Disaster health crisis

Public health is often described as the science and art of promoting health and preventing diseases for the whole societyor a specific segment of society. But it is also a safeguard for the population when events occur, such as natural disasters, infectious disease and unsafe practices threaten health and wellness.

1. Hurricane Katrina

answer the questions below, and then educate your peers on the event, focusing on the response to the “disaster” and the need for public health safeguards.

Give a brief explanation of the situation/disaster/public health crisis. What happened? When did this occur? Why did this happen?

1. Who was harmed? How widespread were the health issues? Was this local, state, national or international?
2. What government/national/international agencies responded? Was the response effective? What could have been done to improve the response?
3. What was the response? What were the financial implications(what was the cost?)? Were there issues of trust with the public related to the government response?
4. What safeguards were put in place so this does not happen again? Were there legislative /policy changes?