Global assessment of flood impact on emergency service provision to vulnerable populations under climate change

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Project Detail:

Globally, Ambulance and Fire & Rescue Services are the primary emergency responders to flooding, during which demands for services often peak. ‘Surge capacity’ is needed to deal with the spike in care demands during flooding. Surge capacity should consider the adverse impacts of damaged transportation networks on access to and evacuation of vulnerable population. Considering surge capacity and coping strategies requires emergency services to understand the socio-economic and geographic distributions of service vulnerability. A recent study undertaken by Loughborough University revealed the alarmingly low area and population coverages by emergency services within regulatory timeframes for emergency incidents in England.

This research opened up many research opportunities. First, the analysis is restricted to England and we expect to see significant geographical differences between countries and regions globally. Second, climate change is not factored in in this study due to the lack of future flood risk maps at the time of analysis. Third, actionable risk information often needs to be expressed in monetary terms for decision makers to consider adaptation strategies. The proposed PhD project is designed to fill in these gaps. The overarching aim of this project is to identify vulnerability ‘hotspots’ of global populations in terms of emergency service provision during times of flooding of various magnitude under climate change.

Find out more
For further information on this project, please see the main CENTA website (http://www.centa.org.uk/)

Entry requirements
Applicants will normally need to hold, or expect to gain, at least a 2:1 degree (or equivalent) in Geography, Earth Science, Environmental Science or a related degree. A Master’s degree and/or experience in a related area associated with the research will be an advantage.

How to apply
To apply:
1. Complete a CENTA studentship application form in Word format (available from http://www.centa.org.uk/apply/ or http://www.centa.org.uk/media/1202/centa-studentship-application-form.docx.)
2. All applications should be made online at http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/apply/research/. Under programme name, select “Geography and Environment”. During the online application process, upload the CENTA studentship application form as a supporting document.

Please quote CENTA18-LU8 when completing your online application.