To assess how well the U.S. health departments are prepared to respond to an influenza pandemic emergency, researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and Johns Hopkins surveyed 308 employees at three Maryland health departments from March to July 2005. The study, published in BMC Public Health, found that only 53.8% of employees were likely to go to their jobs during a flu outbreak, and that only 40% thought their health departments would ask them to report for duty. The greater the importance an individual placed on his or her job during a pandemic, however, the more likely he or she would come to work. The study also found that 66% of respondents believed that their jobs would put them at personal risk during a flu outbreak, and 83% said they wanted additional training to understand their role in an emergency and to learn how to communicate risk. In order for public health departments to be effective during an influenza pandemic, each worker must have a better understanding of the “importance of his or her personal role within these settings, confidence that the agency will provide adequate protective equipment for all its employees, psychological support and timely information, and a belief of being well-trained to cope with emergency responsibilities, including the ability to communicate risk to others,” write the authors. Click here to download the study.
