Citation

Weiss RI, McKie KL, Goodman RA. Am. J. Public Health 2007; 97(Suppl 1): S73-S81.

Affiliation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2006.104240

PMID

17413083

PMCID

PMC1855002

Abstract

Law influenced every aspect of the public health response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, from evacuation orders, to waivers of medical licensing requirements, to the clean-up of public health threats on private property. We used public health surveillance of news reports to identify and characterize legal issues arising during the disaster response in 5 Gulf Coast states. Data collected from news reports of the events in real time were followed-up by interviews with selected state legal and emergency management officials. Our analysis indicates the value of surveillance during and after emergency responses in identifying public health-related legal issues and helps to inform the strengthening of legal preparedness frameworks for future disasters.

Language: en