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Building Just-in-Time Lectures during the Prodrome of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Faina Linkov ,
Ali Ardalan ,
Sunita Dodani ,
Mita Lovalekar ,
Francois Sauer ,
Eugene Shubnikov  and
Ronald LaPorte
Faina Linkov*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA
Ali Ardalan
Affiliation:
Health in Emergency & Disaster Division (HE&DD), Institute of Public Health Research, School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran
Sunita Dodani
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA
Mita Lovalekar
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA
Francois Sauer
Affiliation:
Consultant, Leawood, Kansas USA
Eugene Shubnikov
Affiliation:
Consultant, Novosibirsk, Russia
Ronald LaPorte
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA
*
Faina Linkov, PhD Department of Epidemiology Graduate School of Public Health University of Pittsburgh 3512 Fifth Avenue, Room 312 Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA E-mail : fyl1@pitt.edu
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Hurricane Katrina, followed by Hurricane Rita, were some of the most destructive and costliest hurricanes in US history. In addition to causing death and destruction, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma gave rise to an epidemiology of fear.1 Despite the fact that the odds of dying in a hurricane remains low compared to that of motor vehicle crashes, tornadoes, and fires,2–3 the fear of hurricanes was reinforced by disturbing images on television. Often, these images replaced rational thinking. Teachers and public health educators worldwide only had limited materials to educate their students on the risk and risk factors for hurricanes and disasters, demonstrating how poorly the scientific community was prepared to deliver basic scientific facts about hurricanes.

Type
Letter to the Editor
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , April 2006 , pp. 132
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2006

References

1LaPorte, RE, Ronan, A, Sauer, F, Saad, R, Shubnikov, E: Bioterrorism and the epidemiology of fear. Lancet Infect Dis 2002;2(6):326CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2National Safety Council: What are the odds of dying? Available at http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm. Accessed 03 November 2005.Google Scholar
3Hill, M: Few places in United States safe from natural disasters. Available at http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1105safeplaces05.html. Accessed 03 November 2005.Google Scholar
4Global Health Network Supercourse: Main Website. Available at www.pitt.edu/super1 Accessed 30 October 2005.Google Scholar