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    Exploring the science of evacuation behavior and decision-making during large scale community evacuations: A scientometrics analysis and scoping review
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2026-03-01) Kannangara C; Kuligowski E; Siriwardana C; Zhang G; Adikariwattage V; Jayawardane P
    Understanding how people behave during large-scale community evacuations is important as it can reveal key decision-making gaps which can be addressed to improve emergency planning and to keep communities safer. This study examines the critical gaps in existing research on evacuation behavior and decision-making during disasters by holistically exploring the research domain of evacuation behavior. A total of 667 articles and their references were analyzed using scientometrics methods. This study employs a novel approach to the analysis called overlay networks in CiteSpace. The findings highlight gaps in our understanding of human behavior during the evacuation, such as the stay-or-go decision and travel-related behavior, including destination, mode, route, and return-entry choices, in the context of earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanic hazards, and wildfires. Evacuations triggered by technological disasters are explicitly excluded from this review. It also emphasizes that tourist evacuations remain an underexplored area. Also, the current study reveals that established theories, such as the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), remain underutilized in research on evacuation behavior during hazards like earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. This research supports the findings of previous studies in emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary approaches to evacuation research. It also underscores the importance of integrating existing behavioral evidence into evacuation models, alongside efforts to collect additional data. Also, the study emphasizes the importance of strengthening research collaborations with scholars in Asia and Africa. This approach seeks to address the disparity in research conducted across different regions of the world.
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    Infrastructure planning emergency levels of service for the Wellington region, Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (Emergency Management) at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2024-06-07) Mowll, Richard
    Past work has demonstrated that the infrastructure in the Wellington region, Aotearoa New Zealand, is vulnerable to natural hazard events such as earthquake and tsunami. To enable common understandings of the levels of service (or targets) that critical infrastructure entities are planning on delivering in an emergency event, the concept of ‘planning emergency levels of service’ (PELOS) is developed and presented in this thesis. Such a concept is readily relatable to the water sector where, for example, the World Health Organisation’s ‘basic access’ to water standard is for ’20 litres of water, per person, per day, within 1km of the dwelling’. Despite such standards for water, there are few other examples in the sectors of energy, telecommunications and transport. A literature review investigated relevant sources of information on the concept from both academic and from infrastructure sector-specific texts and was used in developing a preliminary framework of PELOS, alongside discussions with emergency management experts in the Wellington region. The overall PELOS concept and preliminary framework was then presented in interviews and workshops with key stakeholders, and qualitative data collected from these interactions was used to create an ‘operationalised’ PELOS framework. This framework was adopted by the Wellington Lifelines Group, a grouping of the critical infrastructure entities in the region. Key themes of the PELOS concept are explored, namely: interdependencies, the need to consider the vulnerabilities of some community members, emergency planning considerations, stakeholders’ willingness to collaborate and the flexibility/adaptability of the delivery of infrastructure services following a major event. Further, a description of the process taken to develop the framework is provided to enable other regions to create their own frameworks. A mapping tool, visualising where PELOS can, and cannot, be achieved based on hazard impact modelling is presented. This allows the infrastructure entities, the impacted communities and the emergency management sector to have a common understanding of the targets of response following a major hazard event, and plan for them in future.
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    D2D communication based disaster response system under 5G networks : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Computer and Electronics Engineering, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023-12-14) Ahmed, Shakil
    Many recent natural disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc. have led to the loss of billions of dollars, resources and human lives. These catastrophic disasters have attracted the researchers’ attention onto the significant damage to communication infrastructure. Further, communication within the first 72 hours after a disaster is critical to get help from rescuers. The advancement of wireless communication technologies, especially mobile devices and technologies, could help improve emergency communication systems. The next generation of mobile networks and technologies such as Device to Device (D2D) communication, the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, and Big Data, can play significant roles in overcoming the drawbacks of the current disaster management system for data analysis and decision making. Next-generation cellular 5G and 6G network will provide several complex services for mobile phones and other communication devices. To integrate those services, the 5G cellular network will have the capabilities to handle the significant volume of data rate and the capacity to handle traffic congestion compared with the 4G or 3G cellular network. D2D communication technology, one of the major technologies in the 5G network, has the capability to exchange a high volume of traffic data directly between User Equipment (UE) without additional control from the Base Station(BS). D2D communication is used with other cell tiers in the 5G heterogeneous network (HetNet). Thus, the devices can form a cluster and cooperate with each other. As a result, the system tremendously increases network capacity as devices inside the cluster reuse the same spectrum or use an unlicensed spectrum. It will help to reduce the network’s traffic load and achieve significant throughput. D2D communication also has the ability to increase area spectral efficiency, reduce device power consumption, outage probabilities and improve network coverage. All of these characteristics are vital parameters for public safety and emergency communication applications. IoT paradigm is another promising technology with exciting features such as heterogeneity, interoperability, and flexibility. IoT has the capability to handle vast amounts of data. This huge amount of data creates Data security and data storage problems. Though, there are many technologies used to overcome the problem of validating data authenticity and data storage. Out of them, the Blockchain system is one of the emerging technologies which provides intrinsic data security. In addition, Big data technology provides data storage, modification, process, visualisation and representation in an efficient and easily understandable format. This feature is essential for disaster applications because it requires quickly collecting and processing vast amounts of data for a prompt response. Therefore, the main focus of this research work is exploring and utilising these emerging technologies (D2D, IoT, Big Data and Blockchain) and validating them with mathematical modelling for developing a disaster response system. This thesis proposes a disaster response framework by integrating the emerging technologies to overcome the problem of data communication, data security, data analysis and visualisation. Mathematical analysis and simulation models for multiple disaster sizes were developed based on D2D communication system. The result shows significant improvement in the disaster framework performance. The Quality of Services (QoS) is calculated for different scales of disaster impact. Approximately 40% disaster-affected people can get 5-10 dB and approximately 20% users get 20-25 dB Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) when 70% infrastructure is damaged by a disaster. The network coverage increased by 25% and the network lifetime increased by 8%-14%. The research helps to develop a resilient disaster communication network which minimises the communication gap between the disaster-affected people and the rescue team. It identified the areas according to the needs of the disaster-affected people and offered a viable solution for the government and other stakeholders to visualize the disaster’s effect. This helps to make quick decisions and responses for pre and post-disaster.
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    Usability of disaster apps : understanding the perspectives of the public as end-users : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Emergency Management at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Tan, Marion Lara
    Multiple smartphone applications (apps) exist that can enhance the public’s resilience to disasters. Despite the capabilities of these apps, they can only be effective if users find them usable. Availability does not automatically translate to usability nor does it guarantee continued usage by the target users. A disaster app will be of little or no value if a user abandons it after the initial download. It is, therefore, essential to understand the users’ perspectives on the usability of disaster apps. In the context of disaster apps, usability entails providing the elements that effectively facilitate users in retrieving critical information, and thus enabling them to make decisions during crises. Establishing good usability for effective systems relies upon focussing on the user whereby technological solutions match the user’s needs and expectations. However, most studies on the usability of disaster context technologies have been conducted with emergency responders, and only a few have investigated the publics’ perspectives as end-users. This doctoral project, written within a ‘PhD-thesis-with-publication’ format, addresses this gap by investigating the usability of disaster apps through the perspectives of the public end-users. The investigation takes an explicitly perceived usability standpoint where the experiences of the end-users are prioritised. Data analysis involved user-centric information to understand the public’s context and the mechanisms of disaster app usability. A mixed methods approach incorporates the qualitative analysis of app store data of 1,405 user reviews from 58 existing disaster apps, the quantitative analysis of 271 survey responses from actual disaster app users, and the qualitative analysis of usability inquiries with 18 members of the public. Insights gathered from this doctoral project highlight that end-users do not anticipate using disaster apps frequently, which poses particular challenges. Furthermore, despite the anticipated low frequency of use, because of the life-safety association of disasters apps, end-users have an expectation that the apps can operate with adequate usability when needed. This doctoral project provides focussed outcomes that consider such user perspectives. First, an app store analysis investigating user reviews identified new usability concerns particular to disaster apps. It highlighted users’ opinion on phone resource usage and relevance of content, among others. More importantly, it defined a new usability factor, app dependability, relating to the life-safety context of disaster apps. App dependability is the degree to which users’ perceive that an app can operate dependably during critical scenarios. Second, the quantitative results from this research have contributed towards producing a usability-continuance model, highlighting the usability factors that affect end-users’ intention to keep or uninstall a disaster app. The key influences for users’ intention to keep disaster apps are: (1) users’ perceptions as to whether the app delivers its function (app utility), (2) whether it does so dependably (app dependability), and (3) whether it presents information that can be easily understood (user-interface output). Subsequently, too much focus on (4) user-interface graphics and (5) user-interface input can encourage users to uninstall apps. Third, the results from the qualitative analysis of the inquiry data provide a basis for developing guidelines for disaster app usability. In the expectation of low level of engagement with disaster app users, the guidelines list recommendations addressing information salience, cognitive load, and trust. This doctoral project provides several contributions to the body of knowledge for usability and disaster apps. It reiterates the importance of investigating the usability of technological products for disasters and showcases the value of user-centric data in understanding usability. It has investigated usability with particular attention to the end-users’ perspectives on the context of disaster apps and, thus, produces a theoretical usability-continuance model to advance disaster app usability research and usability guidelines to encourage responsible design in practice.
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    Assessing social resilience to disasters at the neighbourhood level : co-producing a resilience assessment framework : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (Emergency Management) at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Kwok, Alan H.
    Disasters of the past decade have drawn considerable attention to the need to build resilient communities and prompted the adoption of disaster resilience policies across communities, cities, and nations. As policies are translated into local actions, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners are advocating for the measurement of disaster resilience as a means to identify areas for improvement, plan interventions, evaluate the effectiveness of resilience strategies, and monitor resilience progress. The need to assess disaster resilience has spawned a growing body of research examining the underlying drivers of resilience and identifying how disaster resilience can be operationalised and measured. In particular, recent research has focused on the importance of social resilience, which is a component of disaster resilience and refers to the capacity of people and communities to deal with external stresses and shocks, and how it contributes to disaster preparedness, disaster response, and post-disaster recovery. However, while local communities are seen as the frontline in preparing for and responding to disasters, the scale of analysis for much of the existing resilience assessments have focused on the city or higher levels of analysis. Questions thus remain about whether these assessment tools are relevant and applicable at the sub-city or neighbourhood level. This thesis seeks to develop social resilience assessment measures for neighbourhoods through integrating scientific and local knowledge. Using an appreciative inquiry approach, a workshop with hazard researchers, practitioners, and a policymaker in Wellington, New Zealand, was first conducted in 2015. This was followed in 2016 by a series of focus groups with stakeholders in five neighbourhoods across the Wellington region in New Zealand, and the City and County of San Francisco in the United States. The workshop and focus groups explored how social resilience is conceptualised, its essential characteristics, and neighbourhood-specific contextual influences that shape social resilience levels. Responses from various stakeholder groups – hazard researcher, emergency practitioner, policymaker, and neighbourhood stakeholder – revealed similarities in how social resilience is perceived. Social resilience is conceptualised as having both cognitive and structural dimensions and is linked to communities’ economic, infrastructural/built, natural, and institutional/governance environments. Cognitive characteristics – those that relate to people’s attitudes, values, and beliefs as well as their mental processes and perceptions of themselves and their environment – include collective efficacy, sense of community and place attachment, decision-making inclusiveness, and unifying leadership at the neighbourhood-level. Structural dimensions relate to discrete features and characteristics of people and communities and include their diversity of skills, education and training; social networks; access to financial resources; and understanding potential hazard risks and impacts. These characteristics form a framework for measuring neighbourhood-level social resilience. Furthermore, these shared characteristics across different stakeholder groups demonstrate the potential universality of social resilience assessment constructs at the neighbourhood level that could inform new models for measuring disaster resilience. They also provide a foundation for local-level stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, practitioners, and community members) who are looking into baselining neighbourhood disaster resilience using an integrated approach. While different stakeholder perspectives contain similarities, this thesis finds that common social resilience characteristics are contextual to individual neighbourhoods, reflecting diversity at this level of analysis. By examining the concept of social capital – one of the social resilience characteristics – three key themes were identified that influence the formation, activation, and benefits of social capital resources: community demography, cultural influences on social support, and neighbourhood governance. An assessment framework was proposed that incorporates both quantitative indicators and contextual questions across six structural dimensions (i.e., population stability, neighbourhood-based organisations and groups, coordination between community-based organisations, linkages to cultural and ethnic minority communities, presence and effectiveness of neighbourhood leaders and community-based organisations, and inclusive and transparent government processes) and four cognitive dimensions (i.e., cultural beliefs and expectations, trust, social support, and empowerment through collective action). Thus, the results of this thesis highlight one important consideration in the development and implementation of resilience assessment tools at this geographic scale. While this research points to potential universality of social resilience assessment constructs and measures, it has also identified the need to consider contextual influences and characteristics when mapping them onto various neighbourhoods.
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    Traumatic stress reaction : cultural differences : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1998) Gillard, Matthew Jason
    Over the past forty years the domains of cross-cultural psychology and third world psychology have grown considerably. Both are now considered essential approaches for studying other cultures (Mio & Iwamasa, 1993; Pederson, 1993). Although the mental health literature on response to natural disasters has grown considerably in the past few years (Lystad, 1990) there has been limited empirical research on the interaction between culture and trauma and the role played by trauma in traumatic stress reactions (Chemtob, 1996). The object of this study was to explore the influence of cultural differences on disaster perception and traumatic stress. An exploratory study was undertaken in the Fiji Islands. This study examined traumatic stress reaction in three cultural groups: indigenous Fijians, Hindu Indians, and Muslim Indians. The study was conducted in two parts: the first, a qualitative section using open-ended questions. The questions concerned housing, support, socio-economic status, education, and overall expectations. Paton (1997) has identified some of these factors as increasing vulnerability, although not in a cultural context. The second: a quantitative section, involved the construction of a questionnaire (Appendix Eight), itself based on important issues identified by those interviewed in the first section. The purpose-built questionnaire (Expectation/Demand Questionnaire) was designed to assess both the expectations that would be placed upon people by their religious groups and the assistance they would receive from their respective religious organisations. This questionnaire was administered in conjunction with two commercial instruments designed to assess traumatic stress reaction. The results of the Expectation/Demand Questionnaire revealed a statistically significant difference between the three cultural groups in the amount of assistance they expect from their Churches, Mosques, and Temples, and the demands they expect these organisations to make of them. It was hypothesised that other factors may have contributed to the differences between the three groups, including quality of housing, location of housing, ownership of housing, socio-economic status, literacy, and locus of control. These vulnerability factors were used to construct a table (Discussion, 4.0) designed to highlight the risk levels of the three cultures.
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    A study of the incidence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among emergency relief workers in selected international organizations : prevailing conditions, policies and attitudes to stress-related illnesses in relief organizations : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2000) Small, Alison Mary
    The staff of United Nations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are frequently at the forefront of emergency relief efforts. Such staff, including consultants, often work long hours, are sent at short notice to assignments in the field and often constitute the frontline of assistance in relief work. In the process of providing help to the victims of emergencies, relief workers may themselves be affected by the stress resulting from working in highly emotionally and physically charged situations. Since 1980, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder was officially recognised as a disorder by the American Psychiatric Association which may affect those who have been exposed and or experienced repeated exposure to large-scale disasters and emergencies, in particular. Given the multiple stresses involved in providing emergency relief, it is possible that relief workers may be vulnerable to developing PTSD and or other severe stress-related conditions. This study seeks to determine, from among the staff of several UN agencies and NGOs active in this area, the incidence of PTSD. The study also considers how the attitudes, policies and conditions extant in these organisations may exacerbate or alleviate the development of PTSD and provides suggestions, through a review of literature on the subject, on measures which can be taken by these organisations to prevent, minimize or at the very least address the problem.
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    Augmented reality for pedestrian evacuation research: Promises and limitations
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2020-08) Lovreglio R; Kinateder M
    Evacuation effectively mitigates potential harm for building occupants in case of emergencies. Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR) have emerged as research tools and means to enhance evacuation preparedness and effectiveness. Unlike VR, where users are immersed in computer-generated environments, the more novel AR technology allows users to experience digital content merged into the real world. Here, we review current (2020) relevant literature on AR as a tool to study and improve building evacuation triggered by a variety of disasters such as fires, earthquakes or tsunami. Further, we provide an overview of application goals, existing hardware and what evacuation stages can be influenced by AR applications. Finally, we discuss strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities (SWOT) of AR to study evacuation behaviour and for research purposes.
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    Get prepared: Discourse for the privileged?
    (Elsevier, 6/09/2017) Blake DD; Marlowe J; Johnston D
    Being prepared for a disaster is an important strategy for reducing physical, social, psychological and cultural harm. Preparedness practices mitigate the immediate impacts of a disaster while also enabling people to respond to and cope with any ongoing consequences. However, not all people have the ability to prepare. This paper queries how preparedness discourses impact on people without financial means, capacity or support to prepare. The work situates preparedness within a neoliberal system that is preoccupied with risk management as an economic cost reducing exercise. It highlights that without the ability to feel safe and achieve ontological security in a disaster, people can experience instability and mental health is compromised. It questions disaster preparedness texts that produce a form of structural violence, preventing the ability to have needs meet, while privileging agency to some and denying it to others. Government documents and preparedness websites from Aotearoa/New Zealand are outlined to highlight the frequently ignored preparedness needs of vulnerable groups. The role of research in preparedness activities is also discussed. People working in the emergency management space should contest the socio-political conditions that produce increased risk for disadvantaged groups.