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Natural Disasters and Public Health

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma

edited by Virginia M. Brennan
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The events of Hurricane Katrina have been seared into our collective consciousness, revealing a glaring discrepancy between the experiences of privileged whites and those of low-income blacks. The latter faced a scale of physical danger and mental trauma that the former largely escaped. While residents with resources evacuated in cars, poor residents were left to fend for themselves—without food, water, medicine, shelter, or safety. Many poor African Americans died; many more lost loved ones and all of their material belongings. Natural Disasters and Public Health analyzes the public health...

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The events of Hurricane Katrina have been seared into our collective consciousness, revealing a glaring discrepancy between the experiences of privileged whites and those of low-income blacks. The latter faced a scale of physical danger and mental trauma that the former largely escaped. While residents with resources evacuated in cars, poor residents were left to fend for themselves—without food, water, medicine, shelter, or safety. Many poor African Americans died; many more lost loved ones and all of their material belongings. Natural Disasters and Public Health analyzes the public health effects of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma on minorities in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast.

The contributors assess the overall health policy and public health implications of these three natural disasters. While most of the current literature on disaster relief focuses on FEMA, race, urban planning, and the environment, Natural Disasters and Public Health takes a broader perspective, advocating the inclusion of comprehensive public health policy in future disaster relief programs.

Unflinching photographs—many from the Astrodome in Houston after the evacuation of New Orleans and including the triage clinic set up there by the Baylor School of Medicine—illustrate the poor conditions under which health care professionals and aid workers ministered to the sick and injured. Reports from the field by disaster relief professionals and research articles by scholars present lessons learned and offer tools and guidance for future planning.

This volume is a valuable resource for public policymakers, health care agencies, providers who plan for large-scale emergencies, academics teaching disaster relief courses, and professionals working in this field.

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Reviews

Would make a solid addition to any collection concerning disaster planning, public health, or policy making.

— Choice

An excellent book that brings together 26 essays showcasing the theory and practice of providing medical care in challenging situations during and after disasters. This book should be required reading for medical professionals and emergency responders who may be called upon to respond to disasters. It is also ideal for health and graduate students, researchers and policy makers.

— Tanya Gulliver, Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
7
x
10
Pages
328
ISBN
9780801891991
DOI
Illustration Description
25 halftones, 9 line drawings
Subject
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Professionally Fulfilling, Personally Painful
Chapter 1. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and Wilma and the Medically Underserved
Chapter 2. Katrina

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Acknowledgments
Introduction. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Professionally Fulfilling, Personally Painful
Chapter 1. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and Wilma and the Medically Underserved
Chapter 2. Katrina Perspectives on the Environment and Public Health
Part I: What It was Like and What Happened
Chapter 3. Persevering through the Storm: Educating Nursing Seniors in the Aftermath of Katrina
Chapter 4. A Diabetes Pharmaceutical Care Clinic in an Underserved Community
Chapter 5. Dental Care as a Vital Service Response for Disaster Victims
Chapter 6. Mental Health Interventions by Telephone with Katrina Survivors
Chapter 7. "They Blew the Levee": Distrust of Authorities Among Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
Chapter 8. Hospitals in Hurricane Katrina: Challenges Facing Custodial Institutions in a Disaster
Chapter 9. Hurricane Emergency Planning by Home Health Providers Serving the Poor
Chapter 10. Katrina and Vulnerability: The Geography of Stress
Chapter 11. A Mobile Medical Care Approach Targeting Underserved Populations in Post–Hurricane Katrina Mississippi
Chapter 12. Wading in the Waters: Spirituality and Older Black Katrina Survivors
Part II: Assessment
Chapter 13. The Hurricane Choir: Remote Mental Health Monitoring of Participants in a Community-based
Chapter 14. Rapid Needs Assessment among Hurricane Katrina Evacuees in Metro-Denver
Chapter 15. Displacement of the Underserved: Medical Needs of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees in West Virginia
Chapter 16. Hurricane Katrina's Impact on Pediatric and Adult Patients with Sickle Cell Disease
Chapter 17. Media Use and Information Needs of the Disabled During a Natural Disaster
Chapter 18. Adverse Health Outcomes after Hurricane Katrina Among Children and Adolescents with Chronic Conditions
Chapter 19. News, Social Capital, and Health in the Context of Katrina
Part III: Looking to the Future
Chapter 20. Mitigating the Health Effects of Disasters for Medically Underserved Populations: Electronic Health Records, Telemedicine, Research, Screening, and Surveillance
Chapter 21. Katrina-Related Health Concerns of Latino Survivors and Evacuees
Chapter 22. Emergency Preparedness: Knowledge and Perceptions of Latin American Immigrants
Chapter 23. The Resuscitation of a New Orleans Substance Abuse Treatment Agency after Hurricane Katrina
Chapter 24. Hurricane Readiness and Environmental Risks on the Bayous—an NIEHS Community-Based Pilot Project in South Terrebonne–Lafourche Parishes, Louisiana
Chapter 25. Re-establishing a Home after Katrina: A Long and Winding Road
Chapter 26. Cultural Competency in Disaster Recovery: The Lessons of Hurricane Katrina for Serving
Appendix. Films and Notable Books on the Hurricanes of 2005
Index

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Author Bio
Featured Contributor

Virginia M. Brennan

Virginia M. Brennan is an associate professor in the Graduate School at Meharry Medical College and editor of Natural Disasters and Public Health: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, also published by Johns Hopkins.
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