Three dead and more missing after east coast storms – rolling report | Australia news NSW police and the State Emergency Service are at a loss as to what more can be said and done to get the message across about the dangers of entering flood waters. Police and emergency services this morning recovered the bodies of two men from waterways at Leppington and Mittagong. The acting assistant commissioner, Kyle Stewart, said despite the constant warnings about the dangers of entering flood areas we now have two men who have died. “It is a tragedy these two lives have been lost. “What do we have to say to get the message across? “Flood waters are deadly – we can’t put it any other way.” Emergency service personnel are frustrated at the number of flood rescues conducted over the weekend, which tied up valuable resources because of warnings about entering flood affected areas being ignored. Some of the flood rescues since Friday include four teenagers from the surf at Stockton and two tourists from the water at Foster yesterday.
Review of Human-to-Human Transmission of Ebola Virus | Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever This document is a summary of the current published science about human-to-human transmission of Ebola virus. It was developed for use by healthcare personnel and public health professionals. It complements other CDC guidance documents issued on CDC’s Ebola website. Introduction Ebola virus infection causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever with a high case fatality. Evidence Summary Evidence and understanding of Ebola virus transmission is based on epidemiologic and laboratory data, summarized below, including investigations of >20 African outbreaks since 1976.5 Epidemiologic Data The risk of Ebola virus transmission from direct skin contact with an Ebola patient is lower than the risk from exposure to blood or body fluids but may be more likely in severe illness (when the Ebola virus RNA levels are highest). Laboratory Data The maximum recorded persistence of Ebola virus RNA in the blood and other body fluids of convalescent Ebola patients varies by fluid type, but data are limited. Summary
Emergency Portal The National Security Hotline is the single point of contact for the public to report possible signs of terrorism. It also provides information to callers on a wide range of national security matters. Visit nationalsecurity.gov.au or call the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400 For information regarding state security and terrorism in Victoria, please click here For emergencies where immediate police, fire or ambulance assistance is required, call Triple Zero (000) Contact your local police station via phone or in person to report non-emergency crime incidents. Details for your local police station can be found at police.vic.gov.au If you have any information regarding a crime, or criminal activity, you can confidentially report what you know by calling Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or by visiting crimestoppersvic.com.au VicEmergency is Victoria's primary website for incident information and warnings. Visit emergency.vic.gov.au
Plan B Documentary Plan B Documentary Based on Lester Brown’s Plan B book series, this 90-minute film, by award-winning film producers Marilyn and Hal Weiner, premiered on PBS stations across the United States on March 30, 2011. The film follows Lester as he speaks in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, New Delhi, Rome, Istanbul, Ankara, and Washington, DC, and visits with world leaders to discuss Plan B—a roadmap that will help eradicate poverty, stabilize population, and protect and restore our planet’s fisheries, forests, aquifers, soils, grasslands, and biological diversity. Along with Lester Brown, you will hear from notable scholars and scientists including Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, and former Governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. Narrated by Matt Damon, well-known for his work raising environmental awareness. He is a 2011 winner of the Heart of Green Awards. To order PBS version for home viewing:
How Did We Get Into This Mess? Many of our current crises are the long-term results of a meeting which took place 60 years ago By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 28th August 2007 For the first time, the United Kingdom’s consumer debt now exceeds our gross national product: a new report shows that we owe £1.35 trillion(1). Inspectors in the United States have discovered that 77,000 road bridges are in the same perilous state as the one which collapsed into the Mississippi(2). Two years after Hurricane Katrina struck, 120,000 people from New Orleans are still living in trailer homes and temporary lodgings(3). These problems appear unrelated, but they all have something in common. When the Mont Pelerin Society first met, in 1947, its political project did not have a name. Neoliberalism claims that we are best served by maximum market freedom and minimum intervention by the state. This, at any rate, is the theory. So the question is this. Hayek’s disciples were also able to make use of economic crises. 1. 2. 3.
What You Should Keep In Mind Before Reporting On Zika Virus | Center for Health Journalism Take a viral epidemic with a possible link to birth defects and add sex. It’s the recipe for panic and intrigue and lots of media attention. Now that a case of sexually-transmitted Zika has been announced in Dallas, expect to see lots of reports about the quickly-spreading virus. The Zika virus can be transmitted sexually, but there’s only one such report in the medical literature. A traveler in Houston wasn’t the first case in the U.S. The link between Zika virus and birth defects isn’t proven, it’s suspected. Zika's also been linked to another neurologic disease, this time in adults. The data on the number of infections and birth defects is sketchy. Zika virus probably won’t cause big outbreaks in the U.S. Dig deeper into the health advice. I hope this helps your reporting on Zika virus. Dr. [Photo by gagneet parmar via Flickr.]
Disaster Management - Deakin University Earthquake, flood, fire, famine and conflict — we seem to be hearing more about these things every day, and watching as they impact communities all over the world. Fortunately, there are many organisations made up of dedicated people who are trained and ready to assist communities affected by disasters. In this course you’ll learn about some of the basic principles that guide humanitarian responses and the different approaches humanitarian teams use in disaster situations. Explore the history of disaster management and humanitarian action Humans have had to cope with disaster for thousands of years, but how have our responses changed over time? Examine the principles of humanitarian action There are certain principles and codes of conduct associated with disaster management and humanitarian action. Discover how responses to disaster are coordinated Learn from the experts
Taking responsibility for disaster risk reduction Taking responsibility for disaster prevention Disaster prevention, regardless of the peril, works through many small actions by individuals, every one of whom must take individual responsibility. To achieve a genuine increase in resilience requires dedication, coordination and determination, based on sound judgement, good science and (in many cases) high quality engineering. Sadly, the flip side of this is that individuals can undermine the efforts of everyone else, and in so doing turn a survivable incident into a disaster. The case of the Taiwan earthquake appears to be a good example. Tin cans within the structural columns in the Weiguan Jinlong apartment complex in Taiwan (via China Foto Press) The apparent replacement of structural concrete with empty cooking oil cans may have critically weakened the building, and if these are load-bearing may have played a role in the failure. And this column is not alone. A charge of murder will raise eyebrows for sure.
WHO paves way for use of genetically modified mosquitoes to combat Zika New and potentially controversial techniques including releasing genetically modified or irradiated mosquitos could be deployed to hamper the spread of the Zika virus, according to a statement from the World Health Organisation (WHO) today. Zika is a disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The disease originated in Africa, but in the last decade has spread to French Polynesia in the Pacific, and to Brazil and Colombia. “Given the magnitude of the Zika crisis, WHO encourages affected countries and their partners to boost the use of both old and new approaches to mosquito control as the most immediate line of defence,” the WHO statement said. It said more research was needed to evaluate the new techniques. The disease is relatively mild, but infection in pregnant women has been linked repeatedly with a condition in babies called microcephaly and an illness in adults called Guillain-Barré syndrome. The WHO calls mosquito control “the most immediate line of defence”.