Hasil untuk "Crisis management. Emergency management. Inflation"

Keerththanan Vickneswaran, Mariangel Garcia Andarcia, Hugo Retief et al.

Sustainable water resource management in transboundary river basins is challenged by fragmented data, limited real-time access, and the complexity of integrating diverse information sources. This paper presents WaterCopilot-an AI-driven virtual assistant developed through collaboration between the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Microsoft Research for the Limpopo River Basin (LRB) to bridge these gaps through a unified, interactive platform. Built on Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and tool-calling architectures, WaterCopilot integrates static policy documents and real-time hydrological data via two custom plugins: the iwmi-doc-plugin, which enables semantic search over indexed documents using Azure AI Search, and the iwmi-api-plugin, which queries live databases to deliver dynamic insights such as environmental-flow alerts, rainfall trends, reservoir levels, water accounting, and irrigation data. The system features guided multilingual interactions (English, Portuguese, French), transparent source referencing, automated calculations, and visualization capabilities. Evaluated using the RAGAS framework, WaterCopilot achieves an overall score of 0.8043, with high answer relevancy (0.8571) and context precision (0.8009). Key innovations include automated threshold-based alerts, integration with the LRB Digital Twin, and a scalable deployment pipeline hosted on AWS. While limitations in processing non-English technical documents and API latency remain, WaterCopilot establishes a replicable AI-augmented framework for enhancing water governance in data-scarce, transboundary contexts. The study demonstrates the potential of this AI assistant to support informed, timely decision-making and strengthen water security in complex river basins.

Ngcebo Ndebele, L. Phillips, P. Hodkinson

Background Trauma accounts for over 60,000 deaths annually in South Africa and is also responsible for a high proportion of emergency centre (EC) visits. Up to 91% of trauma patients in the EC experience acute pain, underscoring a critical public health concern, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICS), where research indicates poor pain management and a paucity of data. This study aimed to describe trauma pain assessment and management practices in a busy Cape Town EC. Methods This single-centre retrospective chart review in a high trauma burden EC collected a convenience sample over two weeks in 2024. Data were extracted from the medical records of adult trauma patients presenting to the EC. Results A total of 234 patients were included, predominantly male (73.1%), with a median age of 33 (IQR 26–41). Only 32.9% (77) of the patients had their pain assessed and documented, largely only in the triage process, and no patient had their pain reassessed. Furthermore, only 42.3% (99) of patients received analgesia, including opioids administered to 48.5% (48), non-steroidal anti-inflammatories to 45.5% (45), paracetamol to 69.7% (69), and ketamine to 17.2% (17). The time from arrival to the administration of the first analgesia in the EC was documented in 83 patients, with a median time to analgesia of 375 min (IQR 152–611). Conclusion This study demonstrates findings consistent with the global crisis of inadequate pain management. It reveals poor pain assessment and management, with prolonged waiting times for analgesia despite various indicators of potential pain severity, highlighting a crucial need for changes in pain management strategies. Training, awareness, and protocols to improve pain management are essential, along with considering nurse-led analgesia at triage.

E. Wood

Business continuity plans and emergency operations plans have traditionally been viewed as tools for crisis mitigation. However, emerging evidence suggests that when integrated strategically, these plans can enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and improve organizational learning, even during noncrisis periods. This paper explores how embedding continuity and emergency preparedness frameworks into core business strategy can generate measurable performance benefits. Drawing on industry reports, organizational case studies, and academic literature, the study examines the mechanisms through which continuity planning contributes to "blue-sky" efficiency. A case study analysis of select organizations during the coronavirus pandemic and other disruptions provides grounded insights into best practices and limitations. Based on these findings, the study produced five practical recommendations for aligning continuity planning with organizational performance, including strategies for integration, cross-functional exercises, supply chain management, feedback loops, and internal communication. The results are nationally and internationally translative and support reframing continuity planning as not only a resilience strategy but also a competitive business asset.

Krishna Thadani, Krish Chourasia, Prof. Mayank Bhatt et al.

Abstract— With increasing safety concerns affecting women globally, there is critical need for intelligent emergency management systems providing real-time assistance. Existing women's safety applications suffer from poor emergency services integration, complex user interfaces incompatible with crisis situations, and inaccurate location tracking. This paper presents SafeGuard, a next-generation web-based personal safety platform integrating one-touch emergency alerts, real-time high-accuracy GPS tracking, direct police dispatch API integration, trusted contact networks, and comprehensive safety features including fake call generation and community safety boards. SafeGuard achieves 60-75% faster emergency response times and 4-10x improvement in location accuracy compared to existing systems. Through comprehensive evaluation, this research demonstrates SafeGuard's superior performance in emergency response speed, location accuracy, user interface simplicity, and overall emergency management effectiveness. Keywords— Emergency Response Systems, GPS Location Tracking, Women's Safety, Real-time Alerts, Personal Safety Platform, Crisis Management

A. Manirafasha, J. Carter, Laurent Gamy Kamunga et al.

The 2024 Marburg Virus Disease outbreak in Rwanda underscored the indispensable role of Emergency Departments in the early detection, containment, and management of novel infectious diseases. As public health crises continue to grow in complexity, the Emergency Department becomes uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between clinical care and public health responses. Using lessons learned from King Faisal Hospital, Rwanda during the outbreak, this report outlines how Emergency Departments serve as frontline defenses during crisis management and identifies strategies to strengthen and enhance their preparedness.

Dong Hyun Kim

This study aimed to develop a risk prediction model for emergency injuries among construction workers based on work-related characteristics using records from on-site emergency rescue centers. Construction sites represent high-risk occupational environments, where initial emergency responses are frequently performed by non-medical personnel. Accordingly, systematically identifying injury patterns and high-risk conditions is essential for improving on-site emergency response systems. In this study, injury records were classified into low-risk and high-risk groups according to injury severity and the level of medical intervention required. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with high-risk injuries. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of predicting emergency injury risk using routinely available work-related information and provide an empirical basis for policy-level improvements, including the development of tailored first-aid training programs, targeted management of high-risk worker groups, optimized deployment of emergency response personnel, and prevention-oriented crisis management strategies in construction settings.

Anh Tuan Le, Anh Phan, Thi Ngoc Anh Nguyen et al.

Purpose. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the chemical strategies used for fireproofing porous flammable materials. It aims to synthesize recent advances, outline key mechanisms of action, and evaluate the environmental and health implications of different flame retardant classes. The work addresses the urgent need for balancing fire safety with sustainability and regulatory compliance. Methods. A systematic review of peer‑reviewed research, standards, and technical reports from 2018 to 2024 was conducted. Data sources included scientific journals, regulatory documents, and industry guidelines. The analysis covered halogenated and halogen‑free flame retardants, nanostructured systems, bio‑based chemicals, and hybrid approaches. Special focus was given to studies employing advanced characterization techniques, cone calorimetry, thermal analysis, and life cycle assessment. Findings. Halogenated flame retardants remain effective but are increasingly restricted due to toxicity and environmental persistence. Halogen‑free alternatives, such as ammonium polyphosphate, aluminum diethyl phosphinate, DOPO derivatives, and bio‑based systems, show promising performance, especially when combined with nanomaterials or reactive chemistries to enhance stability. Innovative solutions, including metal-organic frameworks, graphene derivatives, and phytic acid‑based coatings, are emerging for improved efficacy and lower ecological footprint. However, scalability, cost, and long‑term durability remain challenges. The porosity of materials introduces specific issues such as leaching and off‑gassing, necessitating careful selection and application methods. Regulatory frameworks like REACH and the Stockholm Convention play a decisive role in guiding safer chemical adoption. Application field of research. Developing safer and more sustainable fire protection strategies in the age of advanced materials and growing ecological awareness.

Pratik Rai, Sasadhar Bera

PurposeThe vaccine supply chain (VSC) performance remains under stress during pandemic outbreaks than conventional vaccination drives due to desired vaccination coverage. Therefore, it is essential to identify the crucial performance objectives (POs) and their interrelationship structure and prioritize them to improve performance in a pandemic VSC.Design/methodology/approachThis study combines the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory based analytic network process (DANP) method with spherical fuzzy sets (SFS) to explore critical POs of the pandemic VSC in the balanced scorecard framework. The SFS theory tackles the uncertainty of POs and DANP interlaced causal relationships among crucial POs to the pandemic VSC while ranking them for prioritization.FindingsThis work identifies 32 issues associated with pandemic VSC and maps them against 13 POs. Effective communication, adequate health financing and operating cost optimization are the most critical POs, and operational issues listed under them must be prioritized to improve the overall VSC performance for future pandemics. The relationship structure among these POs is also summarized using the balanced scorecard framework in a strategy map.Research limitations/implicationsThe strategy map proposed in this study can help practitioners to address the causality among different POs and underlying issues for the sudden expansion of vaccination programs during pandemics from an economic, social and operational perspective.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study to suggest improving the VSC performance during the pandemic by focusing on the causative relationship and priority of different detected POs.

Shunzhi Pang

With the rise of emerging risks, model uncertainty poses a fundamental challenge in the insurance industry, making robust pricing a first-order question. This paper investigates how insurers' robustness preferences shape competitive equilibrium in a dynamic insurance market. Insurers optimize their underwriting and liquidity management strategies to maximize shareholder value, leading to equilibrium outcomes that can be analytically derived and numerically solved. Compared to a benchmark without model uncertainty, robust insurance pricing results in significantly higher premiums and equity valuations. Notably, our model yields three novel insights: (1) The minimum, maximum, and admissible range of aggregate capacity all expand, indicating that insurers' liquidity management becomes more conservative. (2) The expected length of the underwriting cycle increases substantially, far exceeding the range commonly reported in earlier empirical studies. (3) While the capacity process remains ergodic in the long run, the stationary density becomes more concentrated in low-capacity states, implying that liquidity-constrained insurers require longer to recover. Together, these findings provide a potential explanation for recent skepticism regarding the empirical evidence of underwriting cycles, suggesting that such cycles may indeed exist but are considerably longer than previously assumed.

Manoj Madushanka Perera, Adnan Mahmood, Kasun Eranda Wijethilake et al.

This particular paper introduces an Adaptive Context Management (ACM) framework for the Conversational Question Answering (ConvQA) systems. The key objective of the ACM framework is to optimize the use of the conversation history by dynamically managing context for maximizing the relevant information provided to a ConvQA model within its token limit. Our approach incorporates a Context Manager (CM) Module, a Summarization (SM) Module, and an Entity Extraction (EE) Module in a bid to handle the conversation history efficaciously. The CM Module dynamically adjusts the context size, thereby preserving the most relevant and recent information within a model's token limit. The SM Module summarizes the older parts of the conversation history via a sliding window. When the summarization window exceeds its limit, the EE Module identifies and retains key entities from the oldest conversation turns. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our envisaged framework in generating accurate and contextually appropriate responses, thereby highlighting the potential of the ACM framework to enhance the robustness and scalability of the ConvQA systems.

Amin Haeri, Jonathan Vitrano, Mahdi Ghelichi

Risk management in finance involves recognizing, evaluating, and addressing financial risks to maintain stability and ensure regulatory compliance. Extracting relevant insights from extensive regulatory documents is a complex challenge requiring advanced retrieval and language models. This paper introduces RiskData, a dataset specifically curated for finetuning embedding models in risk management, and RiskEmbed, a finetuned embedding model designed to improve retrieval accuracy in financial question-answering systems. The dataset is derived from 94 regulatory guidelines published by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) from 1991 to 2024. We finetune a state-of-the-art sentence BERT embedding model to enhance domain-specific retrieval performance typically for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems. Experimental results demonstrate that RiskEmbed significantly outperforms general-purpose and financial embedding models, achieving substantial improvements in ranking metrics. By open-sourcing both the dataset and the model, we provide a valuable resource for financial institutions and researchers aiming to develop more accurate and efficient risk management AI solutions.

Moffat Chiba, Tackson Makandwa

This study examines the pivotal role of banks in Zimbabwe's economic well-being and the detrimental effects of declining public confidence within the banking sector. Using a total of 67 secondary literature documents in the form of journal articles, online newspaper articles, blogs, theses, reports and viewpoints accessed from social media comments section found under online newspaper articles, the study argues that banks act as effective agents of value transfer. They also mobilize domestic savings to aid economic well-being. However, there is a loss of public confidence within the banking sector, and this is contributing to an economic crisis. This loss of public confidence in the banks has been found to be caused by policy inconsistencies, poor management, corruption and inflation among other factors. This study has observed that the loss of public confidence disturbs the normal functioning of the economy. Public confidence loss in banks has also been found to have contagion effects for Foreign Direct Investment, which is among the most important ways of improving a country’s national gross domestic product. With enough local investment, the economy should be able to address its unemployment, poverty and inequality crises and attract the much-needed foreign investors, not only those from the East, but also those from Global North. However, local confidence must be cultivated first as this would market the national economy internationally.

Clark D. Johnson

16-18 years later, let's summarize what happened. The GFC began as a financial crisis, with widening credit risk spreads and very sloppy asset management on the part of banks and non-bank financial institutions. The Fed incorrectly treated the problem as one of inadequate liquidity (that is, as "monetary"), rather than of counter-party risk. Easy money led the dollar to weaken to its lowest-ever exchange against the euro, while commodity prices soared -- nevertheless, credit risk spreads remained high. A pattern emerged (still not resolved in many accounts) of different monetary measures pointing to different inferences. We consider money growth, the Taylor rule, inflation or NGDP targeting, etc. The dollar recovered rapidly as money became tighter after July 2008 -- which correlated with the Lehman collapse in September, and fears of default contagion. Banks were recapitalized by US Treasury in October 2008, which eased counter-party concerns -- yet the downturn worsened. By this time, the financial crisis had been superseded by a monetary-driven downturn. For different reasons, Right and Left both misunderstood the monetary problem (the latter persisted for years), and what to do about it. Quantitative easing (QE) by the Federal Reserve injected new reserves beginning in March 2009, which facilitated a slow US recovery.

Maureen M. Canellas, Marcella Jewell, J. Edwards et al.

STUDY OBJECTIVE Boarding admitted patients in emergency departments (EDs) is a national crisis that is worsening despite potential financial disadvantages. The objective of this study was to assess costs associated with boarding. METHODS We conducted a prospective, observational investigation of patients admitted through an ED for management of acute stroke at a large, urban, academic, comprehensive stroke center hospital. We employed time-driven activity-based costing methodology to estimate cost for patient care activities during admission and aggregated results to estimate the total cost of boarding versus inpatient care. Primary outcomes were total daily costs per patient for medical-surgical (med/surg) boarding, med/surg inpatient care, ICU boarding, and ICU inpatient care. RESULTS The total daily cost per patient with acute stroke was US$1856, for med/surg boarding versus US$993 for med/surg inpatient care and US$2267, for ICU boarding versus US$2165, for ICU inpatient care. These differences were even greater when accounting for costs associated with traveler nurses. ED nurses spent 293 min/d (mean) caring for each med/surg boarder; inpatient nurses spent 313 min/d for each med/surg inpatient. ED nurses spent 419 min/d caring for each ICU boarder; inpatient nurses spent 787 min/d for each ICU inpatient. Neurology attendings and residents spent 25 and 52 min/d caring for each med/surg boarder versus 62 minutes and 90 minutes for each med/surg inpatient, respectively. CONCLUSION Using advanced cost-accounting methods, our investigation provides novel evidence that boarding of admitted patients is financially costly, adding greater urgency for elimination of this practice.

Mostafa Bijani, Mohammad Javad Moradian, Hojatolah Najafi et al.

BACKGROUND In incidents with mass casualties, pre-hospital emergency medical services personnel (prehospital EMS personnel) face challenges that can impact their management of the scene and, by extension, their professional performance. The present study investigated the challenges faced by prehospital EMS personnel in mass casualty incidents in the south of Iran. METHODS This is a qualitative-descriptive study. The subjects were selected via purposeful sampling. Accordingly, 23 prehospital EMS personnel were interviewed in 23 semi-structured, individual, in-depth interviews. Graneheim and Lundman's method was used to collect the data. RESULTS Three themes and eight subthemes emerged from the qualitative data analysis. The three main themes were challenges related to professional capabilities, challenges related to organizational management inefficiency, and challenges related to lack of effective inter-organizational coordination and cooperation in crisis management. CONCLUSION The challenges faced by prehospital EMS personnel in mass casualty incidents encompasses challenges related to professional capabilities, challenges related to organizational management inefficiency, and challenges related to lack of effective inter-organizational coordination and cooperation in crisis management. The results of this study can be used by senior medical emergency services managers to identify the challenges of pre-hospital emergency care personnel in mass casualty incidents and take the necessary measures to eliminate them to improve the quality of pre-hospital care in mass casualty incidents.

Z. Zontek, E. Lipianin-Zontek

This paper presents an overview of issues related to the role of knowledge management in social organizations. Chosen aspects of knowledge management theory in voluntary not-for-profit groups, operating during a humanitarian crisis, are here addressed. The paper aims to demonstrate the determinants of knowledge management, using as an example, events at the Poland/Ukraine border - in the period 2022-2023. The additional aim is to show how to identify common processes underlying knowledge management, and how it was acquired, managed and transferred, in disparate organizations. The authors of this paper took part in the humanitarian action in the first few weeks of the conflict - both independently and in co-operation with non-governmental organizations. This allowed for the collection of extensive material during the first stage of the research, and creation of a database of NGO’s, used for the second stage of the research. During preparations for the survey a hypothesis was established: When sudden emergencies arise, a variety of information and knowledge is collected, dispersed, widely shared, and belongs to many different organizations. Therefore, a coherent information system is needed for the dissemination and sharing of knowledge for effective assistance to people affected by the crisis. The methodology of participatory observation and surveys was used for the research. It was found that knowledge was transferred in and out of the organizations, and expertise from earlier experiences was also applied and transferred, thus becoming explicit. Managerial skills and methods were applied in new organizational contexts. Knowledge acquisition, transfer and sharing were clearly identifiable across in a wide spectrum of research, as was organizational learning and the subsequent usage of it. Knowledge management in a crisis situation encompasses all activities aimed at improving preparatory and executive actions. One of the key elements of knowledge management, which determines its success, is  effective acquisition, information handling and delivery to the relevant organizations involved. This is essential for the response of individual organisations, whether at the level of local government or national non-profit organizations.

T. Rakhshani, Farzaneh Ghalehgolab, Mohammad Amin Bahrami et al.

Background Emergency physicians are at the forefront of the medical system in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Identifying the challenges, along with the strategies and effective measures implemented by them in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, can be a roadmap for future crisis management planning. This study aims to explain the challenges faced by emergency physicians regarding COVID-19. Methods This study is a qualitative content analysis. Data were collected using individual and semistructured interviews. Twenty-seven emergency medical specialists in Fars University of Medical Sciences, Iran, participated in the study by purposive sampling method and were interviewed using semistructured interviews. Results Participants' experience of COVID-19 led to the extraction of four main themes, including structural factors, threats to the health of the medical team, fluctuations of extremism and wastage in the face of COVID-19, and the country's policymaking hierarchy. Conclusions Emergency physicians face challenges such as structural factors, health threats, extreme fluctuations, and national policymaking. To avoid surprises and threats, they must predict acute scenarios, provide necessary equipment, address skilled manpower shortages, and adopt appropriate management policies. This includes culture-building, cross-sector coordination, planning, and efficient management to prevent virus spread.

Yanyan Shao, Mingang Gao, Mingliang Qi et al.

. Considering the distinctive features of emergency response in crisis situations, this study delves into the mechanism of governmental multi-agency collaboration in the aftermath of an earthquake. Adopting a management science perspective, the paper scrutinizes the post-earthquake emergency response and rescue process, culminating in the proposal of a collaborative work model termed as "objective-task-agent-resource," rooted in the regional seismic emergency response plan. This model strives to actualize the mapping relationship denoted as "Objective-Task-Agent-Resource-Objective" (OTARO) within the emergency response and rescue domain.The OTARO mapping relationship establishes a comprehensive linkage between emergency rescue tasks and the pertinent agents, furnishing a conceptual framework for the assessment and analysis of multi-agent collaboration under the auspices of emergency management.

Вадим Анатольевич Ковтун, Сергей Геннадьевич Короткевич

Цель. Экспериментальное исследование влияния режимов движения пожарных автомобилей на уровень значений ускорения, возникающего в конструкциях цистерн под действием инерционных нагрузок. Для достижения поставленной цели проводимая работа включала выбор необходимого измерительного оборудования, определение мест установки датчиков и условий проведения эксперимента, обработку полученных экспериментальных данных. Методы. При проведении исследований использовано современное измерительное оборудование, включающее анализатор шума и вибрации Larson-Davis 2900, пьезоэлектрические акселерометры типа 352С18. Полученные экспериментальные результаты измерений подлежали обработке с использованием математических методов анализа для учета погрешностей измерений. Результаты. Представлены результаты экспериментальных исследований общего уровня ускорения, возникающего на стенках и дне резервуара конструкций цистерн при различных режимах движения пожарных автомобилей. В результате обработки данных получены зависимости, связывающие параметры (скорость, ускорение, торможение, поворот) и условия (вид дорожного покрытия), характеризующие особенности режимов движения пожарных автомобилей на шасси МАЗ-5337 и МАЗ-6317, со значениями ускорения, возникающего под действием инерционных нагрузок в конструкциях цистерн объемом 5, 8 и 10 м3. Полученные максимальные значения ускорения, которые составляют от 7,4 до 25,2 м/с2, свидетельствуют о значительных инерционных нагрузках, возникающих в конструкциях цистерн, и в значительной мере зависят от режимов движения пожарных автомобилей и дорожного покрытия. Полученные данные подтверждают, что пожарные автоцистерны эксплуатируются в более тяжелых условиях, по сравнению с автомобилями иного типа. Область применения исследований. Пожарные аварийно-спасательные подразделения, производственно-технические центры, промышленные предприятия и высшие учебные заведения.