Hurricane Katrina Vs. Hurricane Sandy

Disasters are those events which cause great losses. The survey pointed out the different outcomes of the disaster. The deaths of many people may include long-term high costs, major economic and political impacts, social and psychological disturbances, destruction of infrastructure, destruction of houses, loss of property, and social life in society. Among them, the consequences that may harm people’s health and life are crucial. After the disaster, quite a few people need proper medical care. The risk of an outbreak in an emergency is usually greater.

Disasters can reduce the health and injury of victims, exacerbate chronic diseases and reduce access to health care. There are three basic criteria for a critical situation: the first must be a serious damage expectation; secondly, someone must be expected to take steps to prevent or reduce the damage; the third criteria should be a time stamp. In these cases, health services will vary. The disaster must be followed quickly. The consequences of disasters and the impact on health care services put health services on the disaster management agenda. Fichte’s new approach is called the paradox of threats and opportunities. An assessment of the plans and their difficulties in the health system must be understood to improve and implement the reforms. Disasters meet a variety of needs because they vary widely by time, location and scope. In times of crisis, great efforts should be made to ensure that everyone is properly cared for and protects their lives. A well-organized disaster preparedness plan and active community involvement are critical to mitigating the impact of natural disasters (Powell et al., 2012)..

Disaster health management is a systematic process of administrative, organizational and operational decision-making capabilities to address the challenges of planning natural disasters to improve and reduce health care outcomes. The effectiveness of disaster management should be reviewed in all dangerous countries. Addressing these challenges requires operational planning. Participants in the round table as a community response to the crisis. This presentation aims to identify best practices, and develop a nursing response for providing health care services (Shklovski et, al. 2010).

The response of New Orleans to the Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina has long been remembered for organizational and administrative errors in disaster intervention. However, the area of extreme sensitivity (physical and social) that is caused by this disaster does not occur naturally. The organizational structure of the Department of Homeland Security and the pre-occupation and terror of the immature newly established departments were partly due to the defendant’s response to the hurricane of Katrina. This maturity of organizational structure creates an extra bureaucratic hierarchy in the chain of command. The new organization, when the grassroots managers and emergency management are added by the Director of Homeland Security plus a lack of professional experience, has led to a series of management and often delayed response is not the right decision (Shklovski et, al. 2010). In 1993, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), Andrew Hurricane Federal Response, after the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s assessment, and upgraded to an agency recommended at a cabinet level, he had to act as a federal intervention leader. This recommendation has been implemented, but after 9-11, FEMA is integrated into DHS and its function is diluted. At the same time, national and local authorities, especially local and national capacities, are guilty of New Orleans (Powell et, al. 2012).

The political and social history of the city and the state were also to blame partially for the hopeless response. In many ways, at all levels of government, local, state, and federal levels, there is a series of organizational and institutional deficiencies that have become disasters. Any natural event has not affected the demographic trends or the social structure of the population in the United States in short and long term until Hurricane Katrina. In many ways, the devastating pattern of Hurricane Katrina reflects these pre-existing conditions. Wealthy houses with millions of household dollars, flats were destroyed by the storm waves on the Mississippi Gulf coast, floods destroyed homes, and the poor black communities of New Orleans. However, only 15% of African-Americans were devastated by Hurricane Katrina in the metropolitan area of Lockhee-Goldport, and 75% of non-Americans in New Orleans were affected. From the causes of different causal mechanisms in the city, there are also a variety of everyday problems found in the largest suburbs in Mississippi and Alabama. Neighborhood social economy deprivation and health (Shklovski et, al. 2010).

The response of New Jersey to the Hurricane Sandy

The hospitals in New Jersey started planning one week before the storm. The executive team met and looked at all the resources needed for the storm in terms of people, equipment. Each maintenance unit, lantern, battery and all of these disaster cabinets are in normal working condition and ready for use. Obviously, the staff will have to spend at least one night in the medical center, so the manager has a plan for people to stay in the institution. They held spare sheets because they knew the staff needed it and had a fitness center, and the facility manager agreed to provide shower facilities for the staff. All of these preparations were brought together through the command center, which were taken to the square three days before the storm. Standby generators were tested to ensure they were in proper working order and the management team ensured that all critical equipment was plugged into the hospital red emergency outlet associated with the backup generator. The CentraState Health System is an independent and standalone system. It was the responsibility of the health systems managers to go beyond hospital attention when troops emerge after hours of violence. Although it is difficult to grasp all the priorities of the hospital (Powell et, al. 2012).

Katrina versus Sandy

According to Rhodes et, al. (2010), the duration of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans was 32 hours while the duration of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey was 33 hours (Mantell et, al. 2013), the death toll in Hurricane Katrina was 1836 people (Rhodes et, al. 2010) and the death toll in Hurricane Sandy was 109 people (Mantell et, al. 2013). 1000000 people got displaced in Hurricane Katrina (Rhodes et, al. 2010) and 100000 people got displaced in Hurricane Sandy (Mantell et, al. 2013). The peak power outrages in New Orleans was 1700000 houses (Rhodes et, al. 2010) while in New Jersey 8428078 houses got destroyed (Mantell et, al. 2013).

The total cost of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans was $123 Billion, the top wind speed was 125 mph, the storm diameter was 400 miles and the days until the presidential visit were 4 (Rhodes et, al. 2010). The total cost of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey was $60 Billion, the top wind speed was 94 mph, the storm diameter was 940 miles and the days until the presidential visit were 2 (Mantell et, al. 2013).

The impact of New Orleans on the overall health of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina failure ruined New Orleans. Consolidating personal damage of residents and making immediate intervention more difficult to manage were the reasons several major health care providers in the city were not utilized in the accurate manner. After the hurricane, only three of the nine hospitals in the city were open, which made rehabilitation more complicated and that access to medical services was much more difficult for people with limited occupancy. New Orleans is one of the countries with the highest insurance coverage in the country and has been working hard to address health issues for a long time. However, Katrina exposed the issues and failure of management. The new, reorganized, and flexible healthcare system is a model for cities across the country to create healthier communities and a stable health care system. When Hurricane Katrina struck, subsequent floods destroyed the city’s health system. Large urban hospitals got closed and flooded, ambulances were underwater and health professionals were evacuating themselves when Katrina hit (Fussell et al., 2010).

The impact of Hurricane Sandy on the overall health of New Jersey

Before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, the states along with the coastline region had few days and designed to prepare for the storm with the hospital and emergency management officials. But the storm once again proved how difficult it is to deal with this massive national catastrophe and to develop a large number of contingency plans if a very important system collapses. Although the storm caused dozens of deaths, perhaps miraculous, no loss of life was reported due to the collapse of the hospital system. However, at least four hospitals in New York and New Jersey evacuated when the backup generator failed. This caused more stress and increased the needs of other doctors. Traumatic disasters still exists in the minds of mentally ill patients. Ignoring mental health problems is difficult to achieve. Failure of local support system did serious damage for the mental health. This was well documented after Hurricane Katrina. The pooled water also leaked and activated toxic compounds on the streets and on the ground. Sanitation facilities also suffered from storms. It is learned from Sandy that the natural landscape of the river exposes the hospital to a greater risk of flooding because the storm is clear enough (Powell et, al. 2012).

In Florida, management provides a systematic framework for the development, implementation, evaluation and improvement of plans throughout the emergency management cycle. Health systems are prepared to provide the capacity to deliver critical public health and healthcare services to reduce the adverse health outcomes that can occur in any situation. Health systems are prepared to ensure the ability and capacity to deliver critical public health and health care services to reduce the likelihood of adverse health outcomes during the event. Everyone involved in the conflict gets affected by emergency from workers to disaster victims (including family and friends) and the majority of the population ensure resources for the Florida Disaster Response Team and the use of programs, people, equipment and systems to capture information and protect the health and safety of resources. People affected by disasters may experience stress and anxiety at all levels. They may also exhibit other physical and psychological symptoms that may affect their response and function. Social assistance, early psychological first aid and referrals can help the victims face new challenges and provide support during the recovery process to restore them to pre-disaster performance and operational levels (‘Emergency Preparedness & Response | Florida Department of Health’, 2018).

Recommendations (Strategies for overcoming obstacles)

Detailed communication is the most significant precaution against such emergencies. Even if the management is not active, the staff should be well placed to stay in the hospital. Plans to rest or sleep in shifts between the most crucial situations of health care should be developed. Staff should reach out to time and money as early as possible, rather than waiting until the last minute to start in critical emergency situations. In the future, in order to better accommodate employees, it is more proactive to plan to reserve large hotel room blocks near the hospitals (Fussell et al., 2010).

In any storm or other emergencies, the phones appears to be interrupted with internet and mobile devices, thus, emergency communications systems should be developed and used in cities and towns across the United States for the emergency situations of health care. In a real emergency, the EOC of each hospital needs to be backed up. Anesthesiologists and other doctors can be an important part of the Equal Opportunities Commission because they understand how the various departments of the hospital operate. Because the Equal Opportunities Commission works for days and hours, it must support the hospital’s chief medical officer or law enforcement officer to provide sleep and rest time. Caregivers must be instructed to personally go to the EOC and provide support, such as responding to calls or resolving unforeseen problems in any emergency (Powell et al., 2012).

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