Spirituality/Medicine Interface Project
Hurricane Katrina: Response at the Houston Astrodome
Abstract
Postdisaster settings are often chaotic, with considerable need to meet challenges as feasible with available resources and personnel. Based on experience in international settings and domestic disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina, the authors describe a general approach to responding to catastrophes. This is not meant to be a specific roadmap, since responses will be largely adapted to individual circumstances, but instead general principles gleaned from actual experience in global settings.1 These experiences have shown that volunteer physicians can effectively respond to disasters and are often the only first responders available to the affected population for several days.This content is limited to qualifying members.
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References
1. Noji EK. Public health in the aftermath of disasters. BMJ 2005;330:1379–1381.
2. Mollica RF, Cardozo BL, Osofsky HJ, et al. Mental health in complex emergencies. Lancet 2004;364: 2058–2067.
3. Connolly M, Gayer M, Ryan MJ, et al. Communicable diseases in complex emergencies: impact and challenges. Lancet 2004;364: 1974–1983.
