Organizational problems faced by the Missouri DOH in providing disaster relief during the 1993 floods.
This case study examines the organizational problems of Missouri Department of Health (DOH) while providing flood relief in 1993. It reveals low awareness of DOH's emergency plan, disorganized information collection, and perceptions that federal flood relief was "resource-driven," not "need-driven." Lessons for other health departments are (1) Information collection during disasters should be centralized. (2) Health departments should train district offices to carry out their emergency plan, and include local health departments in emergency planning. (3) Federal and state agencies providing emergency aid should be sensitive to the needs of district and local health departments.
Gautman
K
K
School of Public Health, Saint Louis University, Missouri, USA.
D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004190:Disasters; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006295:Health Resources / Q000592:standards; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008923:Missouri; D017146:Models, Organizational; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States