No abstract

Introduction:Quarantelli established criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of disaster management.Objectives:The objectives of this study were to analyze the response of the healthcare system to the Tsunami disaster according to the Quarantelli principles, and to validate these principles in a scenario of a disaster due to natural hazards.Methods:The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command Medical Department sent a research team to study the response of the Thai medical system to the disaster. The analysis of the disaster management was based on Quarantelli's 10 criteria for evaluating the management of community disasters. Data were collected through personal and group interviews.Results:The three most important elements for effective disaster management were: (1) the flow of information; (2) overall coordination; and (3) leadership. Although pre-event preparedness was for different and smaller scenarios, medical teams repeatedly reported a better performance in hospitals that recently conducted drills.Conclusions:In order to increase effectiveness, disaster management response should focus on: (1) the flow of information; (2) overall coordination; and (3) leadership.

IntroductionIn March 2006, a few cases of bird flu were discovered in approximately 10 rural settlements in Israel. As a result, approximately one million birds were destroyed within a three-kilometer radius of the settlement, and authorities instructed the general public to take defensive measures via different sources of information including television, radio, the Internet, newspapers, and the local authorities' information center.Little is known about the differences in the sources of information use by the population in different geographic areas in the same country during a disease outbreak. Such information can help authorities use the correct source of information in each area in order to achieve better exposure of the population to recommended behaviors during the outbreak.The objective of the study was to compare the frequency of use of different sources of information by the population in the affected area with the general population during the first phase of a bird flu outbreak in Israel.

Introduction: On March 2006, 298,000 cases of birds infected with bird flu were destroyed in nine rural settlements in Israel, out of a total of 1.2 million birds that were destroyed within these settlements and in a radius of 3 km. The population was instructed to take precautionary measures to prevent a disease outbreak. The sense of knowledge of the population concerning the disease correlated with compliance with authorities' instructions. Objectives: To analyze the relationships between the sources of information, and public emotions and interest in avian influenza with the sense of knowledge concerning the disease in the affected area and the nationwide population, during the first phase of a bird flu outbreak in Israel. Methods: We conducted a telephone survey among two randomly selected, representative samples of adults, during the first phase of a bird flu outbreak. One sample involved 500 adult residents of the nationwide area; and the other sample involved 103 adult residents of the affected area. We measured the use of mass media, emotions, interest, and sense of knowledge of the population concerning avian influenza. We analyzed the relationships between the sources of information and public emotions with the sense of knowledge using chi-square and t-tests. A P value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: TV viewers in the affected area had a significantly lower sense of knowledge concerning avian influenza (P<0.05). Internet users in the nationwide population had a significantly higher sense of knowledge (P<0.05). People in the affected area with higher levels of stress had a significantly lower sense of knowledge (P<0.05). People in the nationwide population with a higher level of interest had a significantly higher sense of knowledge (P<0.05). Conclusion: The use of the internet as a source of information, combined with a high level of interest and low levels of stress correlated with a high sense of knowledge concerning avian influenza during the early phase of an avian influenza outbreak in Israel. Authorities should consider these findings when planning the strategy of mass media use, in order to increase the public's sense of knowledge concerning the disease and to enhance control of the disease outbreak by improving the compliance of the population with the authorities' instructions.