The convergence of materiel donations following disaster events is well documented in the literature. This influx of goods is often dubbed a "second disaster" with non-priority and unnecessary goods causing transportation and storage challenges to the community of survivors. Interviews were conducted following Hurricane Sandy in 2013 and two tornadoes outside of Oklahoma City in May 2013. Findings illustrate conflicting views about how to best achieve agility in disaster donation supply chains, although there was general agreement among interviewees that agility was desirable. From a broader perspective, the findings reveal that individuals involved in the supply chain differentially assign value in the donations process, including if they value donor needs over survivor needs, and hold different views on whether or not cash or goods are of greater value to the donors and survivors. Agility-the timing, flexibility, and reaction time in the supply chain-was viewed as necessary to a healthy supply chain; however, there was not a universal understanding of how to achieve an agile supply chain. This finding is consequential if relief operations hope to ultimately enhance agility in this process.KEY WORDS: emergency management and response, convergence behavior, humanitarian aidAgilidad en la ayuda para los desastres: Una aproximaci on de construcci on social La convergencia de donaciones materiales que suceden despu es de los desastres est a bien documentada en muchos textos. A esta afluencia de bienes se le llama "segundo desastre" con bienes innecesarios y de baja prioridad que causan desafíos de transporte y almacenamiento para la comunidad de sobrevivientes. Se llevaron a cabo entrevistas despu es de que sucedieran el hurac an Sandy en 2013 y dos tornados a las afueras de Oklahoma City en mayo de 2013. Los hallazgos ilustran opiniones contradictorias acerca de c omo lograr m as exitosamente la agilidad en las cadenas de distribuci on de las donaciones, aunque hubo un acuerdo general entre los que fueron entrevistados: que la agilidad era deseable. Desde una perspectiva m as amplia, los hallazgos revelan que los individuos involucrados en la cadena de distribuci on asignan valores diferentemente en el proceso de donaciones, incluyendo si le dan m as valor a los donantes que a los sobrevivientes, y si tienen diferentes opiniones acerca de si los bienes son de m as valor para los donantes que para los sobrevivientes. Los participantes opinaron que la agilidad-los tiempos, la flexibilidad y el tiempo de reacci on en la cadena de distribuci on-era necesaria para una cadena de distribuci on saludable; sin embargo, no hubo un entendimiento universal de c omo lograr una cadena de distribuci on agil. Este hallazgo es consecuencial si las operaciones de ayuda tienen alguna esperanza de mejorar la agilidad en este proceso.PALABRAS CLAVES: Gesti on de emergencias y respuesta, Comportamiento de convergencia, Ayuda humanitaria

This paper reviews literature on information channel type and disasters, and presents results on hurricane evacuation information gathering. Results show that respondents reported they would use television and radio most frequently for gathering information about hurricane evacuation. Minority respondents reported more preference of the use of community or local government as information sources than white respondents, females gathered information from multiple channels more than males, and younger residents gathered information from multiple channels more than older respondents. Implications include areas for future research in how channel utilization occurs during slow onset hazards in predominantly black communities, how age and gender relate to channel preference, and how channel preferences affect length of time to make decisions and engage in protective actions.

T he COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the important role of state and local health departments (LHDs). Historically, LHDs have looked to state partners and states have looked to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for leadership on public health management and communication efforts. However, because of the politicization of COVID-19, states and LHDs have taken very different approaches to addressing COVID-19. In some cases, LHDs have had to respond to health guidance issued from political offices before it is shared or cleared with them. In other cases, LHDs have had to scramble to address COVID-19 on their own. Staff and leadership turnover has also been an issue. 1 The public health workforce, historically understaffed and underfunded, has become strained beyond capacity, 2 making it difficult or impossible to carry out its work due to a lack of resources.At the same time, public health workers have been fighting what the World Health Organization (WHO) describes as an infodemic: "an overabundance of information, both online and offline . . . including deliberate attempts to disseminate wrong information to undermine the public health response and advance alternative agendas of groups or individuals." 3 Misinformation can impact attitudes and behaviors, 4 making it critical that LHDs respond to infodemics, including conspiracy theories, undermining their work. While the infodemic first impacted attitudes about COVID-19, it is now also influencing vaccination.

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third-leading cause of death worldwide with continuous rise. Limited studies indicate that COPD was associated with major storms and related power outages (PO). However, significant gaps remain in understanding what PO’s role is on the pathway of major storms-COPD. This study aimed to examine how PO mediates the major storms-COPD associations. Methods In this time-series study, we extracted all hospital admissions with COPD as the principal diagnosis in New York, 2001–2013. Using distributed lag nonlinear models, the hospitalization rate during major storms and PO was compared to non-major storms and non-PO periods to determine the risk ratios (RRs) for COPD at each of 0–6 lag days respectively after controlling for time-varying confounders and concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). We then used Granger mediation analysis for time series to assess the mediation effect of PO on the major storms-COPD associations. Results The RRs of COPD hospitalization following major storms, which mainly included flooding, thunder, hurricane, snow, ice, and wind, were 1.23 to 1.49 across lag 0–6 days. The risk was strongest at lag3 and lasted significantly for 4 days. Compared with non-outage periods, the PO period was associated with 1.23 to 1.61 higher risk of COPD admissions across lag 0–6 days. The risk lasted significantly for 2 days and was strongest at lag2. Snow, hurricane and wind were the top three contributors of PO among the major storms. PO mediated as much as 49.6 to 65.0% of the major storms-COPD associations. Conclusions Both major storms and PO were associated with increased hospital admission of COPD. PO mediated almost half of the major storms-COPD hospitalization associations. Preparation of surrogate electric system before major storms is essential to reduce major storms-COPD hospitalization.