Health Impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on St Thomas and St John, US Virgin Islands, 2017–2018

Bibliographic Data

ID11034140
AuthorsMuhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury (0000-0002-2145-0938, Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), H McNorton, C Earl (0000-0002-7979-5453), Andrew J Fiore (0000-0001-8945-5623, Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Scott A Cohen (0000-0002-8758-180X, Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Clayton Wheatley (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Barnard Wheatley (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Michael Chami (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Laura Scieszka (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Matthew Drabin (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Kelsey A Roberts (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Alexandra C Toben (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), J Adrian Tyndall (Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), Lynn M Grattan (0000-0001-6509-2186, Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...), J Glenn Morris (0000-0001-9347-1984, Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Scott A. Cohen, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan, Michael Chami, Laura Scieszka, Matthew Drabin, and J. Adrian Tyndall are with the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Andrew J. Fiore is with the Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville. Clayton Wheatley and Barnard Wheatley are with Schneider Regional Medical Center, St Thomas,...)
Year2019
Volume109
Issue12
Pages1725-1732
Publication date2019-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2019.305310
OpenAlexW31622150
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited13

Objectives. To assess the health impact of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria on St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Methods. We collected data from interviews conducted 6 and 9 months after the hurricanes, a review of 597 randomly selected emergency department (ED) encounters, and administrative records from 10 716 ED visits 3 months before, between, and 3 months after the hurricanes. Results. Informants described damaged hospital infrastructure, including flooding, structural damage, and lost staff. The greatest public health impact was on the elderly and persons with chronic diseases. In the setting of loss of the electronic medical record system, ED chart reviews were limited by problems with missing data. ED administrative data demonstrated that posthurricane patients, compared with prehurricane patients, were older and had less severe complaints. There was a significant increase in patients being seen for diabetes-related and respiratory complaints, especially asthma. Suboptimal recordkeeping for medical evacuees limited the ability to assess outcomes for patients with severe illnesses. Conclusions. Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused major disruptions to health care on St Thomas. Emphasis should be given to building a resilient health care system that will optimally respond to future hurricanes

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