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Access to Care in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey, 2012

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2016

Amy L. Davidow ,
Pauline Thomas ,
Soyeon Kim ,
Marian Passannante ,
Stella Tsai  and
Christina Tan
Amy L. Davidow*
Affiliation:
Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, New Jersey
Pauline Thomas
Affiliation:
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
Soyeon Kim
Affiliation:
Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, New Jersey
Marian Passannante
Affiliation:
Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, New Jersey
Stella Tsai
Affiliation:
Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health, New Jersey Department of Health, Newark, New Jersey
Christina Tan
Affiliation:
Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health, New Jersey Department of Health, Newark, New Jersey
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Amy L. Davidow, PhD, Associate Professor, Medical Science Building, 185 South Orange Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07103 (e-mail: davidoal@sph.rutgers.edu).
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Abstract

Objective

Evacuation and damage following a widespread natural disaster may affect short-term access to medical care. We estimated medical care needs in New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Methods

Hurricane Sandy-related questions regarding medical needs included in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey were administered to survey respondents living in New Jersey when Sandy occurred.

Results

Recently arrived foreign-born residents were more likely than US-born residents to need medical care following Sandy. Others with greater medical needs included the uninsured and evacuees. Persons who evacuated or lived in areas that experienced the greatest hurricane impact were less likely to be able to fill a prescription. Only 15% of New Jerseyans were aware of the Emergency Pharmaceutical Assistance Program (EPAP), a federal program which allows prescription refills for the uninsured following a disaster. Recently arrived foreign-born residents and the uninsured were less frequently aware of EPAP: 8.7% and 10.9%.

Conclusions

Populations with impaired access to care in normal times—such as the recently arrived foreign-born and the uninsured—were also at risk of compromised access in the hurricane’s aftermath. Measures to address prescription refills during a disaster need better promotion among at-risk populations. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:485–491)

Keywords

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Systemdelivery of health carehurricanevulnerable populations
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Special Issue 3: Superstorm Sandy , June 2016 , pp. 485 - 491
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2016 

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