18-DEC-2007
Katrina Made the Ill worse: New Report Shows Suffering of Chronic Disease Patients
Dec. 18--A new report from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine shows for the first time how Katrina survivors with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and HIV infection struggled to find their daily medicines and get to doctors to manage their diseases.
The report, released Monday, asked patients and health care providers from Biloxi to Mobile to chronicle their struggles after the storm. The stories revealed that poorly planned or nonexistent disaster plans stripped chronic disease patients of resources and made it nearly impossible for some health care providers to adequately treat these patients.
One provider wrote that after the storm, "Regular diabetes medicine, not insulin... wasn't coming in. Anti-hypertensives, you couldn't find them. You couldn't find antidepressants. What you could find, and what we still have, is two types of antibiotics with short shelf lives." The provider's name was not released.
Normal disaster plans focus on acute illnesses, trauma and infectious disease, said co-author Dr. Martha Arrieta of the Center for Healthy Communities at USA, which deals with health care disparities and education in communities without adequate health care resources. Chronic disease patients, who need treatment every day, are often left to their own devices after a disaster. Many had to focus on basic survival, leaving their diseases to progress, said co-author Dr. Errol Crook, chair of internal medicine at USA.
Stress made some illnesses worse.
Patients with diabetes and hypertension recalled eating ready-to-eat meals, high in salt and carbohydrates. It was the only thing available, and as a result, many suffered uncontrolled blood sugar and high blood pressure.
"I slept a lot," said one patient, "but I thought I was sleeping a lot because it was so hot... and I was almost in a coma and that is what it was... my pressure was really, really high."
Arrieta said that stocking the right food was important to keep this population healthy. She also said that better coordination of volunteer efforts and distribution of supplies was necessary.
"Sometimes the help that was sent was not exactly what was needed," she said.
Local providers that contributed to the study were the State Health Department District IX, which covers the Coast, Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, Coastal Family Health Center, based in Biloxi, the South Mississippi AIDS Task Force, St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy in Biloxi, CVS and Wal-Mart pharmacies in Ocean Springs and Cs Meds in Biloxi.
The authors gave recommendations in the report for better disaster preparation for medical facilities and pharmacies, including stockpiling medicines, creating and practicing disaster plans, and sharing those plans with patients and surrounding facilities.
But even the best-intended plans can go awry, said Coastal Family Health Director Joe Dawsey. They lost four of their nine clinics and all their medical records, including two sets of backups in buildings that ended up underwater.
"We couldn't have planned it any worse," he said. "I think we are in much better shape for the next disaster." As they rebuild, Coastal Family Health clinics are installing generators above the Katrina water line and the administration is storing information much farther north.
To read the study, go to sunherald.com
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.