title: New York State Public Health System Response to Hurricane Sandy: Lessons From the Field.
abstract: The aim of this study was to conduct interviews with public health staff who responded to Hurricane Sandy and to analyze their feedback to assess response strengths and challenges and recommend improvements for future disaster preparedness and response.
  
  
  
  Qualitative analysis was conducted of information from individual confidential interviews with 35 staff from 3 local health departments in New York State (NYS) impacted by Hurricane Sandy and the NYS Department of Health. Staff were asked about their experiences during Hurricane Sandy and their recommendations for improvements. Open coding was used to analyze interview transcripts for reoccurring themes, which were labeled as strengths, challenges, or recommendations and then categorized into public health preparedness capabilities.
  
  
  
  The most commonly cited strengths, challenges, and recommendations related to the Hurricane Sandy public health response in NYS were within the emergency operations coordination preparedness capability, which includes the abilities of health department staff to partner among government agencies, coordinate with emergency operation centers, conduct routine conference calls with partners, and manage resources.
  
  
  
  Health departments should ensure that emergency planning includes protocols to coordinate backup staffing, delineation of services that can be halted during disasters, clear guidelines to coordinate resources across agencies, and training for transitioning into unfamiliar disaster response roles. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:443-453).
authors.affiliation: 1Office of Public Health,New York State Department of Health,Albany,New York.
authors.forename: Asante
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shipp Hilts
authors.affiliation: 1Office of Public Health,New York State Department of Health,Albany,New York.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mack
authors.affiliation: 1Office of Public Health,New York State Department of Health,Albany,New York.
authors.forename: Millicent
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eidson
authors.affiliation: 1Office of Public Health,New York State Department of Health,Albany,New York.
authors.forename: Trang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: 1Office of Public Health,New York State Department of Health,Albany,New York.
authors.forename: Guthrie S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Birkhead
mesh_terms: D002959:Civil Defense / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D055867:Cyclonic Storms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009518:New York; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014481:United States; D014492:United States Public Health Service / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: disaster planning; emergency preparedness; hurricane; interviews; public health