scholarly journals Disaster-Related Shelter Surveillance During the Hurricane Harvey Response – Texas 2017

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Amy Helene Schnall ◽  
Arianna Hanchey ◽  
Nicole Nakata ◽  
Alice Wang ◽  
Zuha Jeddy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
Gastrointestinal Symptoms ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Morbidity Data ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
At Risk Populations ◽  
Critical Resource

ABSTRACTObjectives:Hurricane Harvey left a path of destruction in its wake, resulting in over 100 deaths and damaging critical infrastructure. During a disaster, public health surveillance is necessary to track emerging illnesses and injuries, identify at-risk populations, and assess the effectiveness of response efforts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Red Cross collaborate on shelter surveillance to monitor the health of the sheltered population and help guide response efforts.Methods:We analyzed data collected from 24 Red Cross shelters between August 25, 2017, and September 14, 2017. We described the aggregate morbidity data collected during Harvey compared with previous hurricanes (Gustav, Ike, and Sandy).Results:Over one-third (38%) of reasons for visit were for health care maintenance; 33% for acute illnesses, which includes respiratory conditions, gastrointestinal symptoms, and pain; 19% for exacerbation of chronic disease; 7% for mental health; and 4% for injury. The Red Cross treated 41% of clients within the shelters; however, reporting of disposition was often missed. These results are comparable to previous hurricanes.Conclusion:The capacity of Red Cross shelter staff to address the acute health needs of shelter residents is a critical resource for local public health agencies overwhelmed by the disaster. However, there remains room for improvement because reporting remained inconsistent.

scholarly journals Self-Assessment in the Measurement of Public Health Workforce Preparedness for Bioterrorism or other Public Health Disasters

2005 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave S. Kerby ◽  
Michael W. Brand ◽  
David L. Johnson ◽  
Farooq S. Ghouri
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Public Health Workers

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine effective ways to evaluate public health workers' competence for preparedness. Methods. The Public Health Ready project, developed by the National Association of County and City Public Health Officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a pilot program designed to prepare local public health agencies to respond to emergency events. Workers at a Public Health Ready site ( N=265) rated their need for training and their competence in meeting generic emergency response goals. Cluster analysis of cases was conducted on the self-assessed need for training. Results. Three groups of workers emerged, differing in their overall ratings of need for training. A given worker tended to report similar needs for training across all training goals. Conclusions. In this study, workers' ratings of need for training may reflect an overall interest in training rather than need for training in a particular area. Caution should be exercised in interpretation when generic goals and self-assessment are used to measure need for training. Future assessments of training needs may be more effective if they use objective measures of specific local plans.

scholarly journals Field epidemiology training in Europe faces a bright future

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-34
Author(s):  
Arthur L. Reingold
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Field Epidemiology ◽  
Epidemic Intelligence ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
Intelligence Service

It is fitting that the group of articles describing various field epidemiology training programmes published here should appear in 2001, the 50th anniversary of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Were he still alive today, Alex Langmuir (founder of EIS) would be delighted to see how well established and successful such training programmes have become in Europe. Similar ‘on-the-job’ training programmes intended to provide health professionals with the practical skills needed to conduct relevant and timely applied epidemiological investigations in the ‘real world’ of public health are also burgeoning in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Some of these training programmes are being developed and offered jointly with local academic institutions, others involve formal partnerships with CDC itself, and some are stand alone efforts of local public health agencies.

Use of syndromic surveillance data to monitor poisonings and drug overdoses in state and local public health agencies

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. i43-i49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Ising ◽  
Scott Proescholdbell ◽  
Katherine J Harmon ◽  
Nidhi Sachdeva ◽  
Stephen W Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Drug Overdoses ◽  
State And Local

All Hands on Deck: Local Public Health Agencies Leveraging the Incident Command System During Crises

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole R. Baskin ◽  
Mark Barry ◽  
Rachel E. Cohen ◽  
Coleen Condren ◽  
Sarah Crosley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Incident Command System ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Incident Command ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Health Agencies
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document