Assessment of physician preparedness and response capacity to bioterrorism or other public health emergency events in a major metropolitan area.

Disaster Manag Response

Bioterrorism and Health Emergency Preparedness Team, City of Fort Worth Public Health Department, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA.

Published: November 2007

Background: The role of physicians in the detection, reporting, and response to infectious disease outbreaks, anomalous biologic events, or other public health emergencies is critical to the community's safety.

Objective/method: In an effort to assess the level of preparedness of local physicians to respond to such events, the City of Fort Worth Public Health Department, the Fort Worth/Tarrant County Health Authority, and the Tarrant County Medical Society collaborated in designing and administering a cross-sectional study in spring 2006.

Results: The results serve as a baseline of the local clinical community's preparedness, with 91% of local physicians reporting their knowledge as "fair-poor," 80% desiring more information, and 83% favoring more training opportunities.

Conclusion: Information obtained through this assessment is used to help cultivate educational interventions that will enhance the participation, integration, and mobilization of clinicians in the event of a community emergency.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dmr.2007.05.001DOI Listing

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