MCEER Response: Hurricane Gustav Reconnaissance: Lessons Learned by New Orleans Hospitals from Katrina to Gustav

摘要

The primary purpose of this field research is to determine whether New Orleans hospitals benefitted from the harsh lessons offered by Hurricane Katrina and if they took steps in the three intervening years to become more resilient against disasters. The research investigates all acute care hospitals in the New Orleans area about two weeks after Hurricane Gustav made landfall. Perhaps more than most organizations, hospitals must learn from their disaster experiences and implement policy changes to strengthen their resiliency against predicted and unpredicted events. The research reported here examines whether Hurricane Katrina was a turning point for New Orleans acute care hospitals. Unfortunately, the only way to know if a disaster is a turning point is retrospectively, in the wake of a subsequent disaster. We suggest that Hurricane Gustav represents the first true test of whether New Orleans acute care hospitals learned the lessons taught by Katrina. The research also examines the extent to which the hospitals developed and implemented improved emergency preparedness and response policies and procedures in the wake of Katrina.