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“Operation Helping Hands”: Massachusetts' Health and Medical Response to Hurricane Katrina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Suzanne Condon ,
Elena Savoia ,
Rebecca Orfaly Cadigan ,
Marya Getchell ,
Jonathan L. Burstein ,
Bruce Auerbach  and
Howard K. Koh
Suzanne Condon
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Elena Savoia*
Affiliation:
Division of Public Health Practice, Center for Public Health Preparedness, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Rebecca Orfaly Cadigan
Affiliation:
Division of Public Health Practice, Center for Public Health Preparedness, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Marya Getchell
Affiliation:
Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Jonathan L. Burstein
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Division of Public Health Practice, Center for Public Health Preparedness, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Bruce Auerbach
Affiliation:
Division of Public Health Practice, Center for Public Health Preparedness, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Sturdy Memorial Hospital, Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA
Howard K. Koh
Affiliation:
Division of Public Health Practice, Center for Public Health Preparedness, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
*
Division of Public Health PracticeHarvard School of Public Health401 Park DriveBoston, Massachusetts 02115USA E-mail: esavoia@hsph.harvard.edu
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Abstract

Introduction:

As Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans in August 2005, the city's mandatory evacuation prompted the exodus of an estimated 80% of its 485,000 residents. According to estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 18 states subsequently hosted >200,000 evacuees.

Hypothesis/Problem:

In this case study, “Operation Helping Hands” (OHH), the Massachusetts health and medical response in assisting Hurricane Katrina evacuees is described. Operation Helping Hands represents the largest medical response to evacuees in recent Massachusetts history.

Methods:

The data describing OHH were derived from a series of structured interviews conducted with two leading public health officials directing planning efforts, and a sample of first responders with oversight ofoperations at the evacuation site. Also, a literature review was conducted to identify similar experiences, common challenges, and lessons learned.

Results:

Activities and services were provided in the following areas: (1) administration and management;(2) medical and mental health; (3) public health; and (4) social support. This study adds to the knowledge base for future evacuation and shelter planning, and presents a conceptual framework that could be used by other researchers and practitioners to describe the process and out comes of similar operations.

Conclusions:

This study provides a description of the planning and implementation efforts of the largest medical evacuee experience in recent Massachusetts history, an effort that involved multiple agencies and partners. The conceptual framework can inform future evacuation and shelter initiatives at the state and national levels, and promotes the overarching public health goal of the highest attainable standard of health for all.

Keywords

emergency preparednessevacuationHurricane Katrina
Type
Case Study
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 80 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2010

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