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The role of rehabilitation professionals in responding to Sudden Onset Disasters (SODs) is evolving rapidly, and our professions increasingly find themselves at the forefront of emergency response teams. At the same time, there is a movement towards the professionalisation of the humanitarian response sector, in particular Emergency Medical Teams, and a recognition that specialist training is required to prepare professionals for work in an austere humanitarian environment. The intended audience of the manual are physiotherapists and occupational therapists who may deploy to provide rehabilitation in the immediate aftermath of a sudden onset disaster. It was developed to support volunteers on the UK International Emergency Trauma Register (UKIETR), but with the aim of being relevant to all rehabilitation professionals interested in rapid deployment to austere environments. The content is restricted to the context of sudden onset disasters such as an earthquake or tsunami, and has been developed to support work in an austere environment, where the type of equipment and support that is normally available has been disrupted. UKIETR professionals are UK based volunteers who receive specialist training to prepare them for international deployment as part of team in response to emergencies. They may be deployed within a multi-disciplinary foreign medical team in a field hospital scenario, or as part of a more specialist ‘cell’ offering niche medical, surgical or rehabilitation services. The manual is designed to complement the three day core rehabilitation training run by Handicap International which all UKIETR members must attend. It is a clinical manual, and the contents are directly linked to modules taught on the core training course. In addition there are a number of ‘cheat sheets’ and patient education resources at the back of the manual which are designed to be used in the field. Chapters include: rehabilitation and the UKIETR; introduction to rehabilitation following sudden onset disasters; amputee rehabilitation; spinal cord injury; peripheral nerve injury; fractures; burns and soft tissue injury; and acquired brain injury

This is the second Technical Report in a three part series, 'Promoting the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Disaster Management in Indonesia'. This Technical Report details the Capacity Building component of the Promoting the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Disaster Management in Indonesia project. This project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australian Development and Research Awards Scheme 2013-2015. This award scheme promotes research and development programs through collaboration between researchers in Australia and elsewhere and INGOs and NGOs in country

Relevant to capacity building, two aims of the Promoting the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Disaster Management in Indonesia project were:

1. To increase the understanding of people with disabilities of Disaster Risk Reduction and their capacity to engage with Disaster Risk Reduction policy; and,

2. To understand and subsequently inform the knowledge base of village volunteers (Kaders subsequently referred to as cadres) and DRR administrators about DiDRR at local and national levels in Indonesia

This is the third Technical Report in a three part series for the two year DFAT Australian Aid funded project (2013-2015), Promoting the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Disaster Management in Indonesia. This report details the development, refinement and field–testing of the Disability Inclusive Disaster Resilience (DiDR) tool. The purpose of the DiDR tool is to identify the resilience and capabilities of people with disabilities to natural disasters in their family and community setting. The tool is designed to be used by people with disabilities, their families or carers and thereby to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policy making and strategy implementation. The tool assesses the resilience of people with disabilities by bringing together four components known to be fundamental to disaster risk reduction: the individual’s functioning status, their level of participation in their communities, the physical vulnerability of their place of residence, and individual risk predictors known to influence the behaviour of the general population before, during and after a natural hazard emergency. In February and March 2015, the survey teams administered the DiDR Tool by interviewing 289 people with disabilities or their carers in four Indonesian Districts affected by diverse natural hazards 

A literature review to evaluate quality of life and participation outcomes of individuals with earthquake-related physical injury. A systematic review was performed searching MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL and AMED electronic databases from 1966 to January 2014. Studies that measured quality of life or participation outcomes among individuals who acquired a physical disability as a result of an earthquake injury were included, with no limits on research design. The search yielded 961 potentially relevant articles after removal of duplicates. Of these, only 8 articles met the inclusion criteria. Seven papers were reviewed from the following 5 earthquakes: 2001 Gujarat earthquake, India; 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, China (also known as the Sichuan earthquake); 2005 Kashmir earthquake, Pakistan (27); 2009 Padang earthquake, Indonesia; 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake.

Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, vol.47, no.5, 2015, 385-393

10.2340/16501977-1965

This Issue Brief, presented in advance of the United Nations (UN) Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, outlines the UN position on the importance of developing more inclusive Disaster Risk Management (DRM) strategies. After initially outlining the importance of inclusivity, the paper goes on the present a number of key ways forward, including greater capacity development, greater understanding of risk, and the creation of innovative partnerships and institutional relationships

UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

14-18 March 2015

Sendai, Japan

A seminal policy year for development and sustainability occurs in 2015 due to three parallel processes that seek long-term agreements for climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals, and disaster risk reduction. Little reason exists to separate them, since all three examine and aim to deal with many similar processes, including vulnerability and resilience. This article uses vulnerability and resilience to explore the intersections and overlaps amongst climate change, disaster risk reduction, and sustainability. Critiquing concepts such as “return to normal” and “double exposure” demonstrate how separating climate change from wider contexts is counterproductive. Climate change is one contributor to disaster risk and one creeping environmental change amongst many, and not necessarily the most prominent or fundamental contributor. Yet climate change has become politically important, yielding an opportunity to highlight and tackle the deep-rooted vulnerability processes that cause “multiple exposure” to multiple threats. To enhance resilience processes that deal with the challenges, a prudent place for climate change would be as a subset within disaster risk reduction. Climate change adaptation therefore becomes one of many processes within disaster risk reduction. In turn, disaster risk reduction should sit within development and sustainability to avoid isolation from topics wider than disaster risk. Integration of the topics in this way moves beyond expressions of vulnerability and resilience towards a vision of disaster risk reduction’s future that ends tribalism and separation in order to work together to achieve common goals for humanity.

This “checklist provides a prioritized and succinct list of ten key questions that lawmakers, implementing officials, and those supporting them need to consider in order to ensure that their laws provide the best support for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). It covers not only dedicated Disaster Risk Management (DRM) laws but also other sectoral laws and regulations that are critical for building safety and resilience, as well as the environment, land and natural resource management” 

This paper on inclusive disaster risk reduction (DRR) presents Handicap International’s expertise in terms of how to develop and implement inclusive DRR into national and local practices. DRR is defined and followed by an overview of Handicap International’s work with examples of good practices from the field

This advocacy briefing paper presents key information about the inclusion of persons with disabilities and most vulnerable people in humanitarian response. It highlights key facts and issues during humanitarian emergencies such as lack of access, gaps and legal policy and frameworks. It outlines practical steps can be taken by humanitarian actors at different levels and suggests ways to measure progress

Advocacy briefing paper