In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Johns Hopkins University accepted 29 refugee students and blended resources from the Medical and Public Health schools to send medical teams to assist in Gulf Coast relief efforts.
While support has come from all schools of Hopkins as well as student groups, much of the University's response to Hurricane Katrina has been focused through the Medical and Public Health schools on providing for the medical needs of hurricane victims.
A major part of Hopkins' institutional response has come via assistance for undergraduate and graduate students whose schools were closed by the hurricane. The schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering accepted 29 undergraduates as visiting students for the semester.
If the students have already paid tuition to their universities, Hopkins will not charge them again. If they have not, Hopkins will collect the money and pass it on to the affected universities, or donate it to foundations.
"I think academic medical centers like Hopkins are crucial in disasters like this," said Thomas Kirsch, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Hopkins School of Medicine and deputy director of Hopkins' Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR).
"For doctors to be able to better respond locally, academic medical institutions can provide some of the organizational, logistical-type things," Kirsch said.
Kirsch added that the biggest problem facing the displaced people right now is resettlement and hopes that Hopkins can provide assistance.
"Hundreds of thousands of people are homeless, and will be homeless for a long period of time. Experts from Hopkins and other institutions are wokring to ensure safe environments for these people," Kirsch said.
The University has sent two medical teams to the Gulf Coast, and a third medical team is ready for deployment at the request of the federal government.
"I think it was important to go because we have a lot of committed people here who have the experience and the knowledge to deal with situations like this. We're a medical institution, and we're dedicated to the community," said Marguerite Littleton-Kearney, associate professor in the School of Nursing and the School of Medicine. Littleton-Kearney served as a track coordinator in Emergency Response and Disaster Training.
"When I was there, the most suprising thing was to see how many people were homeless. People with medical needs were in shelters when they should have been in the hospital. But I also saw an incredible resilience there, and an extreme generosity," Littleton-Kearney said.
Last week, two faculty members from counseling and human services in the Hopkins School of Professional Studies in Business and Education went to Louisiana to organize psychological help for people displaced by the hurricane, especially children, who may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Other Hopkins faculty members from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health led two American Red Cross teams to review the medical situation in the Gulf Coast and determine what resources and facilities the victims would need. Kirsch led one of the two teams. The teams returned to campus Sept. 7.
Three Hopkins physicians and nine nurses flew to Louisiana Sept. 5 to help over-worked employees at West Jefferson Medical Center, a community hospital near New Orleans.
Johns Hopkins Medicine has also organized a team of 109 medical experts that may be necessary as part of the federal government's emergency medical relief plan. Currently, the team is waiting until its services are needed.
"Hopkins wanted to send teams down there -- kind of like mobile hospitals that would be ready for deployment at any point. More than 250 health workers volunteered. But it was called off several times. However, one of our long-term plans at Hopkins is to keep these teams always ready, for the future," Kirsch said.
In addition to the official response of the University, Hopkins students have organized programs and fundraisers to raise money for victims of Katrina.
HopkinsCares, a student group that was the first to raise money for victims of the tsunami, has been selling bracelets with the words "Hopkins Cares" around the Homewood Campus for a suggested donation of $3.
Matthew D'Agostino, the assistant director of the Center for Social Concern, has been organizing the student response to Hurrican Katrina.
D'Agostino, who lived in New Orleans for four years before coming to Baltimore, said that many people have donated time and money to help with both the hurricane relief and the tsunami relief last year.
"It's one of those areas without moral ambiguity," D'Agostino said. "There's no mass terror, no corrupt politicians. Here, though there's a lot of politics involved, it's a natural disaster, and people just need to be helped.
"There's been a lot of unfettered giving," D'Agostino said.
Some events that are planned include a panel discussion about class and race, a letter writing campaign for victims and a benefit concert.
Hurricane Katrina is also important as part of the "national dialogue," D'Agostino said.
"In the United States, especially before Sept. 11, being a citizen for most people meant paying your taxes," he said. "But that's actually a very narrow definition of what a citizen does.
"Students need to be thinking about what it means to be a citizen of this country, and to connect it to these people that are suffering. How we handle what happens in the Gulf Coast reflects throughout the country."
Students from the School of Nursing started a Beads for Hope effort on Monday. They will be selling Mardi Gras beads in the lobby of the East Baltimore campus for $1 each.
Other Hopkins groups and students have independently raised money for the American Red Cross Katrina Disaster Relief Fund.
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