Longitudinal Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response to Wildfire, Bastrop County, Texas.

On September 4, 2011, a wildfire ignited in Bastrop County, Texas, resulting in losses of 34,068 acres of land and 1,645 homes and 2 deaths. At the request of the Texas Department of State Health Services Health Service Region 7 and the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management, Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) were conducted in the weeks following the wildfire and again 3.5 years later to assess both the immediate and long-term public health and preparedness impacts of the wildfire.

Epidemiologic Investigation of Injuries Associated With the 2013 Fertilizer Plant Explosion in West, Texas.

Objective: On April 17, 2013, a fire and subsequent explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company plant in West, Texas, and caused extensive damage to the adjacent neighborhood. This investigation described the fatal and nonfatal injuries caused by the explosion.

Methods: Persons injured by the fertilizer plant explosion were identified through death certificates, medical examination reports, medical records, and survivor interviews.

Geographic distribution of synthetic cannabinoid exposures reported to Texas poison centers.

Background: Synthetic cannabinoids have recently gained popularity as recreational drugs because they provide a marijuana-like high and cannot be detected in typical urine drug screens. However, the use of synthetic cannabinoids may result in a variety of adverse effects.

Objectives: The intent of this investigation was to determine whether synthetic cannabinoid exposures in Texas demonstrated any geographic variation.

Tracking deaths related to Hurricane Ike, Texas, 2008.

Background: On September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike, a category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, made landfall near Galveston, Texas. Ike produced a damaging, destructive, and deadly storm surge across the upper Texas and southwestern Louisiana coasts. Thirty-four Texas counties were declared disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; 15 counties were under mandatory evacuation orders.

Community assessment for public health emergency response following Hurricane Ike--Texas, 25-30 September 2008.

Introduction: On 13 September 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall near Galveston, Texas, resulting in an estimated 74 deaths statewide and extensive damage in many counties. The Texas Department of State Health Services, US Public Health Service, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted assessments beginning 12 days following hurricane landfall to identify the public health needs of three affected communities. The results of the assessment are presented, and an example of a type of public health epidemiological response to a disaster due to a natural hazard is provided.