First responders search through the rubble following a fatal tornado in Joplin, Mo. (Photo by KOMUnews via Flickr)
Articles & Tip Sheets
Reporters' preparation would decrease chaos in covering disasters: Disasters are a time of chaos and uncertainty. To perhaps lessen this chaos for reporters, a panel of experts at Health Journalism 2009 in Seattle discussed how journalists might cover and survive disasters as well as understand the medical systems in place to handle them.
Covering a complex story for the long haul: Sheri Fink wrote about what happened at one isolated New Orleans hospital in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina. She did two years of research and reporting on whether medical professionals might have injected patients with drugs to hasten their deaths that culminated in a 13,000-word article that appeared in The New York Times Magazine. She offers insights for AHCJ members undertaking long-form, investigative reporting.
Disaster coverage: Is your newsroom prepared? Joe Hight, managing editor of The Oklahoman and president of the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, presented a disaster and trauma brainstorming session. Here are some points he brought up for journalists to think about.
Reporting on the health impacts of flooding: With floods come major health risks, including drowning, injury, contamination or shortages of water and food, infectious diseases, extreme heat and mental stress. There are a number of resources available to reporters.
AHCJ urges reporters in disaster areas to avoid focusing on selves: Reporters covering the earthquake in Japan, cholera and the earthquake in Haiti, the tsunami in Indonesia and Pakistan floods bring the world's attention to people in urgent need. However, a few news reports places in crisis raise questions of journalistic ethics and professional responsibility. These questions prompted the board of AHCJ to consider these questions and offer guidance to our colleagues.
Presentations
Disaster planning: Questions, concerns and Clayton County: A presentation by Mike Stobbe at the session "How prepared is your city for health disasters?" at the Urban Health Journalism Workshop 2007. Stobbe is a reporter for The Associated Press in Atlanta. The presentation describes the reporting behind an AP project on one Georgia county.
Health disaster planning: Listen to Brian Currie, senior medical director at the Montefiore Medical Center, discuss "How prepared is your city for a disaster" at the 2007 Urban Health Journalism Workshop.
How prepared is your city for a health disaster? A presentation by Kim Elliot at the session "How prepared is your city for health disasters?" at the Urban Health Journalism Workshop 2007. Elliot is the deputy director of Trust for America's Health. The presentation describes the realities of epidemics and public health preparedness.
Following the money in public health crisis preparation: A presentation by Kristi L Koenig, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., professor of emergency medicine and director of Public Health Preparedness, Disaster Medical Sciences Center at the University of California at Irvine, that covers the effects of 9/11 on federal funding, determining how to spend the money, Hazards Vulnerability Analysis, measuring effectiveness and more.
Websites
International Disaster Database: Data on the occurrence and effects of more than18,000 disasters in the world from 1900 to present, compiled from U.N. agencies, non-governmental organisations, insurance companies, research institutes and press agencies.
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
NLM's Disaster Information Management Research Center: Has links to relevant agencies, standards of care in disaster situations, hazardous materials, environmental clean up and more.
Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma
National Organization for Victim Assistance | Video from Joplin, Mo.
Centers for Public Health Preparedness
Public Health Grand Rounds ( University of North Carolina)
Federal Emergency Management Agency
National Mental Health Information Center (HHS)
CDC: Natural Disasters and Severe Weather
Ready or Not 2010: Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism
The report finds that the H1N1 flu outbreak has exposed serious underlying gaps in the nation's ability to respond to public health emergencies and that the economic crisis is straining an already fragile public health system. It contains state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 key indicators.
