2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes: The Public Health and Medical Response (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 20, 2006 |
| Report Number |
RL33096 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Sarah A. Lister, Domestic Social Policy Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in late August 2005, causing catastrophic wind damage
and
flooding in several states, and a massive dislocation of victims across the country. The storm was
one of the worst natural disasters in the nation's history. Estimates are that more than 1,200 people
were killed and about 2 million displaced. Hurricane Rita, which made landfall along the Gulf Coast
in late September 2005, was ultimately less lethal than Katrina, but prompted aggressive
preparedness efforts by governments and citizens shaken by the devastation of the earlier storm.
In response to a series of disasters and terrorist attacks over the past decade, in particular the
terror attacks of 2001, Congress, the Administration, state and local governments and the private
sector have made investments to improve disaster preparedness and response. New federal
authorities and programs to strengthen the nation's public health system were introduced in
comprehensive legislation in 2002. Congress also created the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) in 2002 to provide national leadership for coordinated preparedness and response planning.
A new National Response Plan (NRP), launched by DHS in December 2004, met its first major test
in the response to Hurricane Katrina.
According to the NRP, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is tasked with
coordinating the response of the public health and medical sectors following a disaster. HHS works
with several other agencies to accomplish this mission, which includes assuring the safety of food,
water and environments, treating the ranks of the ill and injured, and identifying the dead. HHS
activities are coordinated with those of other lead agencies under the overall leadership of DHS.
Congress and others will review the response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with an eye toward
assessing how well the NRP worked as an instrument for coordinated national response, and how
well various agencies at the federal, state and local levels carried out their missions under the plan.
Hurricane Katrina dealt some familiar blows in emergency response. The failure of communication
systems, and subsequent difficulties in coordination, challenged response efforts in this disaster as
with others before it. Hurricane Katrina also pushed some response elements, such as surge capacity
in the healthcare workforce, to their limits. The response to Hurricane Katrina has also called
attention to the matter of disaster planning in healthcare facilities, and the potential role of health
information technology in expediting the care of displaced persons. Policymakers will no doubt
study these elements of the Katrina response and seek options for continued improvement in national
disaster preparedness and response.
This report discusses the NRP and its components for public health and medical response,
provides information on key response activities carried out by agencies in HHS and DHS, and
discusses certain issues in public health and medical preparedness that have been raised by the
response to the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. This report will be updated as circumstances warrant.
