Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Chemical Plant's Close Brush With Public Health Disaster From Harvey May Serve As Wake-Up Call
The New York Times: Crisis Is Over At Texas Plant, But Chemical Safety Flaws Remain
Residents have returned to their homes here in the shadow of the Arkema chemical plant now that the fires at the plant are out and the immediate safety hazard has passed. The fires, a result of flooding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey that caused chemicals to become unstable, had little health impact beyond the 21 emergency workers who were treated for smoke exposure. The returning homeowners now face more common problems that follow a flood: crumbling plasterboard, ruined furnishings and, above all, mold. Still, the accident at the plant has exposed large flaws in regulation of chemical safety, risk disclosure and emergency planning. (Krauss, Tabuchi and Fountain, 9/5)
WBUR: How Hospitals Cope With Natural Disasters Like Harvey
Medical professionals across the country are taking cues from Harvey and past storms, like Sandy and Katrina, about how hospitals can better prepare for future natural disasters. Here & Now's Robin Young talks with Dr. Eric Toner, a senior associate with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, about disaster preparedness and resilience in the health care industry. (Young, 9/5)
Kaiser Health News: Hurricane Health Toll: A Doctor Tending To Texans Taps Lessons Learned From Katrina
As Dr. Ruth Berggren digests the calamity affecting her new home state of Texas, she admits to some PTSD. In 2005, she was an infectious-disease doctor at the nearly 3,000-bed Charity Hospital in New Orleans, one of a small number of physicians left managing patients and performing triage in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. She spent weeks and month dealing with the aftermath, before moving to Texas, where she heads the University of Texas-San Antonio’s Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics, part of its Health Science Center. (Luthra, 9/6)
Columbus Dispatch: Nine OhioHealth Lab Techs Drop Everything To Help Colleagues At Houston Hospital
Nine OhioHealth lab technicians are being hailed as experts in their field, “Harvey Techs” and even angels after dropping everything to fly from Columbus to Houston on Monday. The group was needed to stand in for techs at the MD Anderson Cancer Center who were victims of Hurricane Harvey. (Viviano, 9/6)
