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Pastoral communities in Ethiopia's Bale Zone face a constant threat: drought. The Bale lowlands are Particularly vulnerable due to unpredictable rainfall patterns. A 4-year drought cycle had gripped the region, as reported by the pastoralists themselves. Rising temperatures and declining rainfall painted a concerning picture, leading to a cascade of problems: crop failures, food insecurity, outbreaks of diseases, and increased child school dropout rates. This in-depth study aimed to shed light on the impact of drought on these communities and their remarkable capacity to adapt. By bridging the knowledge gap on drought's influence and local coping mechanisms, the study hoped to inform future interventions. The objectives were to identify the impact of drought on Bale's pastoral communities and to identify the coping mechanisms employed by these communities. The study utilized a mixed-methods approach to capture both qualitative and quantitative data. Data collection techniques included: Engaging with knowledgeable community leaders provided valuable insights into historical trends, community perceptions, and local decision-making processes, Facilitating group discussions allowed community members to share their experiences, concerns, and coping mechanisms in a collaborative setting and administering standardized surveys to a representative sample of households allowed for the quantification of drought's impact and the prevalence of various adaptation strategies. The Results shows all study locations experienced drought for four consecutive years (100%), Pastoralists reported rising temperatures and declining rainfall. The drought resulted in, Crop failures, Food insecurity, Livestock deaths, increased human and livestock diseases increased child school dropout rates. The study concluded that despite the challenges, the study revealed a heartening story of resilience. Bale's pastoral communities have not succumbed to despair. Instead, they have developed a multifaceted approach to cope with drought, including: Utilizing existing water sources and creating communal grazing areas for better water conservation, Splitting herds to reduce grazing pressure, implementing early morning grazing to capitalize on dew, diversifying livestock breeds, and strategically destocking herds before droughts to ensure long-term herd sustainability, Diversifying income through trade, transportation services, and petty trade to reduce dependence on livestock production during droughts. Leveraging the enduring strength of traditional social safety nets ("hirpa," "dare," and "hameessa") for crucial support and assistance during hardships. The study underscores the importance of supporting these existing strategies. Policymakers and NGOs can play a vital role by strengthening social safety nets, promoting the adoption of droughtresistant agricultural practices, investing in research on improved water management techniques and drought-resistant crop varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempted to determine the impact of school disaster risk reduction and management program in public schools in Angono, Rizal for school year 2023 -2024 which served as basis to develop an enhanced contingency plan. The method of research used was the descriptive type of research with the questionnaire as the data gathering instrument. The respondents who rated the nine (9) schools principals, SDRRM coordinators non-teaching personnel, thirty (30) teachers and PTA officers of the nine public school in Angono, Rizal with a total of 442. The findings revealed that the teaching personnel and the SH/DRRMC/NTP respondents rated the impact of Prevention and Mitigation, Preparedness, disaster response and recovery and rehabilitation the grand weighted mean of 3.50and 3.64 respectively with verbal interpretation of strongly agree while the PTA officers -respondents rated the four aspects of grand weighted mean of 3.42 verbally interpreted as agree. Meanwhile, the perceptions of the teaching personnel and the SH/DRRMC/NTP on the challenges encountered on SDRR Program got the grand weighted mean of 3.54 and 3. 65 which interpreted as strongly agree. Meanwhile, PTA officer- respondents rated the four aspects as Agree with grand weighted mean of 3.49. Furthermore, there is a relationship between the impact of disaster risk reduction and management programs as regards preparedness, disaster response and recovery and rehabilitation and the challenges encountered by school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Biosecurity refers to a set of practices that prevents and/or controls the introduction, spread, and elimination of harmful biological agents in a production system. In this study, we aimed to survey the biosecurity practices and determine their correlation with the size of production systems. A biosecurity assessment form was provided to 69 farms in the Campos Gerais region of Paraná, Brazil. The questionnaire was divided into two sections: general and bovine viral diarrhea virus- and bovine herpesvirus type-1-specific sections. The general section covered topics on traffic control, quarantine and animal isolation, hygiene practices, carcass disposal, and disease monitoring/control. The specific section consisted of questions on the reproductive and respiratory factors, use of antimicrobials, and vaccination schedule. The 69 farms were also classified into small (≤ 61), medium (62-201), and large (≥ 202) size farms based on the number of lactating cows. Moreover, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was performed between the biosecurity measures and farm size. The main risk factors and variability were related to the traffic control of people, animals, and vehicles/equipment, animal quarantine/isolation, and hygiene practices. MCA revealed that the small farms exhibited a lack of biosecurity measures, including those related to traffic control, animal quarantine, and hygiene. In medium-size farms, contact between bovine animals of different ages and difficulty in animal isolation in the quarantine system were among the main risk factors. In contrast, isolation of sick animals was easy, but the need to frequently purchase cattle was an important risk factor in large farms. These results highlight the relationship between biosecurity measures and farm size, providing valuable insights for the development of better biosecurity plans for production systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Bale Zone face a constant threat: drought. The Bale lowlands are Particularly vulnerable due to unpredictable rainfall patterns. A 4-year drought cycle had gripped the region, as reported by the pastoralists themselves. Rising temperatures and declining rainfall painted a concerning picture, leading to a cascade of problems: crop failures, food insecurity, outbreaks of diseases, and increased child school dropout rates. This in-depth study aimed to shed light on the impact of drought on these communities and their remarkable capacity to adapt. By bridging the knowledge gap on drought’s influence and local coping mechanisms, the study hoped to inform future interventions. The objectives were to identify the impact of drought on Bale’s pastoral communities and to identify the coping mechanisms employed by these communities. The study utilized a mixed-methods approach to capture both qualitative and quantitative data. Data collection techniques included: Engaging with knowledgeable community leaders provided valuable insights into historical trends, community perceptions, and local decision-making processes, Facilitating group discussions allowed community members to share their experiences, concerns, and coping mechanisms in a collaborative setting and administering standardized surveys to a representative sample of households allowed for the quantification of drought’s impact and the prevalence of various adaptation strategies. The Results shows all study locations experienced drought for four consecutive years (100%), Pastoralists reported rising temperatures and declining rainfall. The drought resulted in, Crop failures, Food insecurity, Livestock deaths, increased human and livestock diseases increased child school dropout rates. The study concluded that despite the challenges, the study revealed a heartening story of resilience. Bale’s pastoral communities have not succumbed to despair. Instead, they have developed a multifaceted approach to cope with drought, including: Utilizing existing water sources and creating communal grazing areas for better water conservation, Splitting herds to reduce grazing pressure, implementing early morning grazing to capitalize on dew, diversifying livestock breeds, and strategically destocking herds before droughts to ensure long-term herd sustainability, Diversifying income through trade, transportation services, and petty trade to reduce dependence on livestock production during droughts. Leveraging the enduring strength of traditional social safety nets (“hirpa,” “dare,” and “hameessa”) for crucial support and assistance during hardships. The study underscores the importance of supporting these existing strategies. Policymakers and NGOs can play a vital role by strengthening social safety nets, promoting the adoption of drought-resistant agricultural practices, investing in research on improved water management techniques and drought-resistant crop varieties.

Biosecurity refers to a set of practices that prevents and/or controls the introduction, spread, and elimination of harmful biological agents in a production system. In this study, we aimed to survey the biosecurity practices and determine their correlation with the size of production systems. A biosecurity assessment form was provided to 69 farms in the Campos Gerais region of Paraná, Brazil. The questionnaire was divided into two sections: general and bovine viral diarrhea virus- and bovine herpesvirus type-1-specific sections. The general section covered topics on traffic control, quarantine and animal isolation, hygiene practices, carcass disposal, and disease monitoring/control. The specific section consisted of questions on the reproductive and respiratory factors, use of antimicrobials, and vaccination schedule. The 69 farms were also classified into small (≤ 61), medium (62–201), and large (≥ 202) size farms based on the number of lactating cows. Moreover, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was performed between the biosecurity measures and farm size. The main risk factors and variability were related to the traffic control of people, animals, and vehicles/equipment, animal quarantine/isolation, and hygiene practices. MCA revealed that the small farms exhibited a lack of biosecurity measures, including those related to traffic control, animal quarantine, and hygiene. In medium-size farms, contact between bovine animals of different ages and difficulty in animal isolation in the quarantine system were among the main risk factors. In contrast, isolation of sick animals was easy, but the need to frequently purchase cattle was an important risk factor in large farms. These results highlight the relationship between biosecurity measures and farm size, providing valuable insights for the development of better biosecurity plans for production systems.

Copyright of Techno.com is the property of Universitas Dian Nuswantoro, Fakultas Ilmu Komputer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The existing research identifies that cross-organizational collaboration is important in the enhancement of emergency management. However, little effort has been made to empirically examine how collaboration contributes to emergency performance. Within this field lies a theoretical controversy that institutional arrangement and dynamic capability compete with each other to enhance emergency collaboration. Numerous studies find that a contingency plan, as a form of institutional arrangement, is necessary for ensuring collaboration in a planned and legitimate manner. Conversely, research also suggests that absorptive capacity, as an important dynamic capability for organizations to adapt to changing environments, is beneficial to the improvement of emergency collaboration. The current study contributes to the understanding of the influence of collaboration on emergency performance by (1) investigating the relationship between collaboration networks and performance, and (2) examining the mediating roles of the contingency plan and absorptive capacity in this relationship. Employing structural equation modeling with data from 110 cases of emergency drills in Shanghai, results suggest that collaboration networks have a positive association with emergency performance, which is simultaneously mediated by contingency plan and absorptive capacity, and further demonstrate that absorptive capacity exerts a stronger effect than contingency plan. Overall, the findings point to a need to dissolve the nuanced contradiction between the institutions and dynamic capability and weigh the two approaches when implementing emergency collaboration across organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is one of the most important emerging transboundary diseases. Recently, LSD has emerged in many countries in the northern hemisphere. The LSD virus has a huge genome and is highly resistant to environmental conditions. The virus is also host-specific and large ruminants, such as cattle and domestic water buffalo, are particularly susceptible. In addition, wild ruminants can serve as potential reservoirs for spreading the LSD virus. The emergence might be related to climate change in various regions because LSD is an arthropod-borne infectious disease. This disease causes enormous economic losses, such as leather damage, decreased milk production, abortion, and death in infected ruminants. The economic importance of LSD in the bovine industry has forced countries to develop and implement control strategies against the disease. With the recent global spread and the economic impact, LSD will be discussed intensively. In addition, effective preventive measures are suggested based on the presence or absence of LSD outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global supply chains rely on the compliance and safety of their products, processes, and facilities. These vital services (often referred to as 'quality assurance' or 'conformity assessment' services) are provided by Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). This empirical study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CABs as well as their response to the resulting challenges. Data was gathered through an online survey among all accredited CABs in Germany, which resulted in 555 valid responses. Taking a resilience perspective, we reveal that CABs were hit hard by the disruptions caused by the pandemic, albeit to different degrees, in part due to their type of services, size, and sectors served. Furthermore, we find that contingency plans do not directly cushion order declines (as the main indicator of the economic impact of the pandemic) but rather indirectly through helping CABs respond more quickly, which in turn mitigates their order declines. However, our results show that contingency plans can also have adverse effects if they hinder flexible reaction to the crisis. The findings of our study help managers and policymakers learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the resilience of the conformity assessment sector and quality assurance in the event of future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the lack of a government contingency plan for an effective response to an unexpected health crisis. This study uses a phenomenological approach to explore the experience of healthcare professionals during the first three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in a public health hospital in the Valencia region, Spain. It assesses the impact on their health, coping strategies, institutional support, organizational changes, quality of care, and lessons learned.MethodsWe carried out a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews with doctors and nurses from the Preventive Medicine, Emergency, and Internal Medicine Services and the Intensive Care Unit, using the Colaizzi’s 7-step data analysis method.ResultsDuring the first wave, lack of information and leadership led to feelings of uncertainty, fear of infection, and transmission to family members. Continuous organizational changes and lack of material and human resources brought limited results. The lack of space to accommodate patients, along with insufficient training in treating critical patients, and the frequent moving around of healthcare workers, reduced the quality of care. Despite the high levels of emotional stress reported, no sick leave was taken; the high levels of commitment and professional vocation helped in adapting to the intense work rhythms. Healthcare professionals in the medical services and support units reported higher levels of stress, and a greater sense of neglect by their institution than their colleagues in managerial roles. Family, social support, and camaraderie at work were effective coping strategies. Health professionals showed a strong collective spirit and sense of solidarity. This helped them cope with the additional stress and workload that accompanied the pandemic.ConclusionIn the wake of this experience, they highlight the need for a contingency plan adapted to each organizational context. Such a plan should include psychological counseling and continuous training in critical patient care. Above all, it needs to take advantage of the hard-won knowledge born of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The turbulent environment like COVID-19 has forced many firms to the brink of collapse. It has a devastating impact on the supply chain management and its sustainability. Many firms were forced to close due to unavailability of raw materials, essential ingredients, and labor shortage. Not many firms were capable of efficiently handling such disruptive situation. There is not much study on appropriate supply chain strategy for such turbulent situation. The practitioners as well as academic researchers are interested to know how to deal with such situation and remain sustainable for any such future crisis like COVID-19. In this background the aim of this study is to examine the determinants that impact the supply chain sustainability during turbulent situation. The study investigates how firm capability and government regulation impact the supply chain sustainability during turbulent environment. With the help of literature review, dynamic capability theory and contingency theory, a theoretical model has been developed. Later the model has been validated using PLS-SEM technique with 315 usable responses from employees of different firms in India engaged in supply chain management process. The study finds out that firms' capabilities, leadership team support and contingency plan play vital role to formulate appropriate supply chain strategy which in turn positively impacts supply chain sustainability during turbulent environment. The study also finds that there is a moderating role of government regulation impacting supply chain management during the turbulent environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contingency plan is a fundamental tool for preparedness and response to disasters; however, the research focuses on adopting high technologies or considering a well-structured government. Therefore, this research aims to present the development of a contingency plan for landslides based on the perspective of a municipality in a developing country. The research considers the perspective of Belo Horizonte municipality in Brazil, as it is a high-risk prone area for landslides with limited discussion on the topic. The research applied a multi-criteria method to analyze 18 approaches for developing contingency plans for landslides, applying in the Belo Horizonte municipality the one ranking in first place (meeting 87 % of the 15 requirements selected for analysis). The results illustrated relevant analysis to developing the contingency plan for landslides, the need to consider a broader range area for the propagation pathways of landslides, and that the response time is longer than the acceptable time interval. The findings are relevant for researchers and professionals working on the topic in Belo Horizonte municipality, other cities in Brazil, and potentially other developing countries. Future research could discuss adopting advanced technologies to address the topic in developing countries and developing contingency plans for different disaster types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim Public health emergencies such as the current COVID-19 crisis, impose a major burden on health systems, complicating access to quality health services. With an already exhausted health system and scarce resources, the burden is greater, placing the most vulnerable groups at higher risk of being left behind. This paper was done to develop a risk assessment and contingency plan guide built on the good practices developed in the context of COVID-19 epidemic in Egypt to ensure continuity of HIV services. Participants and methods Qualitative survey was done to collect data included individual interviews and focus group discussions with people living with HIV (PLHIV) and most at risk populations to collect their experiences and perspectives about how HIV/AIDS is managed during emergencies and the impact of emergencies on PLHIV Results The majority of PLHIV (80%) together with key population emphasizes the availability of antiretroviral drugs all the times except for few of them (20%) who experienced one- or two-times unavailability of one of lines of treatment. it was repeated that existing health services were interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic and access to HIV prevention, care was disturbed and hindered due to many factors (insecurity, fear and lack of information and lack of social and financial support). Conclusion In any emergency crisis there is an increase vulnerability to HIV transmission but also disrupt adherence to HIV care and treatment services.

Copyright of Themis: Revista de Derecho is the property of Themis Asociacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research in Phase II of its development aims to review, explore, identify and map the PLANCON Contingency Plans for Social Assistance prepared in the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021 in the capitals of 26 States and DF to identify and explore the logical questions, techniques and policies for planning and managing preventive and mitigating measures for protection and civil defense in response to an emergency situation. Considered a natural disaster, the pandemic was inserted in a biological subgroup, with a sudden, significant and transitory increase in the occurrence of infectious diseases generated by viruses in the Brazilian Classification and Codification of COBRADE Disasters. The capillarity of the Single System of Social Assistance (SUAS) in the Brazilian social protection policy, in connection with the Single Health System (SUS) makes it possible to promote the development of two PLANCONs of Social Assistance for action on Covid-19 in 27 states and 5,570 municipalities. In Brazil, the Contingency Plans are foreseen in the National Civil Protection and Defense Policy to define procedures, actions and decisions in response to emergencies. As a preponderantly qualitative research and type of study based on a literature review, it is expected, with the support of the digital tool of the webQDA software, to optimize the systematization of two data in a collaborative and distributed environment, essential in the interaction of geographically distant teams. As a propaedeutic result, it will be verified different levels of obstacles not accessible to the planes in the surveyed capitals. The global unpreparedness not confronting contingencies results in different variables that affect the results not planning and management in the areas of health, economy, education, social assistance, among others. As a result, after the completion of all the phases (I, II, III and IV), it is expected that the research could contribute to support the reflection and debate of new working methodologies in the management of social protection public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The COVID-19 pandemic affected many essential aspects of public health, including newborn screening programs (NBS). Centers reported missing cases of inherited metabolic disease as a consequence of decreased diagnostic process quality during the pandemic. A number of problems emerged at the start of the pandemic, but from the beginning, solutions began to be proposed and implemented. Contingency plans were arranged, and these are reviewed and described in this article. Staff shortage emerged as an important issue, and as a result, new work schedules had to be implemented. The importance of personal protective equipment and social distancing also helped avoid disruption. Staff became stressed, and this needed to be addressed. The timeframe for collecting bloodspot samples was adapted in some cases, requiring reference ranges to be modified. A shortage of essential supplies and protective equipment was evident, and laboratories described sharing resources in some situations. The courier system had to be adapted to make timely and safe transport possible. Telemedicine became an essential tool to enable communication with patients, parents, and medical staff. Despite these difficulties, with adaptations and modifications, some centers evaluated candidate conditions, continued developments, or began new NBS. The pandemic can be regarded as a stress test of the NBS under real-world conditions, highlighting critical aspects of this multidisciplinary system and the need for establishing local, national, and global strategies to improve its robustness and reliability in times of shortage and overloaded national healthcare systems.

Introduction: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic brought changes in work organization in all spheres, requiring the restructuring of routines and teams to meet this new demand. The aim of study was to report the experience of the Nutrition and Dietetics Department (NDD) of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) and the changes that occurred during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is an experience report of the performance of HCPA NDD from April 2020 to March 2021. Results: There was an increase in absenteeism in the NDD, requiring process adjustments and relocations. There was also an increase in enteral nutrition delivery due to the severity of the clinical condition of hospitalized patients, a reduction in the capacity of employees' cafeteria to meet distancing protocols, and a need to use disposable utensils, deliver motivational messages to patients, make adjustments to the human milk bank process, and implement changes in nutritional assessment protocols for inpatients and remote outpatient care. Conclusion: This experience provided the NDD with a great legacy of learning and overcoming by requiring the NDD to adapt while maintaining quality service and strengthening teamwork relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 15, 2022, an oil spill occurred at the multi-buoy terminal 2 of La Pampilla refinery, Ventanilla (Lima -- Peru), during the Mare Doricum tanker crude oil unloading operation. This research is based on documentary analysis, its empirical, exploratory, explanatory orientation, linked to real and predictive phenomena. The evaluation period runs from January 15 to March 30, 2022. The affected area includes 1 840 490m2 of land and 7 139 571m2 of marine habitats along public use beaches. The crude oil impact extends from Ventanilla to Chancay, including the Ancon Reserved Zone and a portion of the Guano Islands, Islets, and Mainland Point System National Reserve. Biodiversity made up of algae, marine and fish invertebrates, birds, and mammals have been affected at different intensity levels. The number of affected species would range between 300 and 500 species. This paper aims to analyze the impact of the oil spill on the biological diversity of coastal habitats from Ventanilla to Chancay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many countries appear to be ill-prepared in their emergency responses towards the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly in managing chronic diseases such as cancer. We aimed to gain insight on the preparedness of health systems within low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in maintaining delivery of cancer care amid the pandemic. Methods: We performed a rapid review of publications focusing on emergency contingency plans for cancer care during the pandemic in LMICs. An online desk research was conducted to identify relevant policy documents, guidelines or scientific publications. Results: Very few LMICs had readily accessible documents to ensure continuity in delivery of cancer care during the pandemic. A majority of publications were focused on delivery of cancer treatment whereas early detection, diagnosis and delivery of supportive and survivorship care received very little attention. Far fewer of the published guidelines appear to have been formulated at the national level by governmental agencies. A vast majority of publications constituted consensus guidelines from professional societies, followed by sharing of best practices from local institutions. Overall, three main strategies have been recommended to maintain delivery of cancer care amid the pandemic in LMICs: 1) Modification of cancer treatment regimens, 2) Changes in methods of administration of curative and supportive cancer care and 3) Implementation of generic measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in healthcare settings. Conclusion: All LMICs should consider collating best practices from the current pandemic and translating them into an explicit cancer preparedness plan, which can be escalated during future disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African sanctuaries play a key role in the battle against the illegal trade of orphaned apes by rescuing and rehabilitating displaced animals and providing them lifelong care. Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, sanctuaries were forced to close their doors and take precautionary measures to avoid contagion. This study aimed to identify short-term actions the sanctuaries took in the three to five months following the announcement of the pandemic. A survey was administered to ten Pan African Sanctuary Alliance members, in eight different countries, housing African apes. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis and four themes were identified: "Special measures implemented by Sanctuaries to deal with COVID-19," "External support," "Impact of COVID-19 on great ape sanctuaries" and "Economic impact." The pandemic greatly impacted resources, money, food, medical supplies and staffing. Our results reveal how quickly sanctuaries reacted to the crisis and the need for the creation of contingency plans to prevent the impact of future pandemics. We also identified that sanctuaries need to be able to: a) adapt to the changing times by developing fundraising strategies through social networks and by adopting innovative approaches such as virtual tours; and b) assess and improve the health of staff and their families through an employee health program following the One Health approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiac telemetry downtime may be planned or unplanned, causing a disruption in telemetry services with a potential to impact patient safety. Problem: Many cardiac telemetry units in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) have contingency plans that do not adequately address telemetry downtime. Approach: This is a retrospective quality improvement analysis of VHA-reported cardiac telemetry downtime events from October 1, 2014, to Mar 31, 2020. Outcomes: Of 98 events, no patient harm was reported; 13% (n = 13) were planned downtime, 82% (n = 80) were unplanned downtime, 18% (n = 18) reported contingency plan use, 78% (n = 76) did not specify contingency plan use, and 32% (n = 31) reported events lasting 31 minutes to 6 hours in duration. Conclusions: The majority of reported cardiac telemetry downtime events were unplanned and without documented contingency plans. A robust contingency plan with defined staff roles and responsibilities will serve to lessen anxiety during downtimes and mitigate potential risk of patient harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Venezolana de Gerencia (RVG) is the property of Revista de Filosofia-Universidad del Zulia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract During the first quarter of 2020 the world is experiencing a pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome‑Coronavirus‑2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), a novel beta coronavirus that is responsible for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). The COVID‐19 pandemic revealed that healthcare systems around the world were not prepared to deal with either the direct effects of the pandemic or with the indirect effects that are imposed on the health of patients with chronic disorders such as cancer patients. Some challenges and dilemmas currently faced during the pandemic include the management of cancer patients during the treatment and follow‐up phases, the assessment of the safety of treatments currently used for the management of SARS‑CoV‑2 for use in cancer patients, the development of psychoeducation and emotional support for cancer patients and the safe conduct of clinical trials involving participation of cancer patients. Evidence from the literature supports the need for the urgent development of a holistic contingency plan which will include clear guidelines for the protection and comprehensive care of cancer patients. The implementation of such a plan is expected to have many beneficial effects by mainly minimizing the increased morbidity and mortality of cancer patients that could result as an adverse consequence of the COVID‐19 or future pandemics.

This article presents readers with a set of concepts and definitions related to marine pollution produced by oil spills at sea. The types of existing emergencies identified by the main regional and global organizations dealing with the issue are mentioned. The main accidents that have occurred around the world in the last 20 years are reviewed, as well as the general damages they caused and the vulnerabilities that made them more complex. Additionally, a summary is made of the main physical phenomena present in the spill and the response techniques to mitigate the pollution impact on the environment.

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Quality function deployment (QFD) is a quality management tool that aims to improve customer satisfaction by transforming customer requirements into technical characteristics. It is a crucial procedure to obtain the prioritization of technical characteristics for the products or services in QFD. Traditional QFDs are often implemented by a small number of QFD members. However, with the increasing complexity of product and service design, QFD requires the participation of more QFD members from dispersed departments or institutions. Additionally, the evaluation information given by QFD members may widely differ due to their different knowledge and background. Furthermore, the psychological behaviours of QFD members also greatly influence the final prioritization of technical characteristics. Hence, this paper proposes a novel QFD framework to prioritize technical characteristics using a consensus-reaching process and prospect theory when large numbers of QFD members are involved. In the large-scale QFD framework, prospect theory is generally utilized to depict the psychological behaviours of QFD members. Then, QFD members are divided into several clusters. Eventually, a consensus-reaching process is established to assist QFD members in reaching a consensus. To verify the practicability of the presented framework, this paper applies it to the evaluation of contingency plan to determine the critical measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this paper, we propose an evacuation support system that provides evacuation routes in case of disasters, and verify the usefulness of the system. Current popular wireless communication infrastructure is supported by a series of base stations and one base station handles a lot of communication. Therefore, when communication base stations break down due to disasters such as an earthquake, it may become difficult for people to use their smartphones based on the Internet. When the communication infrastructure is paralyzed, people will have great difficulty collecting information about the conditions of transportation systems and about the safety of family and friends using smartphones. Our proposed system addresses this problem by using multiple kinds of mobile agents in addition to static agents on smartphones that use a mobile ad hoc network (MANET). The proposed system collects information with mobile agents and diffuses information via mobile agents so that the system is able to provide an optimized evacuation route for each user in a dynamically changing disaster environment. In this paper, we extend our previously proposed evacuation support system to consider elevation information when constructing evacuation routes. When a tsunami or a flood tide occurs, low elevations may be under water. Therefore, this revised evacuation support system helps people to move to safer places by selecting higher elevation routes when warranted by the situation.

Penelitian ini mendeskripsikan perencanaan darurat krisis oleh humas pemerintahan Indonesia. Penelitian terdahulu menunjukkan perencanaan krisis penting untuk meminimalkan dan membatasi dampak krisis. Contingency plan merupakan bentuk perencanaan darurat krisis yang efektif di era keterbukaan informasi. Peneliti melakukan wawancara kualitatif terhadap 16 informan praktisi humas pemerintah yang masuk peringkat keterbukaan informasi publik. Penelitian ini menghasilkan lima proposisi: posisi struktural humas memengaruhi peran manajemen krisis, konstruksi humas tentang krisis memengaruhi strategi perencanaan krisis, humas pemerintah belum memiliki contingency plan, tim manajemen krisis bukan bagian strategi humas lembaga pemerintah dalam manajemen krisis, dan konstruksi humas terkait krisis memengaruhi strategi manajemen krisis dan hambatannya.

Biosecurity refers to a set of practices that prevents and/or controls the introduction, spread, and elimination of harmful biological agents in a production system. In this study, we aimed to survey the biosecurity practices and determine their correlation with the size of production systems. A biosecurity assessment form was provided to 69 farms in the Campos Gerais region of Paraná, Brazil. The questionnaire was divided into two sections: general and bovine viral diarrhea virus- and bovine herpesvirus type-1-specific sections. The general section covered topics on traffic control, quarantine and animal isolation, hygiene practices, carcass disposal, and disease monitoring/control. The specific section consisted of questions on the reproductive and respiratory factors, use of antimicrobials, and vaccination schedule. The 69 farms were also classified into small (≤ 61), medium (62-201), and large (≥ 202) size farms based on the number of lactating cows. Moreover, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was performed between the biosecurity measures and farm size. The main risk factors and variability were related to the traffic control of people, animals, and vehicles/equipment, animal quarantine/isolation, and hygiene practices. MCA revealed that the small farms exhibited a lack of biosecurity measures, including those related to traffic control, animal quarantine, and hygiene. In medium-size farms, contact between bovine animals of different ages and difficulty in animal isolation in the quarantine system were among the main risk factors. In contrast, isolation of sick animals was easy, but the need to frequently purchase cattle was an important risk factor in large farms. These results highlight the relationship between biosecurity measures and farm size, providing valuable insights for the development of better biosecurity plans for production systems., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Ferreira, Baccili, Nemoto, Vieira, Sviercoski, Ienk, Pagno and Gomes.)

Abstract Background Unstable settings present challenges for the effective provision of antiretroviral treatment (ART). In this paper, we summarize the experience and results of providing ART and implementing contingency plans during acute instability in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Yemen. Case presentation In CAR, MSF has provided HIV care in three conflict-affected rural regions; these were put on hold throughout the acute phase of violence. “Run-away bags” containing 3 or 4 months of ART were distributed to patients at MSF facilities. Among 1820 HIV patients enrolled into care, 1440 (79%) initiated ART. By December 2016, 782 (54%) patients were still under ART, 354 (25%) have been lost to follow up and 182 (13%) had died. In 2013, when violence disrupted services, 683 patients were receiving ART. Between September–December 2013, 594 (87%) patients received runaway bags and by February 2014, 313 (53%) of these patients returned to the clinic. In Yemen, when violence erupted, patients received a health card that included a helpline to call in case of drug shortages in admission to emergency stocks; this was not possible in CAR due to lack of a functioning telephone network. One thousand six hundred fifty-five PLWHA have been enrolled in care and 1470 (89%) initiated ART; 1056 (72%) are still followed on ART, 126 (9%) were lost to follow up, and 288 (20%) died. In January 2011 clashes began and by April 2011 MSF medical activities were interrupted. Of the 363 patients receiving ART, 363 (100%) received emergency bags to cover 9 months and by February 2012, 354 (98%) patients returned to care. In March 2015 a new wave of conflict affected Yemen, forcing HIV activities to revert to contingency planning. Conclusions This experience provides further evidence that provision of HIV treatment and emergency drug stocks can be successfully provided to most patients in both conflict-affected settings.

With a daily people flow of hundreds and even thousands, the hospitality industry has faced a considerable disease crisis challenge in the past 15 years. Hong Kong China Travel Service Hotels Corporate Limited (HK CTS Hotels) has experienced the impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Influenza A (H1N1) in 2009. Learning from this, the hotel group has developed its crisis management contingency plan. Despite this, it was again hit by a measles crisis in 2019, renewing the hotel group's concern with crisis management and image. This case study provides an accurate and contemporary scenario for students to understand the development of a crisis management plan and marketing strategy for hotel image recovery by following the four phases of a crisis management framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first quarter of 2020 the world is experiencing a pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome‑Coronavirus‑2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), a novel beta coronavirus that is responsible for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). The COVID‐19 pandemic revealed that healthcare systems around the world were not prepared to deal with either the direct effects of the pandemic or with the indirect effects that are imposed on the health of patients with chronic disorders such as cancer patients. Some challenges and dilemmas currently faced during the pandemic include the management of cancer patients during the treatment and follow‐up phases, the assessment of the safety of treatments currently used for the management of SARS‑CoV‑2 for use in cancer patients, the development of psychoeducation and emotional support for cancer patients and the safe conduct of clinical trials involving participation of cancer patients. Evidence from the literature supports the need for the urgent development of a holistic contingency plan which will include clear guidelines for the protection and comprehensive care of cancer patients. The implementation of such a plan is expected to have many beneficial effects by mainly minimizing the increased morbidity and mortality of cancer patients that could result as an adverse consequence of the COVID‐19 or future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the COVID-19 spread continues to challenge the societal and professional norms, radiotherapy around the globe is pushed into an unprecedented transformation. We will discuss how clinical physics has transformed to ascertain safety and quality standards across four facilities around the world through diversity of action, innovation, and scientific flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to disorder in work and livelihood of a majority of the modern world. In this work, we review its major impacts on procedures and workflow of clinical physics tasks, and suggest alternate pathways to avoid major disruption or discontinuity of physics tasks in the context of small, medium, and large radiation oncology clinics. We also evaluate scalability of medical physics under the stress of "social distancing". Methods: Three models of facilities characterized by the number of clinical physicists, daily patient throughput, and equipment were identified for this purpose. For identical objectives of continuity of clinical operations, with constraints such as social distancing and unavailability of staff due to system strain, however with the possibility of remote operations, the performance of these models was investigated. General clinical tasks requiring on‐site personnel presence or otherwise were evaluated to determine the scalability of the three models at this point in the course of disease spread within their surroundings. Results: The clinical physics tasks within three models could be divided into two categories. The former, which requires individual presence, include safety‐sensitive radiation delivery, high dose per fraction treatments, brachytherapy procedures, fulfilling state and nuclear regulatory commission's requirements, etc. The latter, which can be handled through remote means, include dose planning, physics plan review and supervision of quality assurance, general troubleshooting, etc. Conclusion: At the current level of disease in the United States, all three models have sustained major system stress in continuing reduced operation. However, the small clinic model may not perform if either the current level of infections is maintained for long or staff becomes unavailable due to health issues. With abundance, and diversity of innovative resources, medium and large clinic models can sustain further for physics‐related radiotherapy services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay aim to talk about variables that were not approached, yet, or just was partially approched, on the fight against coronavirus, analyzing your pertinence, but whithout to give a definitive answer, in face of the absence of scientific datas. Like this, we perform a discussion from informations that exist into of the internet gave for experts, added of the few scientifics datas existent about atual crise, discussing relationship between brazlian national plan against COVID 19, WHO's informations and Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team's Report. From this, we infer the need to improve the informations about brazilian contexto to improve too the fight COVID-19 policy into national territory, without negligence to the combat, neither disrupt our commitment, like intenational community member, but contextualizing our policys according with ours own needs for its best efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]