Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Getting Resources where they were needed

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita once again provided the opportunity for Corporate Wellness to demonstrate ease of access, on-going availability and quick response. Our role was to help identify needs, find resources to meet those needs, arrange for those resources using exist suppliers, providers and contracts (or quickly draft new ones) and deliver the services as quickly, efficiently and cost effectively as possible. Later, our role included paying all of the bills for these supplies and services and providing a single invoice to each of our clients.

One of our nurses ended up living at a client location. This provided twenty four hour coverage for vaccinations as employees reported for duty from the storm area or came in from other parts of the country. This arrangement also gave the nurse and her family much needed shelter.

We arranged for one client (a uniform rental company), who had not previously needed specific vaccinations, to borrow immunoglobulin from the supply of another client (a restaurant group). They provided the restaurant group with clean, dry clothes from their uniform stock.

We delivered our first round of supplies using counter to counter package services on commercial flights to Baton Rouge and Atlanta on Wednesday, August 31st. Client employees traveling from Baton Rouge and Atlanta to assist effected facilities transported these supplies directly to their final destinations. Private couriers transported additional supplies and Corporate Wellness' nurses transported the balance of the supplies. Initial supplies included Hepatitis A and B vaccine, immune globulin, Diphtheria/ Tetanus Toxoid, gloves (thousands and thousands of gloves), syringes. band aids, handwashing foam (also in large quantity), alcohol wipes, biohazard bags, sharps containers, surgical masks and first aid kits. We also had a specific request for eye wash which was included in those initial shipments and again later on.

Corporate Wellness had a basic stock of the above vaccines on hand and restocked daily through late September using our existing contracts with pharmaceutical suppliers. We were the largest Hepatitis A vaccine purchaser after the US government for the months of September and October 2005.

Communication was the key to all of the above. We used cell phones, 800 numbers (critical as long distance service was so dramatically effective), text messaging, blackberries, email and personal messengers to get the job done. Most of our staff worked for 21 straight days.

But it doesn't take a Hurricane Katrina to get this type of response from Corporate Wellness. It is business as usual for us. A single case of TB, or measles or foodborne illness threatens the "brand" for most of our clients. The resources utilized daily for on-going incidents become the resources deployed on grander scales when true disaster strikes.

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