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Responding to Hurricane Disasters
SPH hurricane relief efforts and resources.
Initial September 1, 2005 press release from the University of Michigan School of Public Health subsequently updated as events warrant.
 ANN ARBOR, Mich.-- In his welcoming address to new students at the University of Michigan School of Public Health (UM SPH), Dean Kenneth Warner discussed the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and its public health implications. "The impact of Hurricane Katrina forces us to examine the crucial role that public health can and must play in our society," he said. "This disaster points to the need for planning and organization, for public health readiness, for human talent, effort, and compassion. It emphasizes the necessity of good science and its effective application." (Read more from Dean Warner in a September 7, 2005, letter to the UM SPH community.)
SPH is central to UM efforts that have begun mobilizing aid for the massive recovery. Students from Tulane are continuing their public health educations as non-degree students at UM SPH until they can return to Tulane in January 2006.
New:
NPR, Nov. 18, 2005: "Race and Mental Health in Katrina's Aftermath"
UM SPH's Dr. Harold "Woody" Neighbors discusses this issue on National Public Radio.
More:
More SPH Response:
SPH Office of Public Health Practice
Coordinates relief efforts of students, faculty, staff, and some alumni:
- Participating in panel discusions and providing staff support to the Region 2 South Medical Bio-Defense Network Office and the State Health Operations Center (SHOC).
Michigan Center for Public Health Preparedness
Offers disaster preparedness training for public health students and professionals across Michigan and online. Upcoming courses.
UM SPH Distaster Impact Student Organization
Includes past participants in disaster-relief courses and fieldwork at UM SPH; led by HBHE Adjunct Lecturer Gregory Button, who left Michigan for New Orleans in the days after the hurricane.
- View a Q&A (PDF) with Gregory Button on what led to the disaster.
- The SPH Dean's Office has created a fund to support travel and other associated costs for a limited number of students who wish to work on Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts during winter and spring breaks. Details forthcoming.
More Student Groups:
Public Health Action Support Team (PHAST)
Trains and deploys students to Michigan health departments in
times of public health crisis; Epidemiology Research Investigator JoLynn Montgomery coordinates with the UM SPH Office of Public Health Practice.
SPH Student Organizations' Relief Efforts
Facilitated by Dana Thomas and Tricia Piechowski in the Office of Community-Based Public Health.
Faculty Projects and Expertise:
Disaster Research Education and Mentoring Center
Helps professionals understand the needs of individuals and communities affected by disasters and terrorism; coordinated by UM SPH Associate Professor of Epidemiology Sandro Galea.
University of Michigan School of Public Health Experts List
Lists faculty by area of expertise, such as infectious disease, risk communication, contaminants, policy, etc.
Recent Events:
Sept. 16, 2005: Panel discussion on 'Hurricane Katrina and Its Public Health Aftermath' now available online. (Can be viewed with RealPlayer.) Program was added to the Risk Science and Communication symposium; moderator was UM SPH Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Dean for Practice Matthew L. Boulton, MD, MPH. Other topics and speakers included:
- “Evacuees and Their Needs,” Gregory Button, PhD, UM SPH Adjunct Lecturer in Health Behavior and Health Education (just returned from the Houston Astrodome, where he had a National Science Foundation Grant to do a rapid assessment of the unmet needs of evacuees).
- “Supporting Relocated Disaster Survivors,” Ellen Clement, MPH, MSW, Director and Administrative Health Officer, Washtenaw County Health Department, Michigan.
- “Environmental Effects and Exposures,” Martin Philbert, PhD, UM SPH Professor of Toxicology and Associate Dean for Research.
- “Mental Health Effects of Disasters,” Sandro Galea, MPH, DrPH, UM SPH Associate Professor of Epidemiologyco-director of the Disaster Research Education and Mentoring Center.
- “The Role of the Volunteer: A Student Volunteer's Perspective,” Joshua Karnes, Student, UM SPH Department of Health Management and Policy.
Sept. 9, 2005: Panel discussion “First Response to the Hurricane Katrina Disaster,” sponsored by the School of Public Health, the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and the College of Engineering. (Read 'Katrina response failures must trigger change, panelists say,' University Record story on the event.)
Contact: Terri Mellow, Director
of Communications
Phone: (734) 764-8094
E-mail: twm@umich.edu |
Sign posted in evacuee-filled Houston Astrodome, also pictured below.
Photos by Gregory Button.
National Resources:
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
New guidelines on infectious disease, mental health, keeping food and water safe, electrical hazards, and more.
National Library of Medicine
Toxicology and environmental health links focused on the Katrina cleanup.
U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Ways you can help victims; alerts to fraud; maps of flooded areas and closed roads.
American Public Health Association (APHA)
Response to Hurricane Katrina and 2005 annual meeting news; now to be held in Philadelphia, Dec. 10-14.
After the Tsunami: Facing the Public Health Challenges, New England Journal of Medicine, February 3, 2005: Insights on what public health must deal with in the face of natural disasters.
In Washtenaw County:
Coordination site for evacuees, volunteers, etc.
At the University of Michigan:
Response from the University of Michigan includes projects of many units across campus, such as:
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