Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T18:58:59.860Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Addressing Community Needs During the Hurricane Response and Recovery Efforts Through Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER)—United States Virgin Islands, 2017-2018

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2019

Amy Helene Schnall ,
Joseph (Jay) Roth ,
Brett Ellis ,
Krystal Seger ,
Michelle Davis  and
Esther M. Ellis
Amy Helene Schnall*
Affiliation:
National Center for Environmental Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Ms Schnall)
Joseph (Jay) Roth
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, assigned to US Virgin Islands Department of Health (Mr Roth);
Brett Ellis
Affiliation:
US Virgin Islands Department of Health (Dr Bret Ellis, Ms Seger, Dr Davis, and Dr Esther Ellis)
Krystal Seger
Affiliation:
US Virgin Islands Department of Health (Dr Bret Ellis, Ms Seger, Dr Davis, and Dr Esther Ellis)
Michelle Davis
Affiliation:
US Virgin Islands Department of Health (Dr Bret Ellis, Ms Seger, Dr Davis, and Dr Esther Ellis)
Esther M. Ellis
Affiliation:
US Virgin Islands Department of Health (Dr Bret Ellis, Ms Seger, Dr Davis, and Dr Esther Ellis)
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Amy Helene Schnall, 4770 Buford Highway MS F60, Chamblee, GA 30341 (e-mail: GHU5@cdc.gov).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives

Two category 5 storms hit the US Virgin Islands (USVI) within 13 days of each other in September 2017. This caused an almost complete loss of power and devastated critical infrastructure such as the hospitals and airports

Methods

The USVI Department of Health conducted 2 response Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPERs) in November 2017 and a recovery CASPER in February 2018. CASPER is a 2-stage cluster sampling method designed to provide household-based information about a community’s needs in a timely, inexpensive, and representative manner.

Results

Almost 70% of homes were damaged or destroyed, 81.2% of homes still needed repair, and 10.4% of respondents felt their home was unsafe to live in approximately 5 months after the storms. Eighteen percent of individual respondents indicated that their mental health was “not good” for 14 or more days in the past month, a significant increase from 2016.

Conclusion

The CASPERs helped characterize the status and needs of residents after the devastating hurricanes and illustrate the evolving needs of the community and the progression of the recovery process. CASPER findings were shared with response and recovery partners to promote data-driven recovery efforts, improve the efficiency of the current response and recovery efforts, and strengthen emergency preparedness in USVI. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:53-62)

Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 13 , Special Issue 1: Serial Hurricanes , February 2019 , pp. 53 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Erdman, J. 2017 Atlantic hurricane season among top 10 most active in history. The Weather Channel: Hurricane News. https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2017-atlantic-hurricane-season-one-of-busiest-september. Published October 2, 2017. Accessed November 21, 2017.Google Scholar
2. Disasters. US Federal Emergency Management Agency website. https://www.fema.gov/disasters Accessed November 21, 2017.Google Scholar
3. Dwyer, C. The Virgin Islands, after Irma: ‘it was like stepping onto another planet’. NPR: Breaking News. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/14/550940009/the-virgin-islands-after-irma-it-was-like-stepping-onto-another-planet. Published September 14, 2017. Accessed November 21, 2017.Google Scholar
4. Coordinated federal support continues for U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico following hurricanes Irma and Maria. US Federal Emergency Management Agency website. https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2017/10/11/coordinated-federal-support-continues-us-virgin-islands-and-puerto-rico. October 11, 2017. Accessed November 21, 2017Google Scholar
5. US Federal Emergency Management Agency. Daily Operations Briefing. http://www.disastercenter.com/FEMA+Daily+Ops+Briefing+10-02-2017.pdf. Published October 2, 2017. Accessed November 21, 2017Google Scholar
6. Malilay, J, Flanders, WD, Brogan, D. A modified cluster-sampling method for post-disaster rapid assessment of needs. Bull World Health Organ. 1996;74(4):399-405.Google Scholar
7. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) Toolkit: Third Edition. Atlanta:2019Google Scholar
8. Arroll, B, Goodyear-Smith, F, Crengle, S, et al. Validation of PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 to screen for major depression in the primary care population. Ann Fam Med. 2010;8(4):348-353 Google Scholar
9. Kroenke, K, Spitzer, RL, Williams, JB. The 2-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale had high sensitivity and specificity for detecting GAD in primary care. Evid Based Med. 2007;12:149. http://ebm.bmj.com/content/ebmed/12/5/149.full.pdf. Accessed November 21, 2017.Google Scholar
10. US Census Bureau. American Fact Finder: US Virgin Islands.https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t. Accessed March 3, 2018.Google Scholar
11. Rodent Control after a Disaster. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Disaster Fact Sheet website. https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/rodents.html. Published November 8, 2012. Updated December 12, 2017. Accessed March 3, 2018.Google Scholar