Results of Rapid Needs Assessments in Rural and Urban Iowa Following Large-scale Flooding Events in 2008

Abstract

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p><jats:bold>Background:</jats:bold> On June 8 and 9, 2008, more than 4 inches of rain fell in the Iowa-Cedars River Basin causing widespread flooding along the Cedar River in Benton, Linn, Johnson, and Cedar Counties. As a result of the flooding, there were 18 deaths, 106 injuries, and over 38 000 people displaced from their homes; this made it necessary for the Iowa Department of Health to conduct a rapid needs assessment to quantify the scope and effect of the floods on human health.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:</jats:bold> In response, the Iowa Department of Public Health mobilized interview teams to conduct rapid needs assessments using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based cluster sampling techniques. The information gathered was subsequently employed to estimate the public health impact and significant human needs that resulted from the flooding.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:</jats:bold> While these assessments did not reveal significant levels of acute injuries resulting from the flood, they did show that many households had been temporarily displaced and that future health risks may emerge as the result of inadequate access to prescription medications or the presence of environmental health hazards.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusions:</jats:bold> This exercise highlights the need for improved risk communication measures and ongoing surveillance and relief measures. It also demonstrates the utility of rapid needs assessment survey tools and suggests that increasing use of such surveys can have significant public health benefits.</jats:p><jats:p>(<jats:italic>Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness</jats:italic>. 2011;5:287–292)</jats:p>

Critical Requirements for Nursing Practice in Rural Disasters Caused by Floods

“…This effort though was found not to be as coordinated as wished by the participants. A feeling that various authorities and particularly the local council had reacted badly after a disaster by flood has been described before (14) , indicating the need of including the integration of response organizations in the preparation of a disaster plan.…”

Information needs and priority use cases of population health researchers to improve preparedness for future hurricanes and floods

“…17 We color-coded the card into 6 categories based on Hurricane Maria Collection indexing. 17 The cards include concepts from geographic indicators of community resilience, 5,9,12,27 health research from prior hurricanes and floods, 4,[6][7][8]27,28 and known disaster research concerns. 10,11,29 We used closed card sorting 30 to ask participants to group cards into categories of usefulness.…”

“…Throughout the deployment, 6 provides a means to find and build research capacities. P18 nominated shelter and feeding stations and wastewater treatment [plants] and their capacity as nominated information (7).…”

“…Within a 3-month span in 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the Pacific Northwest wildfires cost nearly 3 times the average global economic costs of the prior 10 years of natural disasters, [1][2][3] highlighting key emergent concerns related to population health during disaster recovery (eg, socioeconomic burden, burden of disease, uncertainties over missing persons, communities coping with prolonged displacement and loss of essential services). [4][5][6][7][8] Despite population health being broadly adopted as a framework to understand health outcomes explained by the risk factors, mitigating factors, and health determinants, 9,10 it has not permeated into research efforts in disaster settings. With disasters on the rise (ie, Australian wildfires and COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic) simultaneously with data science innovations, sophisticated data networks in close partnership with population health research communities are needed to innovate disaster response.…”

Rapid Health Needs Assessment after Typhoons Bolaven and Tembin Using the Public Health Assessment for Emergency Response Toolkit in Paju and Jeju, Korea 2012

“…Rapid health needs assessment tools have been used to assess resources required for decision making during the disaster recovery phase (2345678). Based on information from rapid health and need assessments after disasters, policy makers and stakeholders can identify the public health status of damaged areas and support optimal health care interventions to the affected victims.…”