Post-katrina mental health needs prompt group to compile disaster medicine guide.

HIS VOICE IS CALM, BUT PSYCHIAtrist Richard Weisler, MD, sounds troubled after reading statistics from a rapid assessment survey of greater New Orleans, La, that was conducted 7 weeks after Hurricane Katrina splintered the homes and lives of hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents. The assessment, prepared for the Louisiana Office of Mental Health by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows that 45% of 166 individuals interviewed scored high enough on a rating scale for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that they would be expected to accept a referral for mental health services. When extrapolated, that figure translates into between 142 000 and 214 000 adults returning to New Orleans who may feel they need mental health care. Based on existing studies of mental health repercussions after major floods and hurricanes, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has estimated that 25% to 30% of individuals living in areas hit hard by Katrina will have clinically significant mental health needs and another 10% to 20% will have important, subclinical mental health needs. All told, that adds up to about 500 000 who may require mental health services. “Clearly, the needs are enormous,” says Weisler, adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC. CONCISE, PRACTICAL INFORMATION