When disaster strikes: Bridging the hospital preparedness gap

Abstract

Bioterrorism has emerged as a serious public health threat in the United States and continues to warrant significant public health concern. In the event of a bioterrorist attack, hospitals and healthcare providers will play a primary role in the community’s response. However, recent research has suggested that hospitals are unprepared to respond to a bioterrorism event lacking personnel, equipment, knowledge, and experience. The current article highlights the gaps between need and implementation of disaster preparedness programs in healthcare settings; presents a program designed to address these limitations in a cost-effective, portable, accessible training package; and analyzes data from a basic evaluation of the program. The program is a 4.5-day training developed by the a state Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC) to help prepare hospitals for a bioterrorist attack by training personnel in the creation of a decontamination team responsible for decontaminating patients before they enter the hospital. A basic evaluation of the program found that participants who complete the training reported high ratings of competency related to decontamination procedures, their confidence in future performance, and the training overall. Results suggest that the training program holds promise in beginning to address hospital preparedness gaps.