Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T02:13:39.268Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Community-Led Medical Response Effort in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2015

Matthew L. Kraushar Open the ORCID record for Matthew L. Kraushar [Opens in a new window]  and
Rebecca E. Rosenberg
Matthew L. Kraushar*
Affiliation:
MD/PhD Combined Degree Program, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-Princeton, Piscataway, NJ
Rebecca E. Rosenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Matthew L. Kraushar, BA, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-Princeton MD/PhD Program, 675 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (e-mail: matthew.kraushar@rutgers.edu).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the neighborhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn, New York. The massive tidal surge generated by the storm submerged the coastal area, home to a population over 11,000 individuals, including the largest public housing development in Brooklyn. The infrastructure devastation was profound: the storm rendered electricity, heat, water, Internet, and phone services inoperative, whereas local ambulatory medical services including clinics, pharmacies, home health agencies, and other resources were damaged beyond functionality. Lacking these services or lines of communication, medically fragile individuals became isolated from the hospital and 911-emergency systems without a preexisting mechanism to identify or treat them. Medically fragile individuals primarily included those with chronic medical conditions dependent on frequent and consistent monitoring and treatments. In response, the Red Hook community established an ad hoc volunteer medical relief effort in the wake of the storm, filling a major gap that continues to exist in disaster medicine for low-income urban environments. Here we describe this effort, including an analysis of the medically vulnerable in this community, and recommend disaster risk reduction strategies and resilience measures for future disaster events. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:354–358)

Keywords

disaster medicineemergency preparednessfloodsvoluntary workers
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , August 2015 , pp. 354 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Zoraster, RM. Vulnerable populations: Hurricane Katrina as a case study. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2010;25(01):74-78.Google Scholar
2. Jan, S, Lurie, N. Disaster resilience and people with functional needs. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(24):2272-2273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Keim, ME. Preventing disasters: public health vulnerability reduction as a sustainable adaptation to climate change. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2011;5(2):140-148.Google Scholar
4. Schmeltz, MT, González, SK, Fuentes, L, et al. Lessons from Hurricane Sandy: a community response in Brooklyn, New York. J Urban Health. 2013;90(5):799-809.Google Scholar
5. Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute. The Resilient Social Network. No. RP12-01.04.11-01. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate; 2013.Google Scholar
6. Mohamed, T. Doctors check up on Red Hook. The Brooklyn Paper. November 30, 2012. http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/35/48/dtg_redhookdoctors_2012_11_30_bk.html. Published November 30, 2012. Accessed December 3, 2012.Google Scholar
7. Resources download. Medical intake form. Matthew Kraushar website. http://www.matthewkraushar.com/#!science-medicine. Accessed May 1, 2015.Google Scholar
8. Hoffman, S, Goodman, RA, Stier, DD. Law, liability, and public health emergencies. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2009;3(2):117-125.Google Scholar
9. Neuhauser, A. As Red Hook Residents Plead for Heat and Hot Water, NYCHA Goes Door-to-Door. DNAinfo.com. http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121113/red-hook/as-red-hook-residents-plead-for-heat-hot-water-nycha-goes-door-to-door. Published November 13, 2012. Accessed December 3, 2012.Google Scholar
10. Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force. Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy No. 13-125. US Department of Housing and Urban Development; 2013.Google Scholar
11. Santora, M, Weiser, B. Court Says New York Neglected Disabled in Emergencies. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/nyregion/new-yorks-emergency-plans-violate-disabilities-act-judge-says.html. Published November 7, 2013. Accessed November 8, 2013.Google Scholar
12. Cutter, SL, Barnes, L, Berry, M, et al. A place-based model for understanding community resilience to natural disasters. Glob Environ Chang. 2008;18:598-606.Google Scholar
13. Adger, WN, Hughes, TP, Folke, C, et al. Social-ecological resilience to coastal disasters. Science. 2005;309:(August) 1036-1039.Google Scholar