TAMPA, Fla. (June 1, 2009) – Forecasters are predicting a “near-normal” 2009 Atlantic hurricane season, but routine or not, the public still hungers for expertise and new insights on serious storms. USF Health researchers can address a variety of hurricane-related issues as the season unfolds.

The faculty members listed below have explored the disaster management and public health and safety aspects of hurricanes, and the impact of storms on Florida’s elderly population.

They can be reached through Susanna Martinez Tarokh or Anne DeLotto Baier at USF Health Communications, (813) 974-3300.

Hurricane Management and Response
• Steve Morris, MD, RN, co-director of Bioterrorism and Disaster Training (College of Nursing), spent a month volunteering in southern Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, where he served as medical advisor to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Dr. Morris has extensive experience working in a variety of disasters and disaster scenarios. He has designed and implemented a comprehensive training program for health professionals focusing on man-made and natural disasters, along with disease surveillance and reporting.

Disaster Management Training/Public Health Impacts of Natural Disasters
• Thomas Mason, PhD, professor of environmental and occupational health (College of Public Health), has extensive experience in disaster preparedness training. He was co-director of the Homeland Security for Medical Executives Course (HLSMEC), which prepares senior medical officers, senior staff and civilian executive medical managers to meet the challenges and complexities of a natural disaster or a chemical, biological, radiologic, nuclear or explosive disaster in the U.S. and its territories. He is a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service and serves as a special consultant on the epidemiology of disasters and injury response for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Injury Response.

Hurricane Preparedness of Public Health Workers
• Michael Reid, PhD, MBA, director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness (College of Public Health), has overseen the development and delivery of preparedness training for Florida’s public and private responders to hurricanes and other major events. Training in disaster behavioral health, field epidemiology, and crisis leadership has been provided to several thousand responders, primarily in the Florida Department of Health. Several of the center’s courses are required for service on Florida’s responder “strike teams.”

Community Safety and Worker Fatigue
• Robert Nesbit (director, USF OSHA Training Institute Education Center) can comment on hurricane-related safety issues and health issues, and worker fatigue. The Center, based at the College of Public Health, offers training in the hazards associated with cleaning up debris; temporary roof repairs; dealing with downed power lines, fallen trees and portable power generators; safe use of chainsaws; and heat stress. He also can speak to the issue of adequate training for public and private public sector employees responsible for restoring utilities and removing debris left by storms. Nesbit can be reached at his office at (813) 974-6879 or by cell phone at (407) 709-2267.

Hurricanes and the Elderly
• Amanda Smith, MD, (Eric Pfeiffer Suncoast Alzheimer’s Center at USF Health) can comment on how the stress of an impending natural disaster like a hurricane impacts the elderly, including those with memory disorders or other neuropsychiatric disorders. For those with dementia, news of a hurricane or its aftermath can have a particularly disorienting effect and aggravate behavioral problems, she says. Smith volunteered in Port Charlotte as part of an Area Agency on Aging assessment team following Hurricane Charley in August 2004.

– USF Health –

USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $360 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu