Assessment 03 – Disaster Recovery Plan
In this assessment, you will assume the role of the senior nurse at a regional hospital who has
been assigned to develop a disaster recovery plan for the community using MAP-IT and trace-
mapping, which you will present to city officials and the disaster relief team.
Before you complete the detailed instructions in the courseroom, first review the full scenario
and associated data below. Please refer back to this resource as necessary while you complete
your assessment.
Introduction
For a health care facility to be able to fill its role in the community, it must actively plan not only
for normal operation, but also for worst-case scenarios which could occur. In such disasters, the
hospital's services will be particularly crucial, even if the specifics of the disaster make it more
difficult for the facility to stay open.
As the senior nurse at Carterdale Regional Hospital, you play a vital role in ensuring the
hospital's readiness for disasters and its ability to recover from them. The hospital administrator
wants to discuss disaster preparedness and recovery with you. Before the conversation, it
would be helpful to familiarize yourself with the background information on events that have
occurred in Carterdale in recent years, including the involvement of the hospital.
Background
Investigate further for relevant background information.
Local Newspaper Headline: "Tornado Strikes Carterdale, Devastating Effects on Community"
March 26, 2023
Carterdale, Mississippi
In a devastating turn of events, a powerful tornado swept through Carterdale, leaving behind a
trail of destruction and impacting the community. The tornado, rated as a 4 on the Enhanced
Fujita scale, caused significant damage and posed tough challenges for the residents, many of
whom live below the poverty line.
The tornado, which occurred on Friday night, was one of the worst on record in the state's
history. The National Weather Service forecast office in Jackson, Mississippi, is currently
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surveying the damage caused by the storm. The tornado's impact was particularly severe on
Carterdale and Silver City.
Questions have arisen about the preparedness and warning systems in place for such natural
disasters. Some residents reported not hearing any sirens as the tornado approached, leaving
them vulnerable to its destructive force. Tornadoes are not uncommon in Mississippi, but the
severity of this particular storm caught many off guard.
Recovery efforts are underway, but rebuilding is expected to take months. The tornado not only
caused physical damage to homes and infrastructure but also took a toll on the emotional well-
being of the affected residents. Families who lost loved ones in the storm are in need of
emotional and spiritual care during this difficult time.
Lessons can be learned from past tornado disasters, such as the one that struck Joplin,
Missouri, in 2011. Joplin's recovery efforts have shown how cities can bounce back and better
prepare for future disasters. It is crucial for communities and governments to come together to
support the affected residents and implement measures to mitigate the impact of future
tornadoes.
Fact Sheet: Carterdale, MS
Population: 1,800 people
Residents
Black or African American: 73.25%
White: 24.25%
Native American: 1.5%
Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
Other race: 0%
Two or More Races: 1%
Age Group Male Female
0 to 9 Years 204 154
10 to 19 Years 130 200
20 to 29 Years 92 149
30 to 39 Years 126 167
40 to 49 Years 73 63
50 to 59 Years 83 226
60 to 69 Years 240 197
70 Years and over 92 115
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Education
High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+: 65.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+: 6.5%
Health
With a disability, under age 65 years: 20.6%
Persons without health insurance, under age 65 years: 17.0%
Income & Poverty
Median household income: $30,092
Per capita income in past 12 months: $10,381
Persons in poverty: 39.1%
Staff Interviews
Dr. Alan Jenski, Internal Medicine: "The tornado has caused significant damage to our facility,
leaving us with limited resources to care for our patients. We have lost power and water, making
it difficult to provide basic medical care."
Nurse Kaley Grant, ICU: "Many of our patients have been injured in the tornado and require
immediate medical attention. However, with the damage to our facility, we are struggling to
provide the necessary care. We are also facing a shortage of medical supplies and equipment."
Dr. Linh Boswell, Psychiatrist: "The tornado has also had a significant impact on the
emotional well-being of our patients. Many of them have lost loved ones and are struggling to
cope with the trauma of the disaster. We need to provide emotional and spiritual care to help
them through this difficult time."
Bill Reiner, Social Worker: "The community in Carterdale and Silver City has been hit
particularly hard by the tornado. Many of our patients come from low socioeconomic
backgrounds and are already facing significant health disparities. The tornado has only
exacerbated these issues and made it even more difficult for them to access medical care."
Dr. Luisa Gonzalez, Hospital Administrator: "We need to work together as a medical
community to support the affected residents and implement measures to mitigate the impact of
future tornadoes. We can learn from past disasters, such as the one that struck Joplin, Missouri
in 2011, and use those lessons to better prepare for future disasters."
Request from Administrator
Dr. Luisa Gonzalez, Carterdale Hospital Administrator, has asked you to present a compelling
case to community stakeholders for the proposed disaster recovery plan. She requests you use
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the MAP-IT model, which is a step-by-step, structured plan that can be developed by a coalition
that is tailored to a specific community's needs.
The MAP-IT model involves all stakeholders, making for a widely-supported and community-
owned effort. It assesses assets as well as needs and looks for ways to use them.
The five steps of the MAP-IT model are:
1. Mobilize individuals and organizations that care about the health of your community into
a coalition.
2. Assess the areas of greatest need in your community, as well as the resources and
other strengths that you can tap into to address those areas.
3. Plan your approach: start with a vision of where you want to be as a community; then
add strategies and action steps to help you achieve that vision.
4. Implement your plan using concrete action steps that can be monitored and will make a
difference.
5. Track your progress over time.
In addition to using the MAP-IT model, work up an approach supported by Healthy People 2020
and put it all into a PowerPoint. You can save the PowerPoint deck and the audio of its
accompanying presentation at the public library so that the public can access it and see that
you're serious. By doing this, you can create a prototype for other local communities near this
one, and possibly other facilities in the organization. To ensure that the disaster recovery plan is
effective, you can also involve diverse stakeholders, replace guesswork and hunches with data-
driven decisions, and create comprehensive, detailed plans that define the roles and
responsibilities of disaster recovery team members and outline the criteria to launch the plan
into action.
