Emergency response and public health in Hurricane Katrina: what does it mean to be a public health emergency responder?

Since 9/11, federal funds directed toward public health departments for training in disaster preparedness have dramatically increased, resulting in changing expectations of public health workers' roles in emergency response. This article explores the public health emergency responder role through data collected as part of an oral history conducted with the 3 health departments that responded to Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi and Louisiana. The data reveals a significant change in public health emergency response capacity as a result of federal funding. The role is still evolving, and many challenges remain, in particular, a clear articulation of the public health role in emergency response, the integration of the public health and emergency responder cultures, identification of the scope of training needs and strategies to maintain new public health emergency response skills, and closer collaboration with emergency response agencies.

Examining public health financing in New York State: a methodology for evaluating local and national public health data.

Historically, there has been little national, standardized data collection on the financing of public health. In part this is due to the diverse way in which local public health is organized and funded. The lack of consistent financial data to adequately evaluate performance severely limits the ability of policy makers to set standards for improving quality. However, even in the absence of such data and analysis, policies have been established by local, state, and national governments to reduce public health funding, while at the same time, placing additional responsibilities on local public health. In an effort to understand fiscal trends for local health departments in New York State, the New York State Association of County Health Officials conducted a survey in December 2002 that collected data on spending and funding sources from calendar year 2000 to calendar year 2002. The survey instrument presents a model for state and local public health departments to evaluate their own resources/needs and to promote information exchange within and between localities. With limited resources, local public health officials must make difficult choices about their programs. By encouraging localities to collect uniform financial data sets, public health will be better suited to support its case for stable and sufficient funding.