's safety. It was observed that earthquakes had the highest influence on the bridge components' response followed by scour and vehicular loads. Overall, the proposed framework can be used to facilitate policy-making toward informed bridge maintenance and retrofitting to aid in disaster mitigation planning and emergency response. • Novel framework for multi-hazard damage assessment of shallow foundation bridges. • Uniform scour around foundation had little impact on shallow foundation bridges. • Influence of hazards, high to low, was Earthquake, Scour, Vehicular load. • Soil quality's effect was greater than scour depth on shallow foundation bridge's response. • 3D Finite-element modeling of scoured shallow foundation bridges was presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]