Well…it
is hard to know how to start. For those of you who have lived through this
experience, our hearts and thoughts are with you. Given that, I wanted to send
a quick note that most likely reiterates what you have been hearing from public
health and government and public works officials. The topic of disaster
response is a well thought-out one, with a great deal of research behind it.
When I studied disaster response as part of my MPH program, my teacher was
Linda Landesman. She is a thought leader on the subject and wrote a very
important book entitled Public Health
Management of Disasters, a useful resource for people wanting to understand
how to prepare for this sort of situation. The book is published by the APHA.
The way
I think of the topic is very similar to how I think of disease in general. Is
it acute or chronic or an acute flare-up of a chronic situation? Which means
that when the event first occurs, the needs are different than they are a few
weeks or 6 months later. So for where we
are now, here it goes.
