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


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Spranger
Cathy B
CB
Bioterrorism and Health Emergency Preparedness Team, City of Fort Worth Public Health Department, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA. csprang@hsc.unt.edu
Villegas
Dorian
D
Kazda
Michael J
MJ
Harris
Ann Marie
AM
Mathew
Shane
S
Migala
Witold
W
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D023482:Bioterrorism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003253:Consultants; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods; D004630:Emergencies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010819:Physician's Role; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas