title: The law and emergencies: surveillance for public health-related legal issues during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
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.
authors.affiliation: Office of the Chief of Public Health Practice, Public Health Law Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga 30333, USA. rweiss@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Rachel I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: McKie
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Goodman
mesh_terms: D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004190:Disasters; D004630:Emergencies; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D015980:Public Health Practice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012066:Relief Work / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013781:Texas