title: Family emergency plan and preparedness among medical practitioners in Zaria, Nigeria.
abstract: There has been an increase in the incidence of disasters in many parts of the world. Similarly, Nigeria has witnessed a recent increase of man-made disaster events such as plane crash, fire incidents, flood, and building collapse, including bomb blast orchestrated by terrorists that often create emergency situations. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate family emergency plan and preparedness among medical practitioners in Zaria.
  
  
  
  This was a cross-sectional descriptive study (May-July, 2013) of medical practitioners in Zaria, Nigeria. The structured questionnaire sought the socio-demographic features of the respondents, the availability of emergency gate(s) in the house, education of safety measures within and outside the house, well-known located shut-off devices for gases, electricity, and water in the house, and written document/policy in the event of disaster. Also, planned orientations/drills/sensitizations, whether there is contact information of family members and supporting agencies.
  
  
  
  Majority of the respondents were male 56 (80.0 percent) and fall within the age group of 46-50 years (20.0 percent). Only 8.6 percent admitted having an unwritten policy on emergency management in their houses. Similarly, only 8.6 percent do create time to teach their family members on emergency management. Only 27 (38.6 percent) had emergency supplies kits and among this group, water appears to be the most essential component that the respondents had paid attention to, leaving out special items. The communication plans of respondents to likely supportive services/agencies during disaster showed that majority had contact address or have affirmative plans for hospital and ambulance services than for radio and television stations.
  
  
  
  Family emergency plans and preparedness among medical practitioners in Zaria are extremely low. There is a gap between knowledge of what need to be done to enhance preparedness and internalizing preparedness recommendations in the study area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria; Centre for Disaster Risk Management and Development Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Jerry Godfrey
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Makama
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria; Centre for Disaster Risk Management and Development Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Istifanus Anekoson
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Joshua
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Services, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Elizabeth Jerry
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Makama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004630:Emergencies; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D005190:Family; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D010820:Physicians; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult