2023 – Page 6 – NYU GPH Journal of Public Health Disasters

July 17, 2023July 18, 2023

Annette Mendez, Kyung-Hwa Ashcroft, Corrine Joseph Tendo, and Jahnavi Munagala’s Tornado Emergency Operations Plan for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio

As climate change increases, so does the number and frequency of tornadoes. Over time, there has been a significant amount of damage done to both people and infrastructure, raising concerns about the quality of hospital preparedness in tornado-prone areas around the United States. Annette Mendez, Kyung-Hwa Ashcraft, Corrinne Joseph Tendo, and Jahnavi Munagala developed a Tornado Emergency Operations Plan for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, a level-one pediatric acute teaching hospital ranked the 7th best overall Children’s Hospital in the United States.

July 17, 2023September 2, 2023

Whitney Peters, Nancy Daneau, and Afnan Alsufyani’s Active Shooter Preparedness and Response Plan for BMS Family Health and Community Wellness Center, Brownsville, Brooklyn

Brownsville, Brooklyn has one of the highest poverty and crime rates in all of New York City. In this neighborhood lies the BMS Family Health and Wellness Center, providing care for underserved populations through physical therapy, Ob/Gyn care, service during emergency situations, and more. Whitney Peters, Nancy Daneau, and Afnan Alsufyani collaborated with organizations to create a preventative plan for the family health center in the case of an active shooter event.

July 16, 2023September 2, 2023

Katriel Bush, Kristen Smith, and Catrina Turk’s Emergency Operations Plan for Waterborne Illnesses Among Health Clinics in Southern California

Katriel Bush, Kristen Smith, and Catrina Turk created a public health plan to address the prevalence of waterborne illnesses within the Native American community in Southern California. The proportion of affected individuals with waterborne illnesses is statistically higher in Native American populations than in other racial groups. In this plan, Southern California was chosen due to the higher distribution of Native American individuals across the southern cities compared to the Northern California region, leading to a heightened risk of waterborne illnesses within the region.

July 16, 2023July 18, 2023

Omary Perez’s Case Study on the Bhopal Gas Leak Tragedy

Inside the UCC pesticide factory in Bhopal, India after the gas leak. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

On December 2, 1984, a gas leak at the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) pesticide plant in Bhopal, India resulted in around 45 tons of toxic chemicals leaking into surrounding neighborhoods. Considered one of history’s deadliest industrial accidents, the event resulted in approximately 15,000-20,000 deaths while 600,000 survivors suffered from respiratory diseases, blindness, miscarriages, and other serious health concerns.

July 13, 2023July 13, 2023

Joanna Horvath, Victoria Sevilla, Hyacinth Burrowes, and Gangao Chen’s Wildfire Outbreak Emergency Operations Plan

Due to California’s topography, climate, and vegetation the state provides a “world class” fire environment. By acreage, the largest seven fires in California history have all occurred in the past five years, five of which burned through the state between August and September 2020. To address wildfire response by The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH), the group developed a comprehensive Wildfire Outbreak Emergency Operations Plan.

June 23, 2023June 29, 2023

Nabila Salisu’s Presentation on the 2020 California Wildfires

Driven by dry weather, high winds, and human activity, record-setting wildfires burned through California in 2020 igniting the largest wildfire season in modern history. Over 10,000 fires burned through 4.2 million acres of land damaging 2,000 structures and displacing thousands.

June 7, 2023June 29, 2023

Kristen Gladish’s Case Study on the Collapse of Surfside

The condominium that collapsed at *Surfside*, Miami.

On June 24, 2021, a condominium in Surfside, Florida collapsed, resulting in 98 confirmed deaths and 145 missing. The collapse was likely caused by weakened building structure resulting from a lack of maintenance and corrosion from aggressive storms and rising sea level. The case study by Gladish provides a detailed analysis of this incident, its management, and its epidemiological aspects.

June 6, 2023March 29, 2024

Julia Bathen’s Case Study on the Las Vegas Ricin Incident

In 2008, a man was hospitalized for ricin poisoning in Las Vegas, Nevada. The police later retrieved two vials of the poison made from ricin beans form his hotel room along with weapons and a book on anarchy. Fortunately, the toxin’s effects did not spread to the general public. The incident was later investigated on suspicion of bioterrorism.

June 6, 2023June 8, 2023

Kristen Gladish’s Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Mumbai, Maharashtra

In this THIRA, Gladish assesses the natural, technological, and human-caused threats and hazards in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The natural threats include highly infectious diseases including COVID-19 and rotavirus, air pollution, and heat related mortality. Prominent technological hazards include traffic accidents and infrastructure collapses. Human-related hazards and threats include mental health conditions, substance abuse, and anthropogenic water pollution.

June 5, 2023June 6, 2023

Sofía Manzi, Tanesha Brewster, Sophie Dornevil, Yunjia Tang’s Hurricane Emergency Response Plan for Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Haiti is extremely vulnerable to hurricanes as a result of the country’s economic condition, poor infrastructure, and deteriorating environmental landscape. Considering the many complications that exacerbate natural disasters’ adverse effect on Haiti, the group created an emergency response plan which provides a proactive approach to disaster management in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.