Get Involved: Hurricane Katrina, Medicine, and Development
              (by Michael Chong)

A human being requires several things to survive, including food, water, and shelter. Stepping into the 20th century, however, we begin prizing medicine as well. The inventions of intricate machines to sustain and prolong life are like miracles. The catch to all this is that society becomes dependent on it. Many people rely on these machines and they in turn rely on electric power. What happens when electrical systems fail? Will many patients in hospitals die, or are emergency procedures well-planned to minimize deaths? What about people living in their homes? This article will attempt to answer these questions by taking examples from the New Orleans disaster caused by hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans on August 29 causing massive flooding and destruction. Being a Category 5 hurricane, it was one of the strongest ever observed in the Atlantic. Although the initial blow was strong, the most devastating effects came afterwards. Knocking out many power systems and creating an almost impassable sea, numerous people were trapped in their homes and more importantly, the hospitals. Luckily, with most hospitals having backup power and medical stores, they were able to last for a few days before going into a crisis themselves. As each hospital is different in their emergency preparedness, it is difficult to generalize the effect of the hurricane. One thing that can be said is that given the warning weeks in advance, the hospitals were not evacuated in time. The scope of the disaster was forecasted and yet the government failed to provide needed assistance. Hospitals were left to care for themselves, and their patients at the mercy of heat, and lack of food and medicine.

As just mentioned, without air conditioning, patients suffered from excess heat. With New Orleans being in an ambient temperature, heat strokes and dehydration can be avoided. But when temperatures reached over 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius, people start dying, with those in intensive care at most risk. In addition, the lack of medicine posed a significant problem because it forced doctors to make decisions on who would receive treatment. The desperate efforts by hospital staff to provide for the needy were unsuccessful. Again, although most patients could survive without medicine, the ones who suffered the most were the very sick. This story repeats itself across hospitals and nursing homes around the city. When evacuation began a couple days after the storm hit, a couple of extreme stories to note involve the successful rescue of people. Examples include nurses hand pumping ventilators for patients that could not breathe and doctors canoeing to other hospitals in search of medicine.

By now, it is safe to say that the hospitals are evacuated and people are being cared for elsewhere. Despite the fatalities, a large portion of people have made it out alive. Turning to the current situation, however, the question is the status of remaining people and the aftermath.

A healthy human being can survive weeks without food but only days without water. The human body stores plenty of energy and nutrients to make up for lack of food. You might lose a few pounds, but that's about it. On the other hand, dehydration leads to kidney failure and consequent death. Thus, a first mission of the government was to provide these necessities to the people. Much debate still surrounds the institution on whether they acted fast enough to alleviate the situation but late is better than never, to say the least.

After satisfying the bare necessities, we turn towards the aftermath of flooding. As Mark Sobsey, Professor of Environmental Microbiology at North Carolina University stated, "you can think of floodwaters as diluted sewage." Living in New Orleans now is equivalent to living in a sewer. Not only is the visual aspect unpleasant, but sanitation poses an enormous problem for the residents now and later. Many news sources reported dead carcasses of animals and humans floating in the water. Decaying tissue and enormous bacterial growth has led to a few deaths already. If not death, consumption of unclean water or food can cause severe gastro-intestinal complications such as diarrhea.

Along with the filthy water is potential contamination of the air. In highly industrialized areas, chemical leakage could cause pollution and health problems. Airborne chemicals are often toxic and lethal when breathed, especially for those with respiratory problems.

The question of reconstruction and repopulating the city very much depends on how long the clean-up will take and also the status of thousands of buildings. With homes flooded, the major concern is structural. With the waters come molds and fungi that will decompose the exposed wood. It is impossible to describe the extent of damage caused by the train of hurricanes this year because as this article is being written, Hurricane Rita has not landed. However, the same issues arise over and over again. Those of flooding, evacuation and health issues loom over the affected people.

Sources

"Hurricane Katrina." Wikipedia. 22 Sep. 2005. 22 Sep. 2005. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina>.

"Hurricanes." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 22 Sep. 2005. 22 Sep. 2005. <http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/index.asp>.

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