[S-VC35] Mitigation of volcanic disasters - basic and applied researches

[SVC35-08] New Websites and a Pamphlet of IVHHN

*Yasuhiro Ishimine¹ (1.Research and Education Center for Natural Hazards, Kagoshima University)

Keywords:IVHHN, HIVE, Mask

I will present an outline of new websites and a pamphlet of International Volcanic Health Hazard Network (= IVHHN), both of which have been translated into Japanese by the author. IVHHN is an IAVCEI commission which has been launched in 2003 and focuses on research and dissemination of information on volcanic health hazards. Dr. Claire Horwell and some other leading members of IVHHN have conducted a research project entitled “A New Evidence Base for Respiratory Health Interventions in Volcanic Eruption Crises”, which is called HIVE project for short, with a grant from Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA), a global charity organization in 2015-2018. IVHHN has revised its websites and published in August 2018 to include new outcomes obtained from HIVE project. It is notable that the new websites include the guideline on recommended facemasks for respiratory protection during ashfall on the basis of the field research in Indonesia, Mexico and Japan carried out as a part of HIVE project. The guideline advises residents to stay indoors to reduce exposure to volcanic ash if possible and wear a well-fitting industry-certified facemask such as a N95 mask, or a DS2 mask, which is Japanese standard equivalent to N95, when they are cleaning up volcanic ash or stay outdoors for a long time. The guideline also mentions that industry-certified facemasks are not usually designed to fit children’s face, and thus, they are not effective for children. The new IVHHN websites add the guideline and some other scientific protocols for assessing volcanic health hazard. They also adopt a responsive layout to works well on smartphones. The websites also contain three new videos which describe the experience of coping with volcanic ash, how to protect yourself from breathing ash and how to properly fit a facemask. Subtitles are available in English by clicking on the CC button or you can switch to Spanish or Bahasa in the Settings button. They are also available on YouTube and Vimeo. As the author has been a member of IVHHN since 2005 and managed Japanese IVHHN website. he translated the revised English websites into Japanese and published in January 2019. The new Japanese pages is published newly obtained internet domain at http://www.ivhhn.jp/, while the Japanese website has been published at http://www.geocities.jp/ychojp/ivhhn/ for twelve years. The author printed 2,000 copies of the Japanese version IVHHN guideline on the protection from breathing volcanic ash as a pamphlet. A half of the copies were distributed at the general disaster drill on large-scale eruptions of Sakurajima held on 12 January 2019.IVHHN now prepare for another guideline on the health effects of volcanic gases, which has already been reviewed by the author and some other members of an IVHHN expert panel. The author also provides IVHHN with some photos of fumaroles taken at volcanic areas in Japan.