Long-term Recovery From Hurricane Sandy: Evidence From a Survey in New York City This study aimed to examine a range of factors influencing the long-term recovery of New York City residents affected by Hurricane Sandy. In a series of logistic regressions, we analyzed data from a survey of New York City residents to assess self-reported recovery status from Hurricane Sandy. General health, displacement from home, and household income … Continue reading “Long-term Recovery From Hurricane Sandy: Evidence From a Survey in New York City” Learn More
Lessons from Sandy — Preparing Health Systems for Future Disasters Within hours after Hurricane Sandy’s landfall, doctors and staff at one of New York City’s premier medical centers realized that something was going terribly wrong. Lights were flickering, critical devices essential to life support for more than 200 patients, many in intensive care units, were malfunctioning. A decision had to be made by hospital leaders, … Continue reading “Lessons from Sandy — Preparing Health Systems for Future Disasters” Learn More
Utilizing paramedics for in-patient critical care surge capacity INTRODUCTION: While many hospitals have developed preliminary emergency department and in-patient surge plans, the ability to surge is often limited by critical resources. The resource which is often the most limited is usually the human resource and within this category the limiting factor is almost universally nursing. As a result, nursing shortages can result in … Continue reading “Utilizing paramedics for in-patient critical care surge capacity” Learn More
Hospital Referral Patterns: How Emergency Medical Care is Accessed in a Disaster BACKGROUND: A prevalent assumption in hospital emergency preparedness planning is that patient arrival from a disaster scene will occur through a coordinated system of patient distribution based on the number of victims, capabilities of the receiving hospitals, and the nature and severity of illness or injury. In spite of the strength of the emergency medical … Continue reading “Hospital Referral Patterns: How Emergency Medical Care is Accessed in a Disaster” Learn More
Education and Training of Hospital Workers: Who Are Essential Personnel during a Disaster? Hospital plans often vary when it comes to the specific functional roles that are included in emergency and incident management positions. Bioterrorism coordinators and emergency managers for 31 hospitals in a seven-county region outside of a major metropolitan area, with urban, suburban, and rural demographics were surveyed to determine which specific functional roles were considered … Continue reading “Education and Training of Hospital Workers: Who Are Essential Personnel during a Disaster?” Learn More
Comfort level of emergency medical service providers in responding to weapons of mass destruction events: impact of training and equipment Background: Numerous studies have suggested that emergency medical services (EMS) providers are ill-prepared in the areas of training and equipment for response to events due to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and other public health emergencies (epidemics, etc.). Methods: A nationally representative sample of basic and paramedic EMS providers in the United States was surveyed … Continue reading “Comfort level of emergency medical service providers in responding to weapons of mass destruction events: impact of training and equipment” Learn More
Challenges in Meeting Immediate Emotional Needs: Short-term Impact of a Major Disaster on Children's Mental Health: Building Resiliency in the Aftermath of Huricanne Katrina Disasters, whether resulting from terrorism or natural events, have a dramatic impact on the health and well-being of children. Studies after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York City and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and countless reports on the impact of natural disasters on children show that a child’s mental health … Continue reading “Challenges in Meeting Immediate Emotional Needs: Short-term Impact of a Major Disaster on Children’s Mental Health: Building Resiliency in the Aftermath of Huricanne Katrina” Learn More
Accuracy of a Priority Medical Dispatch System in Dispatching Cardiac Emergencies in a Suburban Community Introduction: Over-triage of patients by emergency medical services (EMS) dispatch is thought to be an acceptable alternative to under-triage, which may delay how quickly life-saving care reaches a patient. Previous studies have looked at advanced life support (ALS) misutilization in urban- and county-based EMS systems and have attempted to analyze how dispatch methods either contribute … Continue reading “Accuracy of a Priority Medical Dispatch System in Dispatching Cardiac Emergencies in a Suburban Community” Learn More
Public Health Department Training of Emergency Medical Technicians for Bioterrorism and Public Health Emergencies: Results of a National Assessment Hypothesis: The public health system has a specialized body of knowledge and expertise in bioterrorism and public health emergency management that can assist in the development and delivery of continuing medical education programs to meet the needs of emergency medical service providers. Methods: A nationally representative sample of the basic and paramedic emergency medical service … Continue reading “Public Health Department Training of Emergency Medical Technicians for Bioterrorism and Public Health Emergencies: Results of a National Assessment” Learn More
Complex humanitarian emergencies: Security issues with international public health response The suicide car bombing of the Baghdad headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (JCRC) in October 2003 underscored the vulnerability of humanitarian and relief organizations that operate in areas of violent conflict. Since the end of the Cold War, complex humanitarian emergencies have become an increasing priority for NGOs and global health … Continue reading “Complex humanitarian emergencies: Security issues with international public health response” Learn More
