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New York State Public Health System Response to Hurricane Sandy: An Analysis of Emergency Reports

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2015

Asante Shipp Hilts ,
Stephanie Mack ,
Millicent Eidson ,
Trang Nguyen  and
Guthrie S. Birkhead
Asante Shipp Hilts*
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York
Stephanie Mack
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York
Millicent Eidson
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York School of Public Health, University at Albany, Rensselaer, New York.
Trang Nguyen
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York
Guthrie S. Birkhead
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York School of Public Health, University at Albany, Rensselaer, New York.
*
Correspondence to Asante Shipp Hilts, MPH, 1006 Corning Tower, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12237 (e-mail: Asante.shipphilts@health.ny.gov).
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Abstract

Objective

Analyzing Hurricane Sandy emergency reports to assess the New York State (NYS) public health system response will help inform and improve future disaster preparedness and response.

Methods

Qualitative analysis of NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH) and Nassau and Suffolk County local health department (LHD) emergency reports was conducted. Three after-action reports and 48 situation reports were reviewed, grouped by key words and sorted into 16 Public Health Preparedness Capabilities. Within each capability, key words were labeled as strengths, challenges, or recommendations.

Results

The NYSDOH capability most cited as a strength was successful emergency operations coordination, eg, interagency conference calls (27.4% of 1681 strengths). The most cited challenge was environmental health protection, eg, mold and oil spills (28% of 706 challenges). The LHD capability most cited both as a strength (46.7% of 30 strengths) and as a challenge (32.5% of 123 challenges) was emergency operations coordination. Strengths were exemplified by sharing local resources and challenges by insufficient memorandums of understanding for coordination.

Conclusions

Post-disaster emergency reports should be systematically reviewed to highlight both successes and areas for improvement. Future studies should prioritize collecting feedback from a wider spectrum of public health and service provider staff for planning of preparedness and response activities. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;10:308–313)

Keywords

disaster planningemergency preparednesshurricanepublic healthpublic health practice
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Special Issue 3: Superstorm Sandy , June 2016 , pp. 308 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

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