Houston's Medical Disaster Response to Hurricane Katrina: Part 1: The Initial Medical Response From Trauma Service Area Q
Received 9 February 2007; received in revised form 3 August 2007, 28 December 2007, 25 March 2008 and 29 May 2008; accepted 24 September 2008. published online 12 January 2009.
Refers to article:
Houston's Medical Disaster Response to Hurricane Katrina: Part 2: Transitioning From Emergency Evacuee Care to Community Health Care
, 12 January 2009
Douglas R. Hamilton, Thomas Gavagan, Kieran Smart, Nancy Weller, Lori A. Upton, Douglas A. Havron, Avrim Fishkind, David Persse, Paul Shank, Umair A. Shah, Kenneth Mattox
Annals of Emergency Medicine
April 2009 (Vol. 53, Issue 4, Pages 515-527) Abstract |
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After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, thousands of ill and injured evacuees were transported to Houston, TX. Houston's regional disaster plan was quickly implemented, leading to the activation of the Regional Hospital Preparedness Council's Catastrophic Medical Operations Center and the rapid construction of a 65-examination-room medical facility within the Reliant Center. A plan for triage of arriving evacuees was quickly developed and the Astrodome/Reliant Center Complex mega-shelter was created. Herein, we discuss major elements of the regional disaster response, including regional coordination, triage and emergency medical service transfers into the region's medical centers, medical care in population shelters, and community health challenges.
aDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
bDepartment of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
cDepartment of Family Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
dFSU College of Medicine, Sarasota, Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, Sarasota, FL
gMental Health Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, Houston, TX
hCity of Houston's Emergency Medical Services, Houston, TX
iSan Luis Valley Regional Medical Center, Alamosa, CO
jHarris County Public Health and Environmental Services
Address for correspondence: Douglas R. Hamilton, MD, PhD, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, 3701 Kirby, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77098; 713-477-6851, fax 713-798-3644
Supervising editor: Kathy J. Rinnert, MD, MPH
Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article that might create any potential conflict of interest. The authors have stated that no such relationships exist. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement.
Publication dates: Available online January 10, 2009.
ABSTRACT