Book of Abstracts 2013 - Australian and New Zealand Disaster ...

Government Organisations, and Emergency Services that also have roles in supporting this aspect of disaster and
emergency management.
Dr Kirrilly Thompson
Senior Research Fellow, Central Queensland University Appleton Institute
Risk factor or protective factor? Using animal attachment to motivate early evacuation and
survival
The willingness of people to risk their own lives during disasters to save those of animals has been well documented.
Existing research thus characterises animals and pet ownership as risk factors for early evacuation from - and survival
of - natural disasters. However, given high pet ownership levels in industrialised countries, this paper proposes that
animals might alternatively be reconfigured as protective factors. After introducing some social science concepts that
outline the importance of human-animal relationships to human behaviours and decision making, the paper offers
preliminary thoughts on how attachment to pets can be used to motivate early evacuation and survival in times of
natural disasters such as fire and flood. It concludes with an overview of a mixed-methods research plan to be
undertaken in Australia over the next three years and invites contributions and comments from stakeholders.
Mr Mark Silveira
Silveira, Steamatic
Deluges and conflagrations - The Practicalities after the event!
Whilst most of us understand the vital role insurance fulfils during an unfortunate and unforseen event, many of us
have no idea as to the practicalities associated with getting a damaged property functional again.
People affected by the event and their advisors face a number of decisions. The wrong choices made in the early stages
could severely impact the functioning and/or recovery of the business or home. This is significantly exacerbated in the
event of a catastrophe such as bushfires, floods or landslides particularly as the damage is usually greater and
resources to assist are generally stretched.
So, in the event of an incident, how do you determine what items are salvageable and how they can be recognised?
What can be done to halt further damage by water, soot or other harmful elements? What can be done to assist the
recovery process? What responsibilities exist to mitigate the loss and what does this actually mean?
In addition to the immediate issues, the propensity for latent issues emerging can be quite high. Contaminants such as
mould and hidden water or fire damage can cause delayed health issues and have legal ramifications as well as serious
impacts on client's businesses, lifestyle and satisfaction. In addition, insurance claims quantum and reserving
philosophies could well be negatively impacted.
Based on over 25 years experience in assisting people in every major Australian catastrophe and as one of the largest
disaster restoration and loss mitigation specialists, Steamatic can educate first responders to assist those in need
during the critical early days of an unfortunate event.