title: Managing the hurricane Katrina disaster in the Midwest.
abstract: Displaced evacuees from the Hurricane Katrina Disaster were sent to Indianapolis requiring a disaster response system activation. Throughout the entire disaster response period, there were a total of 80 disaster patients seen in the Wishard emergency department, 1,508 prescriptions filled for 300 patients by the Wishard pharmacy, and 125 patients treated at the outpatient disaster clinic. This article reviews the incident timeline, discuss the unique challenges encountered during the protracted incident command, and provide suggestions for other health systems' management for disasters and emergency situations.
authors.affiliation: Wishard Health Services, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
authors.forename: Theresa L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Joy
authors.forename: Heather N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Kemp
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004190:Disasters; D016529:Emergency Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012036:Refugees / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D014218:Triage / Q000458:organization & administration