Medical response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita: local public health preparedness in action.

Like more than 150 communities in Texas, our community participated in disaster response for Gulf coast citizens evacuated from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We implemented and adjusted emergency operations plans that were designed to respond to a local disaster. Lessons learned will strengthen our disaster preparedness in the future, including the importance of a robust medical presence at evacuation shelters; the value of an accurate and timely database of medical needs for shelter occupants; the usefulness of brief paperwork; the need for a preidentified and pretrained group of healthcare workers; the necessity of timely and accurate communications with medical partners in the community; the requirement that our local city government plan, open, and operate disaster shelters in our community; and the impact of ease of travel, frequent and honest communication, and sincere appreciation on maintaining morale in our volunteers.