Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://ir.iimcal.ac.in:8443/jspui/handle/123456789/1048
Title: Medical Requirements during a Natural Disaster: A Case Study on WhatsApp Chats among Medical Personnel during the 2015 Nepal Earthquake
Authors: Basu, Moumita
Ghosh, Saptarshi
Jana, Arnab
Bandyopadhyay, Somprakash
Singh, Ravikant
Keywords: Disaster
Disaster preparedness
Medical relief strategy
Medical resource requirements
Nepal 2015 earthquake
Issue Date: 2017
Publisher: SCOPUS
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
Cambridge University Press
Series/Report no.: 11(6)
Abstract: Objective The objective of this study was to explore a log of WhatsApp messages exchanged among members of the health care group Doctors For You (DFY) while they were providing medical relief in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake in April 2015. Our motivation was to identify medical resource requirements during a disaster in order to help government agencies and other responding organizations to be better prepared in any upcoming disaster. Methods A large set of WhatsApp (WhatsApp Inc, Mountain View, CA) messages exchanged among DFY members during the Nepal earthquake was collected and analyzed to identify the medical resource requirements during different phases of relief operations. Results The study revealed detailed phase-wise requirements for various types of medical resources, including medicines, medical equipment, and medical personnel. The data also reflected some of the problems faced by the medical relief workers in the earthquake-affected region. Conclusions The insights from this study may help not only the Nepalese government, but also authorities in other earthquake-prone regions of the world to better prepare for similar disasters in the future. Moreover, real-time analysis of such online data during a disaster would aid decision-makers in dynamically formulating resource-mapping strategies. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:652-655). Copyright � 2017 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.
Description: Basu, Moumita, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, and Social Informatics Research Group, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta Joka, Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata, 700104, India; Ghosh, Saptarshi, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, and Department of Computer Science and Enginnering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India; Jana, Arnab, Centre for Urban Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India; Bandyopadhyay, Somprakash, Social Informatics Research Group, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India; Singh, Ravikant, Mumbai, India
ISSN/ISBN - 19357893
pp.652-655
DOI - 10.1017/dmp.2017.8
URI: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85020705108&doi=10.1017%2fdmp.2017.8&partnerID=40&md5=a5d666a8c74a5d461f295975064903b6
https://ir.iimcal.ac.in:8443/jspui/handle/123456789/1048
Appears in Collections:Management Information Systems

Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.