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

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describing approaches to indexing of spatial identifiers from existing systems; their integration into a common index; and the use of URI identifiers, linked data and spatial web services to improve delivery and use of identifiers. Ms Vanessa Brown People and Development Manager, Surf Life Saving Australia The True Value of Volunteer Emergency Services: Their Role in Building Social Capital and Disaster Resilient Communities. Traditionally the value of our organisations are measured on saving lives, protecting property and infrastructure, the delivery of first aid / medical treatment and recovery support. Whilst many have measured the economic value of their services, the true value of a service can only be fully realised when the wider impacts and spillover effects' that providing that service has on the community is fully understood. Usually an attempt to convey these are made by most through the identification of broader activities such community education, training provided to members/public, engagement of youth and general development of good' people. The National Compact (2010) and Productivity Commission (2010) signify a federal government commitment to recognise and promote the social contribution of third sector organisations. Whilst both identify various methods of measurement of social impact, they also acknowledge current limitations in measuring program specific outcomes rather than longer-term or broader social impacts. Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) has partnered with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to identify and value activities contributing towards SLSA's social contribution to the wider community. In doing so a potential method and model of social impact at the meso level for community based organisations in Australia has been developed. This research has defined SLSA's social capital and human capital contribution to the wider community through individuals (volunteers) and the organisational itself. It describes contributions through aspects of personal belonging; development of citizenship values; giving back to the community; connections with other local community organisations; meaningful networks; advancement of human capital through training, team and leadership skills. The presentation will further explore the results of the work with UTS clearly demonstrating the broader value of volunteer emergency service organisations and their resulting role in developing disaster resilient communities through their social impact. Mr George Corea GIS Officer, Tablelands Regional Council Co Author - Ms. Sarah Dean, Senior Advisor Disaster Management, Tablelands Regional Council Mapping worst case communication pathways Large, remote local governments with small distributed populations face critical communication issues during disasters. The Tablelands Region is prone to a number of natural disaster events and parts of this region lack the reliable communications facilities that other regions take for granted. Where telephone, mobile and satellite communications are available they have proven to be prone to failure at critical times, creating significant problems for communities and emergency response agencies alike. The Tablelands Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) recognises that a resilient communications capability is critical to the success of disaster response and recovery operations. Two-way communication is vital not only between the emergency services and response agencies but also between response and recovery agencies and the wider community. The LDMG initiated a study resulting in identification of Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service VHF and UHF-CB infrastructure to develop an alternative
UHF/VHF communication plan during disasters. The sole purpose of the network is to allow critical information to be transmitted to the Disaster Coordination Centre so that emergency resources can be efficiently utilized. The project included mapping and field checking over 30 repeaters in almost 65,000 sq km. Mapping the repeater coverage at a 30m resolution involved customizing radio analysis software, creating scripts to deal with the large datasets and analysing field tests to create “worst case” mapping of coverage in the anticipated post-natural disaster poor weather conditions. Assessing this information and presenting it in an easy to use flow chart was a critically important part of the project. This project is now part of the award winning Community Disaster Plans for the Tablelands Regional Council area and provides a resilient and reliable communication infrastructure that can be used post disaster when traditional communications fail to enhance agency and community resilience in a practical, efficient and affordable way. Dr Carlie Darling Statewide Projects Co-ordinator, RAMHP, The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health Co Author - Ms Lisa Mackenzie, Evaluation Manager, RAMHP, The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health A review of teacher-mediated interventions to support mental health and wellbeing amongst children following a natural disaster Background: Disaster recovery programs have typically aimed to address concrete needs of communities in disaster impacted areas. The post-disaster psychological vulnerability of impacted populations, particularly of children and adolescents, is now widely documented. Teachers are ideally placed to administer early intervention strategies to support child and adolescent mental health in the post-disaster environment. However, the most effective strategies available to teachers have not been delineated. Aims: We aimed to identify teacher-mediated strategies that have been found to support child mental health and wellbeing following a natural disaster. Methods: A search of the academic literature on this topic was performed using: Medline, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL. Search terms used were: (teacher mediated OR teacher led OR teacher based OR school-based OR school-led OR community based OR social support) AND (child OR children OR adolescent OR child, preschool OR teenagers) AND (disasters OR natural disaster OR bushfire OR wildfire OR floods OR cyclonic storms OR earthquakes OR tsunami) AND (grief OR anxiety OR stress OR stress, psychological OR stress disorders, post-traumatic OR depression OR trauma OR coping OR mental health OR wellbeing OR social capital OR resilience OR connectedness OR adaptation, psychological). English language articles published before December 2012 were included in the search. A summary of natural disaster resources provided to schools by NGOs and non-government departments (identified through online searches and personal communications) will supplement the academic literature search. Results and conclusions: There are few peer-reviewed articles reporting on teacher-mediated strategies for supporting child mental health and wellbeing following a natural disaster. Current and proposed school bushfire resources will be described and assessed within the context of past research. We will discuss how this information could be used to improve provision of teacher mediated post-disaster support for children through the NSW Health Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP). Mr John Dickinson Director Emergency Managment, Australian Government Department of Human Services Co Author - Mr Robert Power, Senior Software Engineer, CSIRO Emergency Response Intelligence Capability: Improving Situational Awareness in the Australian Government Department of Human Services The Emergency Response Intelligence Capability (ERIC) project is a collaboration between the CSIRO and the Australian Government Department of Human Services Emergency Management team. This project is part of the
Page 1 and 2: Australian & New Zealand Disaster a
Page 3 and 4: Mr Mark Armstrong Director, Full Ca
Page 5: Dr Haydn Betts Manager Water Resour
Page 9 and 10: The project included a range of lea
Page 11 and 12: Dr Lisa Gibbs Assoc Director, Brock
Page 13 and 14: however, because of their exception
Page 15 and 16: their losses whilst ensuring public
Page 17 and 18: natural catastrophe? The discussion
Page 19 and 20: Mr Michael MacLennan Principal Cons
Page 21 and 22: Aucklanders will also receive advan
Page 23 and 24: Ms Catherine O'Mullan Lecturer, CQ
Page 25 and 26: Mr Avijit Paul Queensland Universit
Page 27 and 28: Area of NSW’s Emergency Managemen
Page 29 and 30: Government Organisations, and Emerg
Page 31 and 32: as a potential lifeline to better u
Page 33 and 34: Mr Mark Armstrong Director, Full Ca
Page 35 and 36: disasters always involve a portion
Page 37 and 38: Mr Bob Dick Independent scholar, In
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Page 41 and 42: approach in redesigning the FireWat
Page 43 and 44: managers from around the world chal
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Page 47 and 48: from a failure of a flood defence.

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