Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 53, Issue 4 , Pages 515-527, April 2009

Houston's Medical Disaster Response to Hurricane Katrina: Part 2: Transitioning From Emergency Evacuee Care to Community Health Care

  • Douglas R. Hamilton, MD, PhD, MSc Eng

      Affiliations

    • Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Houston, TX
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for correspondence: Douglas R. Hamilton, MD, PhD, MSc Eng, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, 3701 Kirby, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77098; 713-477-6851, fax 713-798-3644
    • ,
  • Thomas Gavagan, MD

      Affiliations

    • Northeastern Medical School, Chicago, IL
    • ,
  • Kieran Smart, MD

      Affiliations

    • FSU College of Medicine, Sarasota, and Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, Sarasota, FL
    • ,
  • Nancy Weller, BSN, DrPH

      Affiliations

    • Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Houston, TX
    • ,
  • Lori A. Upton, RN, BSN, MS

      Affiliations

    • Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX
    • ,
  • Douglas A. Havron, RN, BSN, MS

      Affiliations

    • Southeast Texas Trauma Advisory Regional Council, Houston, TX
    • ,
  • Avrim Fishkind, MD

      Affiliations

    • Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, Houston, TX
    • ,
  • David Persse, MD

      Affiliations

    • City of Houston's Emergency Medical Services, Houston, TX
    • ,
  • Paul Shank, MBA

      Affiliations

    • San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center, Alamosa, CO
    • ,
  • Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, Alamosa, CO
    • ,
  • Kenneth Mattox, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery/Harris County Hospital District Division, Houston, TX

Received 27 March 2008; received in revised form 28 May 2008; accepted 25 September 2008. published online 12 January 2009.

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.

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 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.

 Reprints not available from the authors.

PII: S0196-0644(08)01909-4

doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2008.10.024

Refers to article:

  • Houston's Medical Disaster Response to Hurricane Katrina: Part 1: The Initial Medical Response From Trauma Service Area Q , 12 January 2009

    Douglas R. Hamilton, Thomas F. Gavagan, Kieran T. Smart, Lori A. Upton, Douglas A. Havron, Nancy F. Weller, Umair A. Shah, Avrim Fishkind, David Persse, Paul Shank, Kenneth Mattox
    Annals of Emergency Medicine April 2009 (Vol. 53, Issue 4, Pages 505-514)

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 53, Issue 4 , Pages 515-527, April 2009

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