Prof. Lisa Ulmer's triage work in Baton Rouge, Lousiana |APHA Annual Meeting Moved from New Orleans to Philadelphia, December 10-14 |ASPH Annual Meeting ALSO in Philadelphia, December 10-14, Coincides with APHA | Links to Charities and Related Information
10/21: "Academic Public Health Community Responds to Hurricane Katrina: A Showcase of Systems and Partnerships" Public Health Reports, Nov-Dec 2005, pp. 688-691
10/20: "The Politics of Disaster: Considering Ethics, Engineering and Public Health in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina": A Drexel University Panel
10/5: "Tons of household chemicals that were once stored safely in garages, bathrooms and kitchen cabinets along the Gulf Coast pose a potential environmental threat after being scattered by Hurricane Katrina and its twin Rita," CNN reports.
10/4: The "door-to-door" search for bodies in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina has officially ended, with the death toll in that state at 972. The official death toll for all states affected by the storm is 1,160. Meanwhile, NPR reports on evacuation plans for US cities in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. What failings were exposed, and what can be done to correct them?
9/23: Assoc. Prof. Peter Rumm, co-director of Drexel's Center of Public Health Readiness and Communication, was featured in a segment broadcast on WPVI-TV (ABC-6) on September 23, about Philadelphia's evacuation plan.
9/19: Conflicting views of the recovery of New Orleans continue, as Mayor C. Ray Nagin allowed business owners to return to the French Quarter and select neighborhoods in the city this past weekend, with a planned opening of the Quarter to residents by next Monday. But Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard, "the top official in charge of the federal response to the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, again urged a delay on [September 18] to a plan that is bringing people back to a city largely without power, drinking water or a working 911 system," the New York Times reports.
Another Times article, citing the death toll in New Orleans hospitals and nursing homes (154, at most recent count), "suggests that the elderly and critically ill plummeted to the bottom of priority lists as calamity engulfed New Orleans."
9/15: Major concerns remain in New Orleans about the toxic residue left behind by receding floodwaters, as the Environmental Protection Agency continues to examine "what the worst hazards are, where they are and what can be done about them," reports The New York Times today. Dr. Kevin Stephens, director of the New Orleans Health Department, writes in a press release on the City of New Orleans website that citizens "should stay out of Orleans Parish until the exact nature of the conditions is known." Mayor C. Ray Nagin "strongly urged citizens to stay out of New Orleans because of health and safety concerns." The release further "recommends that anyone who has been in New Orleans since the hurricane should be inoculated for tetanus, diphtheria, influenza and hepatitis A. Many shelters are equipped to provide these inoculations."
In Philadelphia, the city's Project Brotherly Love for Katrina evacuees requests volunteers online.
9/13: Both the International Committee of the Red Cross and Google have launched comprehensive "people locator" sites to enhance the search process for people affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Philadelphia's Wanamaker School shelter for Katrina evacuees was visited yesterday by U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson and U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., PA) accompanied by Philadelphia Mayor John Street. Jackson praised the work of the shelter. "About 400 people have received assistance at the Wanamaker facility...many of them people who made it to Philadelphia on their own," said Mayor Street's spokesman Joe Grace, today's Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
9/12: A reminder that the 133rd Annual Meeting and Exposition of the APHA has been moved from New Orleans to Philadelphia, PA, and is scheduled for the Pennsylvania Convention Center on December 10-14. Please check the APHA site for continued updates.
9/9: Fifty-four Katrina evacuees are now settled at Philadelphia's Wanamaker Junior High School, according to a KYW News Radio report, while a total of 130 evacuees have been able to use resources at the new shelter, including communication, food and health services. The Philadelphia Inquirer covers the ongoing scene at the shelter in more detail.
Reports of dystentery and cholera outbreaks at a Biloxi, MS relief shelter have proven unfounded. "A survey of [Mississippi] shelters and hospitals by federal health officials found no unexpected illness this week, and 'surprisingly few' cases of gastrointestinal disease, even though most shelters still lack running water and sewage service," The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
9/8: Thirty-eight Katrina evacuees arrived in Philadelphia yesterday on a flight from New Orleans, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. They were promptly checked by a medical team at the airport. "Most of them had cuts and bruises, and many had chronic health conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, but had their medicine with them, medical staff said." Four of the evacuees were hospitalized, while the others were taken to the Wanamaker Junior High School set aside by the City of Philadelphia to house them. There is also "an unknown number of other people from the storm-damaged areas [who] have come to Philadelphia on their own. State officials said they know of at least 100 who have come to Philadelphia and 12 to Pittsburgh." Click here for the full article.
Drexel University's Health Sciences Schools have begun a Katrina Supply Drive. Donations are requested for such items as canned goods and other non-perishable foods, bottled water, daily toiletries and insect repellants. The Drive extends until at least September 23, and items may be dropped off in the lobbies of Stiles Alumni Hall, the New College Building, and the Bellet Building, all on the Center City Hahnemann Campus. For more information, please contact Jason C. Dukes at jcd38@drexel.edu or Camille Thelin at cst32@drexel.edu.
Associate Professor Peter Rumm is assessing the evacuee situation in San Antonio, Texas, where he has gone with a shipment of medical supplies. Professor Lisa Ulmer has returned to Drexel from Baton Rouge, Lousiana.
Drexel University Asst. Professor Robert D'Ovidio, Dept. of Culture and Communication, speaks in today's Inquirer about care to be taken when seeking or displaying information on Web sites for housing Katrina evacuees. Click here for the full article.
9/7: Public health professionals and educators are coordinating their response to Katrina's aftermath on national and local levels, both in the directly affected areas and in those parts of the US to which evacuees have been, or are expected to be, relocated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has posted related health information as well as an urgent request for medical and relief aid volunteers to assist in relief. The CDC Foundation has also made a similar request: "CDC and other public health teams need critical supplies to aid their work in the hurricane-ravaged regions around the Gulf of Mexico."
The American Public Health Association (APHA) responds to the crisis here, including information about relocating its annual meeting from New Orleans to Philadelphia.
In the Philadelphia area, Mayor John Street has commenced "Project Brotherly Love," and prepared Wanamaker Junior High School (11th Street & Cecil B. Moore Avenue) to house up to 5000 evacuees from the Gulf. The Drexel School of Public Health is in contact with city officials regarding this ongoing situation and the need for social workers and other volunteers in this local effort. The "Brotherly Love" website has information for those seeking to volunteer at the Wanamaker shelter.
Prof. Lisa Ulmer is currently in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, working on counseling issues at the Emergency Center there. Associate Professor Peter Rumm, M.D., M.P.H, F.A.C.P.M, Co-Director of the Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication, is departing today for the region, and two of the School's doctoral students were deployed last week. Direct reports concerning their work will be posted as available.
Drexel University has posted information about its committment to Katrina relief efforts, including a link to "Drexel University professors available to comment on the aftermath."
9/5: The Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) has posted a Special Alert for students enrolled in the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, where the fall semester has been cancelled. This alert contains information about the Tulane Emergency Student Placement Program, which will assign students to other accredited public health schools, including Drexel University, around the nation, for the continuance of their studies this fall semester. ASPH has also posted a message from Tulane Public Health Dean Pierre Buekens, as well as other news pertaining to Katrina's aftermath. Tulane students seeking information about the Drexel School of Public Health should contact Marcus M. Kolb, PhD, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, at mmk52@drexel.edu or 215.762.1819.
9/1: Professor Lisa Ulmer, M.S.W., Sc.D., was interviewed this morning on Radio Times (WHYY 91 FM), concerning the impact of Hurricane Katrina. From 1999-2003, Prof. Ulmer was Professor of Public Policy at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where her research on public health issues included the 2003 Synar Report (on youth access to tobacco), for which she was the principal investigator. A recording of the live program can be downloaded here as a RealPlayer audio file; Prof. Ulmer’s interview begins 35 minutes into the program.
8/31: The catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast and other areas of the Southern US continues to be assessed. There are increasing reports of deteriorating conditions in New Orleans and other cities, involving major flooding, extensive destruction of homes, roads and transportation outlets, lack of food and potable water, complete power outages and tropical weather conditions. Here is a selection of sites that may be visited to offer immediate assistance, as well as to get updates on what is already one of the worst natural disasters in American history.