Volume 20, Issue 1

Due to the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19 disease, there have been tremendous efforts worldwide to keep the spread of the virus under control and protect the functioning of health systems. Although governments take many actions in fighting this pandemic, it is well known that health systems play an undeniable role in this fight. This study aimed to investigate the role of health systems and government responses in fighting COVID-19. By purposively sampling Finland, Denmark, the UK, and Italy and analyzing their health systems’ performances, governments’ stringency indexes, and COVID-19 spread variables, this study showed that high-performing health systems were the main power of states in managing pandemic environments. This study also measured relations between short and medium-term measures and COVID-19 case and death numbers in all study countries. It showed that medium-term measures had significant effects on death numbers.

Fire as a weapon (FaaW) is discussed within the first responder community but still vaguely defined. This ambiguity, coupled with absent reporting mechanisms, leads to an inability to estimate the size of the problem correctly. This research offers a comprehensive definition of FaaW and argues for its inclusion as a high-threat response. It evaluates fire as a weapon as a homeland security issue requiring additional attention and leadership by offering new data and analysis that demonstrates the severity of the problem, especially compared to other high-threat events such as active shooter incidents. It clarifies which incident types should receive the most focus and argues for strategic shifts in how we currently perceive this threat. It also elucidates the potential to apply established national standards and tactics for active shooter response to fire as a weapon mitigation strategy.