I completed a comprehensive pre-disaster assessment for Maui County, Hawaii. In this assignment, I analyzed social vulnerability, historical disasters, healthcare capacity, and population health risks. I created original charts, maps, and a risk matrix, then developed a targeted action plan and flowchart outlining mitigation strategies, surge planning, and communication needs for high-risk communities. In this assignment, I recognized the increased level of vulnerability among residents of the island of Molokai. More research is necessary to create a tailored pre-disaster plan for this vulnerable population.

Competencies developed:
3.1k – Analyze primary and secondary population health data for multiple populations against relevant benchmarks.
3.6h – Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to lead preparedness and mitigation efforts to protect population health for all, including vulnerable populations.
8.2f – Generate information and knowledge from health information technology databases.
8.2h – Use standardized data to evaluate decision-making and outcomes across all systems levels.

Explanation:
This project builds a pre-disaster risk profile for Maui County and turns it into an action plan, so it draws on both population health and informatics skills. Pulling together data from CDC/ATSDR, the State Health Department, and SHPDA into charts on demographics, disease trends, and hospital capacity is a direct example of generating knowledge from health information databases (8.2f). Using that data to build the risk matrix and rank hazards like wildfire, tsunami, and hospital surge shows using standardized data to evaluate decisions across the whole county system (8.2h). Identifying who is most at risk through the SVI maps and disease trend charts reflects analyzing population health data against relevant benchmarks (3.1k). And the mitigation strategies, which coordinate EMS, public health, and hospitals ahead of a disaster, show leading preparedness efforts to protect vulnerable populations like those on Moloka'i (3.6h).

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