How Public Health and Law Enforcement Agencies Work Together
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1 How public health and law enforcement agencies work together Dr Joseph Costa, D. H. Sc., PA-C Health Policy and Management MPH 525 Dr Adeniyi Mofoluwake Adijolola June 2013 2 Table of contents Chapter Page 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 4 2. Collaboration between Public Health and Law Enforcement Agencies……………. 5 Agencies formed by the collaboration of public health and law enforcement agencies... 5 The National Disaster Medical System…………………………………………. 5 The Disaster Medical Assistance Teams………………………………………... 5 Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces………………………………………….. 5 Mobile Emergency Response Support ….………………………………………. 6 Specific collaboration that occurred between different public health and law enforcement agencies in response to Hurricane Katrina…………………………………………………... 6 How volunteer agencies helped and hindered the collaboration…………………………… 7 How to make improvements in the event of a recurrence in the future…………….………. 8 What went wrong with the Disaster Management of Hurricane Katrina…………….…….. 9 What went well with the Disaster Management of Hurricane Katrina……………….…… 10 How public health agencies function and the manner in which they functioned…….…… 10 The role of local, state and federal government in response to Hurricane Katrina…….….. 10 3 3. Federal policy regarding disaster management and public health ………………….. 12 Summary……………………………………………………….……………………………. 14 Recommendation……………………………………………………….…………………… 14 References ………………………………………………………………..…………………. 15 4 Chapter 1 Introduction During a vacationed in the United States in October 2005 shortly after Hurricane Katrina before then; I had been in touch with my friend and classmate who left Nigeria after our compulsory one year internship to seek greener pastures in the US. I informed her of my intention to spend part of my annual leave in the US and she promised to host me. On my arrival, she was not available to attend to me. I couldn’t even reach her but her sister informed me that she had travelled to volunteer help to the victims of hurricane Katrina. While in Nigeria, I was aware of the disaster that occurred in the US but did not have an idea how bad it was. I did think it was noble of her to offer her medical skills, knowledge and experience to help to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. While vacationing I watched the television more and I had an idea how bad it was. I watched the aftermath of the hurricane and its devastation daily, those scenes are still this deeply seated in my memory. Then I understood my friend’s desire to help, no one who could help these victims would have held back. I have chosen to write up on how public health and law enforcement agencies worked together during Hurricane Katrina because; I want to learn more about emergency preparedness and response to natural disasters as it is certain that natural disasters of this form can still occur all over the world (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013). For instance, natural disasters that have resulted in flooding have occurred after Hurricane Katrina in some parts of the world and some may still occur in the future. In the United States, Hurricane Sandy occurred in year 2012 and in Nigeria flooding occurred in 2011 and 2012. Hurricanes are natural disasters that threaten the health of the public by affecting large populations and leading to morbidity and mortality (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013). A hurricane can also be defined as a tropical storm with winds reaching a constant speed of 74mph or more. It might bring high winds, torrential rains and storm surges as it lands. These storm surges and torrential rains lead to flooding (Hurricane.com, 1994 - 2013). Hurricane Katrina occurred on the 29th of august 2005. It was previously a category five storm when it moved close to New Orleans; it became a category three storm (Hurricane.com, 1994 - 2013). It landed on the United 5 States gulf coast and it reached Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013). Hurricane Katrina was the worst and one of the deadliest, costliest and most destructive natural disasters in US history. It caused death amongst humans and animals, flooding, damaged properties, disrupted communications, resulted in shortage of essential services (electricity, portable water, food, fuel), damaged healthcare and public health system (CDC, 2005). An estimated 1,833 persons were killed and property destroyed was estimated at $81 billion in Louisiana, Florida, Texas, New Orleans, and Mississippi (Knabb, Rhome & Brown, 2005; Swenson & Marshall, 2005). Chapter 2 Collaboration between Public Health and Law Enforcement Agencies It is essential for public health and law enforcement agencies to collaborate in the management of natural disasters. This collaboration is essential to planning and response because a lot of public health preparedness plans include law enforcement (Bowen W., 2013). Several public health and law enforcement agencies collaborated to support the public health and medical-care functions and execute emergency management in response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina (CDC, 2005). According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (2005); “the CDC/ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry) collaborated and deployed 182 members of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officers and federal civilian personnel to provide technical support and additional personnel for critical public health functions (e.g., public health needs assessment; disease surveillance; laboratory support; prevention and control of infectious diseases, including food borne, waterborne, and vector borne diseases; mental health services; sanitation and water quality; chemical-exposure management; and injury prevention and control)”. The United States Department of Health and Human Services aims at ensuring that all the four phases of emergency management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation are managed (DHS, 2006). As a result, the US Department of Homeland Security on the 1st of March 2003, created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support US citizens and first responders in working together to build, sustain and improve United States’ our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate hazards (FEMA, 2013). Agencies formed by the collaboration of public health and law enforcement agencies The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS); it was transferred from the Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Health and Human Services. The NDMS team consists of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc. that provide medical and allied care to victims of disaster. The NDMS team is sponsored by hospitals, public safety agencies or private 6 organizations. It is assisted by the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) team which composes of officers of the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service (US DHHS, 2013). The Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT); it is made up of doctors and paramedics that provide medical care at disasters. They also include National Nursing Response Teams (NNRT), National Pharmacy Response Teams (NPRT), Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT), Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams (DMORT) (which provide mortuary and forensic services) and National Medical Response Teams (NMRT) (which decontaminates victims of chemical and biological agents) (USDHHS, 2013). Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces (US&RTF); it specializes in urban search and rescue, disaster recovery and emergency triage by searching to find trapped victims after disasters, rescuing (at times by safely digging victims out of tons of collapsed concrete and metal), making rescues safe for rescuers and caring for victims before and after a rescue (FEMA, 2012). Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS); it provides communications support to local public safety teams by operating trucks with satellite uplink, computers, telephone and power generation at staging areas near disasters so that responders can communicate with the outside world; erecting portable cell phone towers to allow responders access telephone systems and airlifting of assets of Mobile Air Transportable Telecommunications System (MATTS) (US DHHS, 2013). Specific collaboration that occurred between different public health and law enforcement agencies in response to Hurricane Katrina The Department of Veterans affairs evacuated its local hospitals. The Department of Defense set up field hospitals at the New Orleans International Airport and abroad naval vessels (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013). FEMA responded to the emergency with the use of the small, decentralized teams formed by the collaboration of public health and law enforcement agencies. They include; Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, National Disaster Medical System, Disaster Mortuary Operations Response Team, Disaster Medical Assistance Team and Mobile Emergency Resource Support (DHS, 2006). Eleven Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams with two Disaster Portable Mortuary Units were deployed to assist in identification and body recovery operations (DHS, 2006). FEMA activated the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) in Washington, DC and the Regional Response Coordination Centers (RRCC) in Atlanta, Georgia, and Denton, Texas before the storm shifted. They tracked the storm and prepared to coordinate the response (DHS, 2006). In Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana Emergency Operations Centers (EOC)