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

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

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)
Abstract | Full Text | Full-Text PDF (558 KB)

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.

a Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Houston, TX

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

c Northeastern Medical School, Chicago, IL

d FSU College of Medicine, Sarasota, and Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, Sarasota, FL

e Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX

f Southeast Texas Trauma Advisory Regional Council, Houston, TX

g Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, Houston, TX

h City of Houston's Emergency Medical Services, Houston, TX

i Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, Alamosa, CO

j San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center, Alamosa, CO

Address 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

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

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