Responding to A Natural Disaster
According to the online news article Fire Engineering (2006), before Hurricane Katrina struck, the major concern that emergency disaster responders were worried about was the toxicity of flood waters and outbreak of disease. However, this didn’t turned out to be the real concern. When the actual hurricane struck, one of the biggest concerns that emergency healthcare responders faced was the disruption of the healthcare delivery system that impeded the delivery of adequate care to people with chronic and urgent healthcare needs (Fire Engineering, 2006). Some of the problems they faced were the lack of healthcare workers and transportation of patients from one hospital to another where safer and more adequate care can be given.. According to Fire Engineering (2006), a good amount doctors and nurses left the city of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina’s landfall to avoid the disaster. In addition, there was not a system in placed and sufficient transportation available to move patients from one hospital to another where they can receive more adequate, safer care. In the healthcare field, those who responded to this disaster were local and national healthcare workers.
Based on the comments made by the mayor of New Orleans at that time, I believe that our nation has learned a lesson from this tragic event and that plans are now being implemented to respond to natural disasters in a more efficient, timely and proper manner. For example, rules are now being or have been implemented that a city wide plan for hospitals are to be in placed in case of a natural disaster. Individual hospitals are now not being left alone by themselves to generate emergency plans for their staff and patients in case of a natural disaster (Fire Engineer, 2006). Government authorities are also now required to guarantee that in an event of a disaster, hospitals are ensured to have the necessary supplies needed to care for patients (Fire Engineer, 2006). Also, when transporting patients from one facility to another, systems are now also being in placed to facilitate easier and safer hand off of patient medical records (Fire Engineer, 2006).
Reference:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: lessons learned by doctors and hospitals. (2006). Fire Engineering, 159(9), 44-46. Retrieved from: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.summit.csuci.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=cc1e1762-b95b-45a3-ac23-af99fe5e45f5%40sessionmgr4004&vid=4&hid=4102
