Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Jan-Feb;122(1):17-26.
doi: 10.1177/003335490712200103.

Evaluation of public health response to hurricanes finds North Carolina better prepared for public health emergencies

Mary V Davis  1 , Pia D M MacDonald, J Steven Cline, Edward L Baker
Affiliations

Evaluation of public health response to hurricanes finds North Carolina better prepared for public health emergencies

Mary V Davis et al. Public Health Rep. 2007 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Reviews of state public health preparedness improvements have been primarily limited to measuring funds expenditures and achievement of cooperative agreement benchmarks. Such reviews fail to assess states' actual capacity for meeting the challenges they may face during an emergency, as evidenced by activities undertaken during the various phases of a disaster. This article examines North Carolina's public health preparedness and response performance during two hurricanes, Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Isabel in 2003, as well as capacity building activities in the intervening years. North Carolina created new infrastructures, enhanced laboratory capacity, and strengthened communications after Hurricane Floyd. These activities facilitated implementation of functional capabilities through effective centralized communication, command and control incident management, and a rapid needs assessment and medical surveillance during Hurricane Isabel. North Carolina continues to implement these capabilities in public health emergencies. Measuring and implementing functional capabilities during exercises or real events facilitates achievement of preparedness performance standards, goals, and objectives.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Definitions of disaster phases and public health activities
Figure 2
Figure 2
Questions for the evaluation of NC DPH planning, preparation, and response to Hurricanes Floyd and Isabel
Figure 3
Figure 3
Selected North Carolina Division of Public Health, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response Hurricane Isabel preparation activities
Figure 4
Figure 4
North Carolina Division of Public Health Preparedness capacity-building activities and functional capability improvements
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Johnson A. CDC's bioterrorism preparedness cooperative agreement. [cited 2005 Oct 21]. Presented at the Centers for Public Health Preparedness Annual Meeting; Boston, MA; 2005 Jul 11. Available from: URL: http://www.asph.org/acphp/CPHP_Meeting_2005.cfm.
    1. Department of Health and Human Services (US). HHS Announces $1.1 billion in funding to states for bioterrorism preparedness. [cited 2006 Oct 3]. January 31, 2002. Available from: URL: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020131b.html.
    1. Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Washington: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; 2003. Public health preparedness: a progress report—the first six months.
    1. General Accounting Office (US) Washington: US General Accounting Office; 2004. Public health preparedness: response capacity improving, but much remains to be accomplished.
    1. Trust for America's Health. Ready or not? 2003. Washington: Trust for America's Health; 2003. [cited 2004 Apr]. Protecting the public's health in the age of bioterrorism. Available from: URL: http://healthyamericans.org/state/bioterror/

Publication types