A comparison of patient needs following two hurricanes.

Objectives: The New Mexico-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (NM-1 DMAT) has responded to more disasters due to hurricanes than disasters from any other type of event. To assess whether defined patient needs may be applied to future hurricanes, the patient needs after Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki were compared. The study question was, "Did patient medical needs differ after these hurricanes?"

Design: Retrospective cohort review.

Subjects: All patients evaluated by NM-1 DMAT following Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki.

Observations: Age, past medical history, chief complaint, diagnosis, diagnostic tests, treatments, triage level, and disposition. Age was analyzed using Student's t-test, other data were analyzed using the chi-square test.

Results: A total of 1,056 patients were evaluated. Age distributions did not differ between events. More patients had co-morbidities after Hurricane Andrew. The only difference in chief complaint was that more patients complained of "cold" symptoms following Hurricane Iniki. The only differences in diagnoses were for upper respiratory infections, which were diagnosed more often after Hurricane Iniki. There were no differences in the administration of tetanus toxoid, antibiotics, or analgesics. Patients evaluated after Hurricane Andrew had more diagnostic tests performed and a higher illness/injury acuity. The proportion of the total number of patients conveyed to a hospital did not differ.

Conclusion: Patient needs were similar after Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Iniki and may be applicable for predicting the needs of patients for future hurricanes.