Title: Two Special Sessions - Hurricane Katrina: Local, State, and Federal Response

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Section/SPIG: Epidemiology

Issue Date:

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Medical workers from a Disaster Medical Assistance Team evaluate the health needs of a New Orleans man as he is readied for evacuation from the city Sept. 2. (Photo by Win Henderson, courtesy FEMA)

Date: Tuesday, December 13, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. (# 4125) and 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. (# 4221) Location: Marriott, Salon E/F Grand Ballroom Public health officials mobilized to respond to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. The purpose of this two-part session is to discuss the coordinated efforts of federal, state, and local health agencies with other partners to respond to this enormous disaster. Initial public health goals included documentation of the primary impact of the hurricanes, characterizing the immediate mortality and morbidity that resulted. However, it quickly became clear that public health also needed to take action to minimize the secondary impact of the event, especially among the more than one million persons displaced by the event. Public health efforts focused surveillance on identifying health problems requiring intervention among displaced populations, people who stayed behind, and response workers. These efforts included working with hospitals, evacuation centers, Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, and others to identify communicable diseases, chronic conditions and injuries requiring health care (including carbon monoxide poisoning), mental stress and violent behavior. Public health responses included staffing and outbreak investigations, rapid environmental assessments, improved sanitation, public service announcements, provision of medical supplies, and planning for how to rebuild New Orleans. Representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and involved state and local health departments will participate in this session.