Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Home
Hostname: page-component-ffbbcc459-7mr6j Total loading time: 0.199 Render date: 2022-03-03T01:46:56.368Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, "shouldUseHypothesis": true, "isUnsiloEnabled": true, "useRatesEcommerce": false, "useNewApi": true }
  • English
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine Prehospital and Disaster Medicine

Article contents

Level of Disaster Preparedness in Patients Visiting the Emergency Department: Results of the Civilian Assessment of Readiness for Disaster (CARD) Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2013

Nicholas A. True ,
Juliana D. Adedoyin ,
Frances S. Shofer ,
Eddie K. Hasty  and
Jane H. Brice
Nicholas A. True*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
Juliana D. Adedoyin
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
Frances S. Shofer
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
Eddie K. Hasty
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
Jane H. Brice
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
*
Correspondence: Nicholas A. True Department of Emergency Medicine University of North Carolina CB# 7594 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7594 USA E-mail nicholas_true@med.unc.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Patients seeking care in public hospitals are often resource-limited populations who have in past disasters become the most vulnerable. The objective of this study was to determine the personal disaster preparedness of emergency department (ED) patients and to identify predictors of low levels of preparedness. It was hypothesized that vulnerable populations would be better prepared for disasters.

Methods

A prospective cross-sectional survey was conducted over a one-year period of patients seeking care in a public university hospital ED (census 65,000). Exclusion criteria were mentally impaired, institutionalized, or non-English speaking subjects. Subjects completed an anonymous survey detailing the 15 personal preparedness items from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster preparedness checklist as well as demographic characteristics. Summary statistics were used to describe general preparedness. Chi-square tests were used to compare preparedness by demographics.

Results

During the study period, 857/1000 subjects completed the survey. Participants were predominantly male (57%), Caucasian (65%), middle-aged (mean 45 years), and high school graduates (83%). Seventeen percent (n = 146) reported having special needs and 8% were single parents. Most participants were not prepared: 451 (53%) had >75% of checklist items, 393 (46%) had food and water for 3 days, and 318 (37%) had food, water, and >75% of items. Level of preparedness was associated with age and parenting. Those aged 44 and older were more likely to be prepared for a disaster compared to younger respondents. (43.3% vs 31.1%, P = .0002). Similarly, single parents were more likely to be prepared than dual parenting households (47.1 vs 32.9%, P = .03).

Conclusions

This study and others have found that only the minority of any group is actually prepared for disaster. Future research should focus on ways to implement disaster preparedness education, specifically targeting vulnerable populations, then measuring the effects of educational programs to demonstrate that preparedness has increased as a result.

TrueNA, AdedoyinJD, ShoferFS, HastyEK, BriceJH. Level of Disaster Preparedness in Patients Visiting the Emergency Department: Results of the Civilian Assessment of Readiness for Disaster (CARD) Survey. Prehosp Disaster Med.2013;28(2):1-5.

Keywords

disaster planningemergency medicineemergency preparednessvulnerable populations
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 127 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.About the Ready Campaign. The Ready Campaign/FEMA website. http://www.ready.gov/about-us. Accessed April 29, 2012.Google Scholar
2.American Public Health Association. National Opinion Survey to Determine Levels of Preparedness for a Public Health Crisis. http://safezonellc.com/documents/Survey_Report.pdf. Published 2007. Accessed April 29, 2012.Google Scholar
3.Citizen Corps. Are We Ready? Introducing the Public Readiness Index: A Survey-Based Tool to Measure the Preparedness of Individuals. http://citizencorps.gov/downloads/pdf/ready/pri_report.pdf. Published 2006. Accessed April 29, 2012.Google Scholar
4.Citizen Corps. Personal Preparedness in America: Findings from the 2009 Citizen Corps Survey. http://www.citizencorps.gov/downloads/pdf/ready/2009_Citizen_Corps_National_Survey_Findings.pdf. Published 2009. Accessed April 29, 2012.Google Scholar
5.Wingate, MS, et al. Indentifying and protecting vulnerable populations in public health emergencies: addressing gaps in education and training. Public Health Rep. 2007;122(3):422-426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Urban Institute. Emergency Department Visits in Massachusetts: Who Uses Emergency Care and Why? http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/48929.pdf. Published 2009. Accessed April 29, 2012.Google Scholar
7.Baker, LR, Baker, MD. Disaster preparedness among families of children with special health care needs. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2010;4(3):240-245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Barata, I, Llovera, I, et al. Disaster preparedness in a New York community after 9/11. The Internet Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2007;3(2).Google Scholar
9.Zils, SW, Lerner, EB, Pirrallo, R. Milwaukee Are You Ready? Personal Disaster Preparedness Among Emergency Department Patients. Poster presented at: NAEMSP 2009 Annual Meeting; January 22-24, 2009; Jacksonville, Florida USA.Google Scholar
10.Basic Preparedness. The FEMA Web site. http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/basic_preparedness.pdf. Accessed April 29, 2012.Google Scholar
11.Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/. Accessed April 29, 2012.Google Scholar
7
Cited by

Send article to Kindle

To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about sending to your Kindle.

Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Level of Disaster Preparedness in Patients Visiting the Emergency Department: Results of the Civilian Assessment of Readiness for Disaster (CARD) Survey
Available formats
×

Send article to Dropbox

To send this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Dropbox.

Level of Disaster Preparedness in Patients Visiting the Emergency Department: Results of the Civilian Assessment of Readiness for Disaster (CARD) Survey
Available formats
×

Send article to Google Drive

To send this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Google Drive.

Level of Disaster Preparedness in Patients Visiting the Emergency Department: Results of the Civilian Assessment of Readiness for Disaster (CARD) Survey
Available formats
×
×

Reply to: Submit a response

Please enter your response.

Your details

Please enter a valid email address.

Conflicting interests

Do you have any conflicting interests? *