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Accession Number:
AD1013785
Title:
Emergency Preparedness and Professional Competency Among Health Care Providers During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Descriptive Note:
Technical Report
Corporate Author:
Uniformed Services University Of The Health Sciences Bethesda United States
Report Date:
2008-04-09
Pagination or Media Count:
449.0
Abstract:
To date there has been no systematic examination of the preparedness of individual health care providers and their response capabilities during a large scale disaster. As a result very little is known about what knowledge, skills and abilities, or professional competencies, are needed, or how professional competency requirements may change depending on circumstances of a disaster. This information is critical in designing effective training content to prepare health care professionals who may be called upon to respond to disasters. The objective of this study is to examine the issue of emergency preparedness and professional competencies of individual healthcare responders who served during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The study will be executed in two phases. Phase I, conducted in April and May of 2006, examined health care provider competencies relevant to the Katrina disaster and consisted of interviews with health care providers and subject matter experts as well as 200 responses to an anonymous questionnaire. Results of Phase I informed the development of a larger web-based questionnaire of health care professionals who directly participated in the Katrina response. This web-based questionnaire will be executed as Phase II and will focus on two specific professional competencies highlighted in Phase I in order to assess the issue of individual health care provider preparedness at the time of Katrina and Rita and pathways to better performance in the future.
Distribution Statement:
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
