Data collection and communications in the public health response to a disaster: rapid population estimate surveys and the Daily Dashboard in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Context: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita crippled the ability of the local public health community to provide healthcare services to the population of New Orleans. Lack of information about the city's population size and health needs and the absence of an adequate communications system posed considerable obstacles to the coordination of local, state, and federal public health assets.

Research: Acting to relieve the information crisis, personnel from the Health and Human Services Branch of the city of New Orleans Emergency Operations Center designed a project to collect population-based data through field surveys. With technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Branch conducted surveys between October 2005 and January 2006, the results of which were widely used throughout the recovery process. INFORMATION REPORTING: The Dashboard began as an internal reporting mechanism of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Health Branch assumed responsibility for the Dashboard and made it the key communication tool for the local healthcare community. The NOLA Dashboard Readership Survey identified the continued relevance and usefulness of the Dashboard almost 1 year after Katrina.

Results: Communicating the population-based data collected from the rapid population estimate surveys to disseminate results to the local healthcare community proved to be a vital link for informing the public health response to Hurricane Katrina.