2005 Hurricane Response Efforts of the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
NOTE: This document is provided for historical purposes only and may not provide our most accurate and up-to-date information. The most current disaster information can be found on the CDC Natural Disasters and Severe Weather homepage.
The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) deployed 26 persons to the Director's Emergency Operations Center (DEOC) at CDC and to affected areas after the hurricanes of 2005. The following is a summary of some of the activities conducted by NCIPC in response to these hurricanes.
Selected Examples of Hurricane-Related Activities Involving NCIPC Staff
- In Texas, NCIPC conducted syndromic surveillance. Injury was the most common health issue seen and included car crashes, carbon monoxide poisonings, insect/animal bites, and injuries related to cleaning up (e.g., chainsaw injuries, falls from roofs).
- While in Mississippi, Dr. Ruth Shults worked to establish a surveillance system and conducted data collection of hurricane-related illness and injury.
- David Wallace was assigned to the Greater New Orleans Public Health Support Team, which was assisting the City and State Health Department. This effort included an injury prevention team that analyzed the injury surveillance data each day to look for any trends or “hot issues” and report daily to the regional command center.
- NCIPC developed injury prevention flyers, fact sheets, public service announcements, and other messages to address injuries expected during post-hurricane cleanup and injuries identified by the surveillance system (e.g., chainsaw injuries, emergency wound care, motor-vehicle injuries, falls from ladders and roofs, electrocutions from downed power lines, and carbon monoxide poisoning from generators or pressure washers). Among the topics covered was violence prevention (including prevention of shaken baby syndrome, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence), a special concern of evacuation centers where stress-related violence was a potential issue for residents experiencing extended stays in tight and uncomfortable quarters. Distribution links were established with the City of New Orleans Emergency Operations Center, National Guard, New Orleans Police Department, Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster assistance sites, Red Cross and Salvation Army centers, churches, clinics, emergency rooms, health/job fairs, and local retail establishments (e.g., grocery stores, home improvement stores). Additionally, injury prevention flyers and other health communication and education materials were given to nine Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (LDHH) Regional Injury Prevention Coordinators across Louisiana for distribution.
- NCIPC communicated injury prevention messages through local media. David Wallace did a live TV interview of injury risks to returning residents. Wallace and Rita Noonan did a live call-in radio program about injuries and mental health for returning residents. Public service announcements and talking points were developed to highlight key injury issues (e.g., driving safety, domestic violence, home cleanup safety, and falls from roofs or ladders). When surveillance revealed an increase in motor-vehicle-related injuries, the LDHH used this information to prioritize removal of temporary stop signs when traffic lights became operational—thereby decreasing confusion at intersections.
- NCIPC developed and implemented a survey of hospitals in the affected area to identify any urgent care needs and determine if CDC could assist in any way.
- Dr. Mark Faul was assigned to Harris County in Houston, Texas. The mission was to assist Harris County with public health activities including intervention, environmental health, epidemiology, medical advice, and communications. After an outbreak of the Norovirus, CDC analyzed records from the medical clinic and conducted interviews to determine possible patterns of the disease. Faul performed analysis of data from the outbreak and is coauthor of an MMWR article (MMWR: Norovirus Outbreak Among Evacuees from Hurricane Katrina—Houston, Texas, September 2005) that was later reprinted in JAMA (JAMA: Norovirus Outbreak Among Evacuees From Hurricane Katrina—Houston, Texas, September 2005).
Special Projects and Lessons Learned Pursued as a Result
- NCIPC staff were co-authors on Nonfatal injuries following Hurricane Katrina—New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005
Sullivent EE 3rd, West CA, Noe RS, Thomas KE, Wallace LJD, Leeb RT. Journal of Safety Research 2006;37(2):213–217.
- NCIPC developed standard injury surveillance indicators for future on-the-spot injury surveillance.
Page last modified August 28, 2006