Level of disaster preparedness in patients visiting the emergency department: results of the civilian assessment of readiness for disaster (CARD) survey.

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.