An assessment of regional preparedness of volunteer firefighters for weapons of mass destruction incidents

Abstract

Study objectives: We assess the training and preparedness of the volunteer fire departments in western New York to deal with incidents involving weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Methods: A survey was developed and mailed to the 238 volunteer fire companies of the 8 counties of western New York (Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming). The surveys were number coded to protect the identity of the responding company and were sent to the attention of the fire company chief. Three separate mailings were sent consecutively at 1-month intervals. The remaining fire chiefs who did not reply were contacted by telephone, at which time they were asked to verbally respond to the survey. The data was entered into a spreadsheet for analysis. A point system was applied to the objective portion of the study to assign a training level score of 0 to 5 points, 5 points signifying that more than 50% of the company took specified New York State Fire Academy courses, performed a general disaster drill, a WMD drill, recently reviewed their disaster plan, or purchased WMD-related equipment. The subjective portion of the study consisted of a scale ranging from 1 to 5 that assessed the company's preparedness as indicated by the fire chief, 1 point being completely unprepared to 5 points equaling complete preparedness. Results: The response rate to the survey was 184 companies of 238, or 77% total response. This number represents 5,784 volunteer firefighters. There was a direct correlation between training level scores to the fire chief's perceived preparedness score. A Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.428 was obtained, with a P value less than .01. Conclusion: Preparedness for weapons of mass destruction incidents is directly related to the amount of training activity performed. Despite receiving training, the companies who achieved the highest training score still only felt moderately prepared, which supports the need for more training opportunities to be provided to volunteer firefighters.