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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Monica Allen, MPH¹, Lily Asrat, MA, MPH¹, Diego Castaneda, MPH¹, Karuna Chibber, MHS, MA¹, Maggie Gaddis, MPH¹, Kiersten Israel-Ballard, MPH¹, Jennifer A. Lachance, MSE¹, Marty Martinson, MPH, MEd¹, Arnab Mukherjea, MPH², Sarah Roberts, MPH¹, Fatima M. Rodriguez, MPH¹, Wayne Enanoria, PhD, MPH³, and Tomas Aragon, MD, DrPH³. (1) School of Public Health, DrPH Program, University of California, Berkeley, 509 Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, 917-239-2470, lachance@berkeley.edu, (2) Health Research for Action, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 19 Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, (3) Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness, University of California, Berkeley, 1918 University Avenue, 4th Floor, MC 7350, Berkeley, CA 94720-7350

Eleven first-year DrPH students identified lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina in relation to emergency preparedness for vulnerable populations. Information was gathered through 32 interviews and attendance at five county health department sponsored trainings, one large county emergency preparedness survey, and one mock disaster exercise. Interviews were conducted with a range of key stakeholders in Alameda County, California and New Orleans, Louisiana, including public health and other government officials, community-based organization leaders, community members, and academic researchers. Topics address emergency preparedness strategies for and with vulnerable populations; coordination between communities, community-based organizations, city agencies, and public health departments; and sustainable community-capacity building efforts.

The project included: 1. An analysis of lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina related to emergency preparedness for and with vulnerable populations, based on interviews with representatives from thirteen key stakeholder organizations in New Orleans. 2. A description and analysis of the current and future role of communities and community-based organizations in emergency preparedness for and with vulnerable populations. 3. A description and comparison, including resource and time requirements, of two innovative community-capacity building intervention approaches to emergency preparedness for and with vulnerable populations currently being piloted in Alameda County.

We will present recommendations for: 1) how communities can learn and apply the lessons from Hurricane Katrina to better prepare for future emergencies; 2) strategies that state and local health departments can use to partner with community-based organizations for emergency preparedness; and 3) community-capacity building efforts for emergency preparedness focused on vulnerable populations and the organizations that serve them.

Learning Objectives: Learners will

• Identify five populations that are consistently the first victims of most emergencies and articulate factors that increase their vulnerability;
• Articulate three lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina as they relate to planning for and meeting the needs of vulnerable populations;
• Identify one or more potential role(s) of community-based organizations in emergency preparedness for and with vulnerable populations; and
• Describe two innovative community-capacity building approaches to emergency preparedness currently in use in Alameda County, California and identify possible uses of these approaches in other areas.

Keywords: Vulnerable Populations, Emergency

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered