To assess the current state of knowledge and perceptions towards heatwaves of emergency department (ED) health care workers in Singapore and investigate potential strategies and solutions to improve the knowledge and readiness.

A qualitative study conducted in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Singapore, using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with an open-ended interview guide on emergency physicians and registered nurses of various lengths of work experience actively working in the ED. Thematic analysis was employed involving memo-writing, coding, and theme-development with constant comparison.

Six themes— (1) Knowledge and understanding of Extreme Weather Events, (2) Knowledge and risk-assessment of Heatwaves, (3) Impressions of increased vulnerability to heatwaves, (4) Preventive measures for acute heat related illness, (5) Heatwave impact on the emergency department, and (6) Potential strategies and solutions—emerged and were presented in an interactive framework. Overall, it emerged that there is basic foundational knowledge, with more education and training required, especially targeting the knowledge gaps identified. There is also a need to increase awareness of heatwaves and their impact on health, and to develop comprehensive extreme heat response plans.

The findings provide a framework for emergency departments to guide their preparations for inevitable heatwaves and their associated health impacts.

Heavy rain and flood frequently occur in recent years and hospitals’ preparedness for flood is important. To secure patient safety, hospital evacuation planning and drills due to flooding by heavy rain is inevitable. In the study the relation of factors with hospitals’ preparedness for flood by heavy rain was analyzed.

Subjects of the study were disaster base hospitals in Japan (n = 765). Internet survey conducted in 2022. Bayesian network was used to analyze the interrelation of factors.

430 hospitals (56.2%) were used for analysis. 42.1% of the hospital were located in designated flooded area and 33.7% of the hospitals have planning of hospital evacuation due to flooding. Display of area where flooding is expected in case of heavy rain and landslide warning area leads to a hospital evacuation planning and evacuation drills.

Display of flooded area by heavy rain or landslide warning zone by governments is effective in advancing hospital preparedness for flood. Hospitals’ recent experience of flood or landslide did not lead to evacuation planning or evacuation drills due to flood. These findings are useful in advancing hospitals’ preparedness for flood and heavy rain.

As extreme weather events become more pervasive due to climate change, identifying populations with lower access to resources becomes critical for timely mitigation efforts. Here we analyzed data from a survey conducted in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida to investigate demographic and housing characteristics of those vulnerable to home damage, flooding, and mold exposure after an extreme weather event.

The survey participants comprised a convenience sample of 167 total respondents, most of whom resided in the Greater New Orleans Area. Sociodemographic, housing, and geographic factors were considered that described the population reporting home damage, flooding, and/or mold due to Hurricane Ida compared with those who did not experience these outcomes from Hurricane Ida.

Sociodemographic and housing factors predicting adverse impact from Hurricane Ida included race, retirement status, educational attainment, Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), type of home, and homeownership status. Of note, those whose homes had flooded prior to Ida had significantly higher odds of reporting home damage with Ida.

Of all the sociodemographic factors associated with Hurricane Ida damage including flooding and mold, a greater level of the SVI was most consistent and often had the strongest associations with these adverse outcomes. A public health focus on neighborhoods with higher SVI could help lead to strategies to mitigate and prevent exposure in future flood events.

This study examined if and how first responders in Nigeria provide Psychological First Aid to emergency victims. Key objectives include assessing first responders’ awareness of Psychological First Aid, determining their level of PFA training and level of PFA utilization with emergency treatment.

A descriptive cross-sectional survey that adopted a mixed-method approach was utilized. This study was carried out among first responders living in Lagos State, Nigeria. The quantitative aspect of the study consisted of 386 respondents. In contrast, for the qualitative study, 17 participants were selected using snowball sampling across various strata of first responders based on their diverse roles and experience in emergency response.

Findings from this study deduced that 59.6% of respondents were aware of, 27.2% were trained, and 38.3% practiced PFA. However, findings noted a significant difference in awareness based on education, as persons with tertiary education were 4.21 times more likely to be aware than those without (OR = 1.73-10.23). Qualitative findings revealed that respondents lacked access to opportunities to practice PFA due to the absence of protocols in their learning and practice environments.

This study highlights varying levels of awareness and training in Psychological First Aid (PFA) among respondents, indicating both opportunities and challenges in preparedness for emergency response. Strategies that promote PFA awareness among older age groups should be developed, and entry-level first responders should also receive PFA training.

We aimed to reveal the psychological effects of old and young individuals after the earthquake by looking at their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression situations.

Data collected by face-to-face survey method were analyzed. The 4 provinces (Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman, and Gaziantep) most affected by the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey on February 6, 2023 were included in the study. Peritraumatic distress inventory, impact of events scale, and Beck depression inventory were applied to 300 people (150 old, 150 young).

The presence of peritraumatic stress was observed in 94% (282 people), PTSD symptoms in 90% (270 people) and moderate to severe depression in 36.7% (110 people). When younger were compared with those elders, it was concluded that there was no significant difference in terms of presence of peritraumatic distress (49.6% vs. 50.4%, P=0.627), PTSD (49.6% vs. 50.4%, P=0.620) and moderate to severe depression (45.5% vs. 54.5%, P=0.258).

We found similar rates of PTSD and depression symptoms in older and younger adults exposed to earthquakes. Policies need to be developed to ensure psychological well-being after an earthquake disaster in the adult population regardless of age group.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pre-earthquake and earthquake-related characteristics and post-earthquake trauma levels of individuals affected by the February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes.

The study is in survey design, one of the quantitative research methods. The participants consist of individuals affected by the earthquake and staying in temporary accommodation centers (student dormitories) in Konya province. A survey including a personal information form and a scale for determining the Post-Earthquake Trauma Levels was administered face to face to 334 volunteer participants.

Adults aged 30-46, those trapped under debris, those injured in the earthquake, those who lost a family member, a relative, a neighbour or a friend, and those who received psychological support after the earthquake are in the risk group in terms of high post-earthquake trauma levels.

The findings reveal the groups in which the traumatic effects of earthquakes on adults are high. It is important to prepare intervention programs by considering the needs of these groups in psychosocial interventions to be carried out after the earthquake.

Disasters experienced in the world and in our country in recent years have made it necessary for health professionals to have high levels of disaster response self-efficacy. Nurses, as an important member of the health care team, have a key role in disaster management, especially in disaster response. Therefore, it is extremely important for nurses to be ready for disaster response and to have high levels of self-efficacy in disaster response. This study was conducted to determine the disaster response self-efficacy status and related factors of nurses working in surgical clinics.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 127 nurses working in surgical clinics between June and August 2023. “Sociodemographic Data Collection Form” was used to determine the sociodemographic characteristics of the nurses and “Of the Disaster Response Self-efficacy Scale” was used to assess their disaster response self-efficacy.

The findings of the study show that nurses working in surgical clinics have a high level of disaster preparedness. Previous on-duty disaster experience and feeling competent about disaster are positively associated with disaster response self-efficacy.

It may be recommended to provide evidence-based, high-quality, and up-to-date training programs at regular intervals to increase and maintain the emergency response competencies of nurses. The originality of this study is that it was conducted only with surgical nurses.

This study aimed to quantitatively clarify the differences in disaster preparedness between persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities and examine differences in disaster preparedness by type of disability and sociodemographic characteristics in the Philippines.

Overall, 1025 persons with disabilities and 405 persons without disabilities participated in the study. A structured questionnaire was employed. Disaster preparedness and mental health status were assessed using the Disaster Preparedness for Resilience Checklist (DPRC) and Kessler 6-item Psychological Distress Scale (K6), respectively, in addition to sociodemographic characteristics.

There were significant differences in the DPRC total score and all items (p < 0.01) between persons with and those without disabilities. Furthermore, there were significant differences in the DPRC total score and some items (p < 0.01) between persons with mental or psychosocial disabilities and persons with other disabilities. Persons with disabilities and persons with mental or psychosocial disabilities showed worse disaster preparedness. Furthermore, a multiple regression analysis showed that younger age, self-care disabilities, and communication disabilities were significantly associated with lower scores on the DPRC.

Policies and practices to improve disaster preparedness for marginalized populations are needed.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of animation-supported education in enhancing seventh-grade students’ awareness and knowledge of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) threats. It addresses the need for engaging teaching methods for complex topics by implementing an animation-based educational program.

A CBRN Knowledge Test was developed and administered to 233 students (45.1% male, 54.9% female) to assess their baseline knowledge. Following this, students participated in educational sessions featuring animations that explained CBRN concepts in an engaging manner. The same test was readministered to measure knowledge changes. Additionally, surveys on training satisfaction and perceptions of the animations were conducted.

The results showed that students with low initial CBRN knowledge exhibited significant improvement, while those with moderate or high knowledge also demonstrated measurable gains. This indicates the program’s effectiveness across all knowledge levels. Furthermore, students expressed high satisfaction with the animation-supported training. While no significant differences in knowledge improvement were observed based on gender or age, variations were noted according to branch and school location.

The study highlights the effectiveness of animations as a teaching tool for complex and sensitive topics like CBRN threats. Animation-supported education significantly enhances children’s preparedness and awareness, contributing to their safety and well-being in potential CBRN incidents.

In this study, the objective examined the contribution of pecha kucha technique instead of standard training in providing crisis management skills to nurse managers.

102 nurse managers participated in the study conducted with a quasi-experimental structure. Nurse managers participating in the study were divided into 3 groups as experimental, standard, and control, and each group included 34 nurse managers. Crisis management training was given to the experimental group with the pecha kucha technique, and to the standard group with the classical presentation technique. A crisis management scale was applied to measure crisis management skills before and after the trainings.

It was observed that crisis management scores increased in both groups after the trainings compared to the control group. When the scores of the experimental and control groups were compared, a significant difference was found (P < 0.05). The crisis management total and sub-dimension mean scores were higher in the experimental group than in the standard education group.

In line with these findings, it can be said that using innovative training techniques such as pecha kucha instead of standard training for managers or other nurses can increase their professional development and the quality of health care services.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed millions of people worldwide, continues to be marked by waves of reinfections. We aimed to assess the incidence and clinical characteristics of reinfection in COVID- 19 cohort.

A single-center descriptive study was conducted. Data were collected from all patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 via PCR from March 18, 2020, the onset of the first major COVID-19 wave, until the end of 2020. All PCR-positive patients were followed-up, and those who had SARS-CoV-2 PCR positivity again at least 90 days after the initial onset were contacted via telemedicine.

5814 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 with PCR positive in the first wave were included. The incidence of reinfection among the cohort of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the initial wave of COVID-19 was 0.73%. Among healthcare workers, the 1-year reinfection rate was 2.14%, 3.9 times higher than non-healthcare workers. We observed that the clinical course was milder and less complicated in patients who had reinfection. In cases of reinfection among fully vaccinated individuals, statistically significantly fewer symptoms were observed.

We observed that healthcare workers are at approximately four times greater risk of reinfection. Reinfections generally presented with a milder clinical course.

On February 6, 2023, 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes struck southeastern Türkiye, affecting 11 provinces and causing significant losses. This study aims to assess the mental health status of survivors in the twelfth month after the earthquake.

A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey with the virtual snowball sampling method. The survey included sociodemographic data, previous traumas, earthquake-related experiences, and the Post-Earthquake Trauma Level Determining Scale (PETLDS) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

The study included 2544 participants. The mean PETLDS score was 58.14±18.18, indicating that the participants were highly traumatized. Among them, 59.5% had high levels of post-traumatic symptoms, 44.2% had high anxiety, and 61% had high depression symptoms. 35.77% of participants displayed a co-occurrence of post-traumatic stress along with anxiety and depression. Female gender was the strongest predictor of high-level trauma and anxiety, while a history of psychiatric disorder was the strongest predictor of depression. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that symptoms were predicted by low income, low education level, smoking, comorbid chronic diseases, past traumatic experiences, the loss or injury of a loved one due to the earthquake, personal injury, temporary displacement, and damage to homes and workplaces.

The findings suggest that one year after the earthquake, mental health problems are prevalent among survivors, highlighting the need for urgent psychiatric interventions.

We aimed to explore concerns and feeling of safety among quarantined and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

We conducted a qualitative study of free text answers from participants of an online survey. The survey was conducted between March 2020 and June 2021. COVID-19 positive adults in home isolation and adults in quarantine were eligible for participation. 698 participants answered one or more of three open-ended questions about concerns and safety. We analyzed free-text answers using thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke with an inductive approach.

Analysis of the free-text answers from all participants identified three main themes: (1) Fear of the unknown, (2) Views on personal care and public health measures, and (3) Concern for the future of a country in crisis. Participants’ feelings revolved around health-related concerns and societal related concerns. They were concerned about their own and other’s health, and possible long-term consequences of COVID-19 infection. Some participants were satisfied with the health care system, others thought follow-ups, testing, vaccination, and information would increase their feeling of safety.

People quarantined and isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic had concerns regarding personal health and societal consequences of infection control measures. Health care follow-ups and individualized information would increase participants’ feeling of safety.