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Crisis Decision-Making During Hurricane Sandy: An Analysis of Established and Emergent Disaster Response Behaviors in the New York Metro Area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2016

Thomas Chandler ,
David M Abramson ,
Benita Panigrahi ,
Jeff Schlegelmilch  and
Noelle Frye
Thomas Chandler*
Affiliation:
National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York
David M Abramson
Affiliation:
NYU College of Global Public Health, NYU Medical Center Department of Population Health, New York, New York
Benita Panigrahi
Affiliation:
National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York
Jeff Schlegelmilch
Affiliation:
National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York
Noelle Frye
Affiliation:
Yale New Haven Health System Center for Healthcare Solutions, New Haven, Connecticut.
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Thomas Chandler, PhD, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Earth Institute, Columbia University, 215 West 125th Street, Suite 303, New York, NY 10027 (e-mail: tec11@columbia.edu).
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Abstract

Objective

This collective case study examined how and why specific organizational decision-making processes transpired at 2 large suburban county health departments in lower New York State during their response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The study also examined the relationships that the agencies developed with other emerging and established organizations within their respective health systems.

Methods

In investigating these themes, the authors conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 30 senior-level public health staff and first responders; reviewed documentation; and moderated 2 focus group discussions with 17 participants.

Results

Although a natural hazard such as a hurricane was not an unexpected event for these health departments, they nevertheless confronted a number of unforeseen challenges during the response phase: prolonged loss of power and fuel, limited situational awareness of the depth and breadth of the storm’s impact among disaster-exposed populations, and coordination problems with a number of organizations that emerged in response to the disaster.

Conclusions

Public health staff had few plans or protocols to guide them and often found themselves improvising and problem-solving with new organizations in the context of an overburdened health care system (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:436–442).

Keywords

public healthHurricane Sandycrisis decision-makingleadershipemergent behavior
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Special Issue 3: Superstorm Sandy , June 2016 , pp. 436 - 442
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2016 

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