Life Story Project: Life Stories & Disaster Recovery Does telling one’s ‘life story’ accelerate recovery from a disaster? The objective of the proposed Life Story Project was to allow residents of the Gulf Coast who were displaced or greatly impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to tell their life story in a therapeutic manner. This study’s primary objectives were to (1) establish the feasibility … Continue reading “Life Story Project: Life Stories & Disaster Recovery” Learn More
Unanticipated Consequences of Pandemic Flu: School Related Issues: A Preliminary Literature Review In the event of a pandemic flu outbreak, closing schools would be one of the most likely non pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) considered to contain the outbreak, consistent with social distancing theories (Hodge 2006, Germann 2006). Children in preschool and school-age groups are frequently observed to amplify transmission of many forms of flu (Bell 2006, Germann … Continue reading “Unanticipated Consequences of Pandemic Flu: School Related Issues: A Preliminary Literature Review” Learn More
Mississippi Child and Family Health Study — Toplines During the period of August 6 through August 26, 2006, the Columbia-led Mississippi Child & Family Health Study conducted an assessment among Mississippi residents displaced or heavily impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The purpose of the study was to gather information that could inform local, state, and federal policymakers about the health and social service needs … Continue reading “Mississippi Child and Family Health Study — Toplines” Learn More
Disaster Care for Persons With Psychiatric Disabilities: Recommendations for Policy Change There is growing concern that the management of persons with psychiatric disabilities after disaster has been inadequate. Unfortunately, the literature is extremely limited, and empirical evidence on the best practices for addressing the needs of persons with psychiatric disabilities after disasters is sparse. A literature search of articles published in 3 widely used databases revealed … Continue reading “Disaster Care for Persons With Psychiatric Disabilities: Recommendations for Policy Change” Learn More
Are We Ready Yet to Deal with Large-Scale Disasters? What seems to be abundantly clear, however, is that the United States is still not where it should be in terms of the general response capacity following major disasters, whatever their cause. Part of the problem is unchanged from last year. We will have not defined what we mean by “prepared” whether we are speaking … Continue reading “Are We Ready Yet to Deal with Large-Scale Disasters?” Learn More
The New York City Principals Pandemic Flu Survey: Are Schools Prepared? It will be only a matter of time before another influenza pandemic occurs. Pandemic flu refers to a novel human influenza virus that causes a global outbreak, or pandemic. Researchers cannot accurately predict the timing, severity, or source of the next pandemic, but are certain it would present a myriad of issues for the public … Continue reading “The New York City Principals Pandemic Flu Survey: Are Schools Prepared?” Learn More
Comparison of Urban Transit Planning Responses to Pandemic Influenza Pandemic influenza and other large scale communicable disease outbreaks pose a unique public safety concern in respect to transit and emergency planning. While local transit agencies, supported by federal funds, have identified disaster planning and response as critical to maintaining continuity of service and quality of life, most plans contend solely with event-based scenarios such … Continue reading “Comparison of Urban Transit Planning Responses to Pandemic Influenza” 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
Children and Megadisasters: Lessons Learned in the New Millennium Hurricane Katrina is America’s most recent encounter with a megadisaster. But what made it a megadisaster instead of just another category 3 hurricane of the type that seasonally exists in the Gulf of Mexico? Katrina was not the largest or strongest hurricane to strike the United States mainland in the recent past, but its effects … Continue reading “Children and Megadisasters: Lessons Learned in the New Millennium” Learn More
Interventions to Mitigate the Reduced Ability and Willingness to Work of Health Care Workers During a Pandemic Influenza Public Health Emergency Several widely publicized articles were released in the past two years which suggest that health care and public health employees may be unable or unwilling to report to work during a public health emergency involving contagion or contamination such as pandemic influenza, SARS, smallpox, or a terrorist attack using disease or radiation: A 2006 study … Continue reading “Interventions to Mitigate the Reduced Ability and Willingness to Work of Health Care Workers During a Pandemic Influenza Public Health Emergency” Learn More
Global Preparedness for Public Health There are many reasons to be interested in public health in China. China is the single most populous nation on earth and was the point of origin for SARS and probably for most pandemic influenza viruses, past and future. In this issue of the Journal, we get a valuable window into the organization of public … Continue reading “Global Preparedness for Public Health” Learn More
Global Infectious Disease Surveillance And Health Intelligence Current concerns about the spread of infectious diseases, especially unexpected (“emerging”) infections such as pandemic influenza or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), have renewed focus on the critical importance of global early warning and rapid response. Although considerable progress has been made, many gaps remain. A number of the gaps can be addressed through increased … Continue reading “Global Infectious Disease Surveillance And Health Intelligence” Learn More
The US pandemic influenza implementation plan at six months There has been great concern recently about pandemic influenza. The US government developed a National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza in November 2005, followed by an implementation plan in May 2006. A six-month progress report was published in late December. The current strategies are intended to improve preparedness and response for the next influenza pandemic. In … Continue reading “The US pandemic influenza implementation plan at six months” Learn More
Pediatric Preparedness for Disasters, Terrorism and Public Health Emergencies: A National Consensus Conference: Executive Summary and Final Report In 2003, we convened experts from the multiple areas of expertise and disciplines involved in the planning for and care of children during times of disaster and terrorist events. The goals of this unprecedented meeting were to: 1) Build collaboration among individuals with expertise in emergency management, including disaster medicine, disaster planning, pediatric emergency medicine, … Continue reading “Pediatric Preparedness for Disasters, Terrorism and Public Health Emergencies: A National Consensus Conference: Executive Summary and Final Report” Learn More
The Legacy of Katrina's Children: Estimating the Numbers of Hurricane-Related At-Risk Children in the Gulf Coast States of Louisiana and Mississippi The 2005 hurricane season, which included hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, exacted a monumental toll on the people and infrastructure of the Gulf Coast region in the southern United States. Disaster-related losses were estimated to have exceeded $110 billion. Much has been written about the short-term effects on the local housing stock, economy, and populations. … Continue reading “The Legacy of Katrina’s Children: Estimating the Numbers of Hurricane-Related At-Risk Children in the Gulf Coast States of Louisiana and Mississippi” Learn More
Safer Schools in an Age of Mass Violence: Back to the Basics of Public Health Schools in the US are by and large safe environments where millions of our children are secure and thrive. Outbreaks of fatal violence like the recent shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) are, fortunately, rare. In fact, the odds of a student losing his or her life to homicide are 50 … Continue reading “Safer Schools in an Age of Mass Violence: Back to the Basics of Public Health” Learn More
The Recovery Divide: Poverty and the Widening Gap Among Mississippi Children and Families Affected by Hurricane Katrina: Executive Summary Six months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, a Columbia-led research team conducted a random household survey of people who had been displaced by the disaster in Louisiana. Mental health disability and psychological strain were rampant, people’s lives were chaotic, and their futures were uncertain. The children who had been displaced were often socially … Continue reading “The Recovery Divide: Poverty and the Widening Gap Among Mississippi Children and Families Affected by Hurricane Katrina: Executive Summary” Learn More
The Recovery Divide: Poverty and the Widening Gap Among Mississippi Children and Families Affected by Hurricane Katrina Six months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, a Columbia-led research team conducted a random household survey of people who had been displaced by the disaster in Louisiana. Mental health disability and psychological strain were rampant, people’s lives were chaotic, and their futures were uncertain. The children who had been displaced were often socially … Continue reading “The Recovery Divide: Poverty and the Widening Gap Among Mississippi Children and Families Affected by Hurricane Katrina” Learn More
Establishing Permanent Mental Health Programs Post-Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned and Recommendations for Practice in Underserved Communities Impacted by Mass Trauma Operation Assist, a joint initiative of Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness and the Children’s Health. Fund was formed after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 2005. Mental health, medical, and public health professionals have spent one year addressing the needs of victims through direct work and research … Continue reading “Establishing Permanent Mental Health Programs Post-Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned and Recommendations for Practice in Underserved Communities Impacted by Mass Trauma” Learn More
Public Health Disaster Research: Surveying the Field, Defining its Future Disaster medicine and public health preparedness are commonly perceived as subfields of the larger fields of medicine and public health rather than being recognized as an emerging academic field embracing all of the disciplines that contribute to effective disaster response. As such, they serve as appropriate subjects for multidisciplinary work in the social sciences, whether … Continue reading “Public Health Disaster Research: Surveying the Field, Defining its Future” Learn More
Emergency Preparedness: Addressing the Needs of Persons with Disabilities In July 2004, President Bush signed an Executive Order explicitly stating the policy of the United States in the area of emergency preparedness for people with disabilities. The Executive Order built on The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990 “to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against … Continue reading “Emergency Preparedness: Addressing the Needs of Persons with Disabilities” Learn More
Unanticipated Consequences of a Pandemic Flu in New York City: A Neighborhood Focus Group Study There is fairly consistent evidence that ethnic and minority communities have historically been more vulnerable to disasters, less trusting of public authority, and often so socially marginalized that it placed them in harm’s way. In an effort to explore some of these issues we conducted a series of community-based focus groups among selected ethnic communities … Continue reading “Unanticipated Consequences of a Pandemic Flu in New York City: A Neighborhood Focus Group Study” Learn More
Pandemic influenza: Studying the lessons of history Next year will mark the 90th anniversary of the great influenza pandemic of 1918, an event widely considered to be one of the greatest natural disasters in human history. Historians estimate that ≥50 million people died worldwide, including >450,000 documented deaths in the United States alone (1). Since then, the 20th century witnessed two more … Continue reading “Pandemic influenza: Studying the lessons of history” Learn More
The American Preparedness Project: Where the US Public Stands in 2007 on Terrorism, Security, and Disaster Preparedness Since 2002, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and The Children’s Health Fund (CHF), have conducted annual surveys of public attitudes and personal preparedness in the aftermath of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Produced in collaboration with the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion … Continue reading “The American Preparedness Project: Where the US Public Stands in 2007 on Terrorism, Security, and Disaster Preparedness” Learn More
