181477 Effect of Hurricane Katrina on citizen's levels of preparedness in the state of Mississippi

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Andrew C. Rucks, PhD , Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL
W. Jack Duncan, PhD , Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL
Abyot Dereje, MPH , Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL
Lori A. Herring , Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL
Michael Poole, MSPH , Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL
Keslie S. Woods, MPH , University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
People who have lived through a natural disaster know and appreciate better the importance of preparedness than those who have not. This poster compares the levels of preparedness of people in the state of Mississippi as divided along a geographical line running west to east approximately through the city of Hattiesburg. Individuals living south of this line are more likely to have personally experienced damaging effects from Hurricane Katrina. Those who live north of this line are less likely to have personally experienced damaging effects. We hypothesized that those who personally experienced the effects of the hurricane will be more prepared to deal with the threat of pandemic influenza than those who did not. We also hypothesized that within a community, those who personally experienced Hurricane Katrina will be more likely to react with concern over a geographically close case of person-to-person transfer of pandemic influenza than those who did not. This poster will demonstrate the results of a series of surveys given to a convenience sample of people throughout the two geographical regions of Mississippi with respect to levels of preparedness, geographic region and personal experience of Hurricane Katrina.

Learning Objectives:
1. To assess regional differences in preparedness in Mississippi as affected by citizen experiences with Hurricane Katrina. 2. To demonstrate whether those who were personally affected by Hurricane Katrina are more likely to react with concern over a geographically close case of person-to-person transmission of H5N1 avian influenza.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: have presented to APHA for past 4 years, and presented at other public forums
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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