Human and pet-related risk factors for household evacuation failure during a natural disaster.
This study characterized risk factors for household evacuation failure. A random digit dial telephone survey was conducted of 397 households in Yuba County, California, in July 1997, 6 months after residents had been under evacuation notice due to flooding. Case households failed to evacuate, whereas control households evacuated. The cumulative incidence of household evacuation failure was 19.4%. Fewer households with children (25.8%) failed to evacuate than households without children (45.9%, p < 0.01). More households with pets (20.9%) than households without pets failed to evacuate (16.3%, p = 0.11). With multivariate logistic regression, the risk of household evacuation failure was lower in households with children (odds ratio = 0.4, 95% confidence interval: 0.2, 0.8) compared with households without children. The risk of household evacuation failure increased in pet-owning households without children (odds ratio = 1.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 1.5) compared with pet-owning households with children; the more pets a household owned, the higher the risk of household evacuation failure was. Impediments to pet evacuation, including owning multiple pets, owning outdoor dogs, or not having a cat carrier, explained why many households that owned pets failed to evacuate. Predisaster planning should place a high priority on facilitating pet evacuation through predisaster education of pet owners and emergency management personnel.
Heath
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Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, IN, USA. sebastian.heath@att.net
Kass
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Beck
A M
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Glickman
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LT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D002140:California; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011336:Probability; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires