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Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a wreath and flowers tied to a lamppost on Colombo Street. They were placed there by Red Bus in memory of the bus driver and passengers who died in one of their busses during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. A sign behind the wreath reads, "In remembrance of the tragic events during the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Colombo Street where our bus driver and his passengers Jayden Andrews-Howland, Phillip Coppeard, Joseph Routledge, Pelesa Sanft, Beverly May Stick and Earl Niche died, and Ann Brower was seriously injured".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Emergency personnel helping an injured man who was trapped in the collapsed Pyne Gould Corporation building. He can be seen descending down the shaft of a crane. This photograph shows how the building's different floors have "pancaked", collapsing on to each other.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damaged shops on Manchester Street. The front wall of the top storey of these buildings has crumbled onto the street, crushing vehicles. Emergency personnel have spray painted the word "Clear" on the cars to indicate that they have been checked for trapped or injured people.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damaged shops on Manchester Street. The front wall of the top storey of these buildings has crumbled onto the street, crushing vehicles. Emergency personnel have spray painted the word "Clear" on the cars to indicate that they have been checked for trapped or injured people.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damaged shops on Manchester Street. The front wall of the top storey of these buildings has crumbled onto the street, crushing vehicles. Emergency personnel have spray painted the word "Clear" on the cars to indicate that they have been checked for trapped or injured people.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A car which was crushed by falling masonry from Wave House (Winnie Bagoes Pizza Bar) on Gloucester Street during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Emergency personnel have spray painted the car with the word "Clear" to indicate it has been checked for trapped or injured people.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A digitally manipulated image of a mannequin. The photographer comments, "During the Christchurch earthquake on 22 February 2011 a lot of people were seriously injured or killed because they run out of buildings. Falling masonry from the exterior of the buildings hit them, but if they had remained inside they would have probably been perfectly safe".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Several vehicles on Gloucester Street which have been crushed by falling masonry from Wave House (Winnie Bagoes Gourmet Pizza Bar). Emergency personnel have spray painted two of the cars with the word "Clear" to indicate they have been checked for trapped or injured people. The scene has been cordoned off by New Zealand Fire Service tape.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damage to Wave House on Gloucester Street (Winnie Bagoes Pizza Bar). The roof and left side of the building have collapsed and crumbled into the street, crushing several cars. Emergency personnel have spray painted two of the cars with the word "Clear" to indicate they have been checked for trapped or injured people. The scene has been cordoned off by New Zealand Fire Service tape.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of a presentation by Thomas Petschner during the Resilience and Response Stream of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. The presentation is titled, "Medical Clowning in Disaster Zones".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: To be in a crisis caused by different kinds of natural disasters (as well as a man made incidents), dealing with ongoing increase of problems and frequent confrontation with very bad news isn't something that many people can easily cope with. This applies obviously to affected people but also to the members of SAR teams, doctors in the field and the experienced humanitarians too. The appropriate use of humour in crisis situations and dis-functional environments is a great tool to make those difficult moments more bearable for everyone. It helps injured and traumatised people cope with what they're facing, and can help them to recover more quickly too. At the same time humorous thinking can help to solve some of the complex problems emergency responders face. This is in addition to emergency and medical only reactions - allowing for a more holistic human perspective, which can provide a positive lasting effect. The ability to laugh is hardwired into our systems bringing a huge variety of physical, mental and social benefits. Even a simple smile can cultivate optimism and hope, while laughter can boost a hormone cocktail - which helps to cope with pain, enhance the immune system, reduce stress, re-focus, connect and unite people during difficult times. Humour as an element of psychological response in crisis situations is increasingly understood in a much wider sense: as the human capacity to plan and achieve desired outcomes with less stress, thus resulting in more 'predictable' work in unpredictable situations. So, if we approach certain problems in the same way Medical Clowns do, we may find a more positive solution. Everyone knows that laughter is an essential component of a healthy, happy life. The delivery of 'permission to laugh' into disaster zones makes a big difference to the quality of life for everyone, even if it's for a very short, but important period of time. And it's crucial to get it right as there is no second chance for the first response.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of a presentation by Professor David Johnston during the fourth plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. Johnston is a Senior Scientist at GNS Science and Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research in the School of Psychology at Massey University. The presentation is titled, "Understanding Immediate Human Behaviour to the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, Implications for injury prevention and risk communication".The abstract for the presentation reads as follows: The 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquake sequences have given us a unique opportunity to better understand human behaviour during and immediately after an earthquake. On 4 September 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred near Darfield in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. There were no deaths, but several thousand people sustained injuries and sought medical assistance. Less than 6 months later, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred under Christchurch City at 12:51 p.m. on 22 February 2011. A total of 182 people were killed in the first 24 hours and over 7,000 people injured overall. To reduce earthquake casualties in future events, it is important to understand how people behaved during and immediately after the shaking, and how their behaviour exposed them to risk of death or injury. Most previous studies have relied on an analysis of medical records and/or reflective interviews and questionnaire studies. In Canterbury we were able to combine a range of methods to explore earthquake shaking behaviours and the causes of injuries. In New Zealand, the Accident Compensation Corporation (a national health payment scheme run by the government) allowed researchers to access injury data from over 9,500 people from the Darfield (4 September 2010) and Christchurch (22 February 2011 ) earthquakes. The total injury burden was analysed for demography, context of injury, causes of injury, and injury type. From the injury data inferences into human behaviour were derived. We were able to classify the injury context as direct (immediate shaking of the primary earthquake or aftershocks causing unavoidable injuries), and secondary (cause of injury after shaking ceased). A second study examined people's immediate responses to earthquakes in Christchurch New Zealand and compared responses to the 2011 earthquake in Hitachi, Japan. A further study has developed a systematic process and coding scheme to analyse earthquake video footage of human behaviour during strong earthquake shaking. From these studies a number of recommendations for injury prevention and risk communication can be made. In general, improved building codes, strengthening buildings, and securing fittings will reduce future earthquake deaths and injuries. However, the high rate of injuries incurred from undertaking an inappropriate action (e.g. moving around) during or immediately after an earthquake suggests that further education is needed to promote appropriate actions during and after earthquakes. In New Zealand - as in US and worldwide - public education efforts such as the 'Shakeout' exercise are trying to address the behavioural aspects of injury prevention.