Analysis of Disaster Response Plans and The Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned From a Level I Trauma Center

The authors retrospectively reviewed their hospital's disaster plan and compared it with actual events that occurred after Hurricane Katrina. They evaluated and scored vital support areas as adequate (3 pts), partially adequate (2 pts), or inadequate (1 pt), with the following results: water-3.0, food-2.4, sanitation-1.5, communication-1.4, and power-1.5. The authors concluded that, despite writing and exercising plans, the hospital was still not fully prepared.