Transforming community disaster preparedness: PHEDM model evaluation in Uttarakhand, India

Pankaj Singh; Rajeev Sharma; Surya Parkash; Jugal Kishore; Amrita Gupta; Ajay Dogra; Neha Pandey; Reema Pant

doi:10.64866/j.ijdscr.2026.10024

Authors

Pankaj K. Singh Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, Directorate General of Health Services, Government of Uttarakhand, Dehradun, India Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1733-0041
Rajeev Sharma Department of Medical Care and Hospital Administration, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, India Author https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0028-0325
Surya Parkash Founder Chairperson, Community Based Disaster Risk Management Society, Dehradun and Former Professor & Head, GMRD, CBRN, Industrial and Cyber DRR Division, National Institute of Disaster Management, Delhi Author
Jugal Kishore Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6246-5880
Amrita Gupta Public Health Expert and Independent Researcher, New Delhi, India Author
Ajay Dogra Data Scientist and Independent Researcher, New Delhi, India Author https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9943-6309
Neha Pandey National AIDS Control Organization, New Delhi, India Author
Reema Pant Department of Environmental Science, Graphic Era Hill University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India Author https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7785-3725

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.64866/j.ijdscr.2026.10024

Keywords:

Community Resilience, PHEDM, VDMP, THIRA, CEMT, CERT

Abstract

In rural India, disaster and health emergency management typically follows a top-down approach. This study compared Nausar (intervention) and Salmata (control) panchayats in the Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. The initial two tiers of the PHEDM five-tiered model were executed over seven phases, beginning with structured risk assessments and followed by capacity enhancement in Tiers I and II. Nausar exhibited notable advancements, such as an increase in the composite preparedness index from 14.5 to 36.5 (Cohen’s d = 1.12, p < 0.001), a rise in adaptive capacity by +9.4 (p = 0.04), an expansion of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members from 6 to 48, an improvement in WASH coverage from 73% to 95%, and an increase in drill participation from 12% to 68%. The control panchayat showed no significant changes, and the Difference-in-Differences analysis confirmed the causal effect. These results indicate that the PHEDM’s community Tier I and II model effectively enhances scalable village preparedness.

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Author Biographies

Surya Parkash, Founder Chairperson, Community Based Disaster Risk Management Society, Dehradun and Former Professor & Head, GMRD, CBRN, Industrial and Cyber DRR Division, National Institute of Disaster Management, Delhi

Founder Chairperson, Community Based Disaster Risk Management Society,
69G, Third Floor, Group V, Pocket A2, Mayur Vihar Phase 3, East Delhi District, Delhi - 110 096, INDIA
Jugal Kishore, Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India

Professor, Department of Community Medicine
Amrita Gupta, Public Health Expert and Independent Researcher, New Delhi, India

Public Health Expert
Ajay Dogra, Data Scientist and Independent Researcher, New Delhi, India

Data Scientist
Neha Pandey, National AIDS Control Organization, New Delhi, India

Communication Expert
Reema Pant, Department of Environmental Science, Graphic Era Hill University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

Professor, Environmental Sciences

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