title: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: role of individuals and collaborative networks in mobilizing/coordinating societal and professional resources for major disasters.
abstract: The medical support for the coordinated effort for Harris County Texas (Houston) to rescue evacuees from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina was part of an integrated collaborative network. Both public health and operational health care was structured to custom meet the needs of the evacuees and to create an exit strategy for the clinic and shelter. Integrating local hospital and physician resources into the Joint Incident Command was essential. Outside assistance, including federal and national resources must be coordinated through the local incident command.
authors.affiliation: Michael E DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, and Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA. redstart@aol.com
authors.forename: Kenneth L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Mattox
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods*; D004190:Disasters; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011634:Public Health; D012066:Relief Work; D018635:Rescue Work; D014481:United States