Operationalizing Community Assessment Results to Enhance Preparedness for a Radiological Emergency.

Objective: A radiological emergency such as the detonation of a radiological dispersal device would have catastrophic health, environmental, and economic consequences. Community assessments can provide useful information about radiological and other emergency preparedness at the household level. Tools such as logic models can be applied to link data collected in a community assessment to planned activities and targeted outcomes.

Developing an instrument to measure household radiological emergency preparedness using the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) methodology: An evidence-informed approach.

Introduction: Community assessments to measure emergency preparedness can inform policies, planning, and communication to the public to improve readiness and response if an emergency was to occur. Public health and emergency management officials need an effective assessment tool to measure community preparedness for a radiological emergency.

Methods: The authors created a survey instrument to collect data on household radiological emergency preparedness that could be implemented using the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) methodology, developed by the U.

Prioritizing Communication About Radiation Risk Reduction in the United States: Results from a Multi-criteria Decision Analysis.

Objectives: The lack of radiation knowledge among the general public continues to be a challenge for building communities prepared for radiological emergencies. This study applied a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to the results of an expert survey to identify priority risk reduction messages and challenges to increasing community radiological emergency preparedness.

Methods: Professionals with expertise in radiological emergency preparedness, state/local health and emergency management officials, and journalists/journalism academics were surveyed following a purposive sampling methodology.

Evaluating Perceived Emergency Preparedness and Household Preparedness Behaviors: Results from a CASPER Survey in Fairfax, Virginia.

Objectives: Using data collected from a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) conducted in Fairfax Health District, Virginia, in 2016, we sought to assess the relationship between household-level perceived preparedness and self-reported preparedness behaviors.

Methods: Weighted population estimates and 95% confidence intervals were reported, and Pearson's chi-squared test was used to investigate differences by group.

Results: Examining responses to how prepared respondents felt their household was to handle a large-scale emergency or disaster, an estimated 7.

The Acute Effects of Age and Particulate Matter Exposure on Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability in Mice.

Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) is associated with increased cardiac morbidity and mortality with the elderly considered to be the most susceptible. The purpose of this study was to determine if exposure to PM would cause a greater impact on heart regulation in older DBA/2 (D2) male mice as determined by changes in heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). D2 mice at the ages of 4, 12, and 19 months were instilled with 100 µg of PM or saline by aspiration.