Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #122196

Lori Uscher Pines, MSc, PhD Cand, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Suite 492, Baltimore, MD 21205, Sylvia H. Bookbinder, MPH, CHES, Infectious & Zoonotic Disease Program, NJ Dept. of Health & Senior Services, PO Box 369, Trenton, NJ 08625, 609-588-7500, sylvia.bookbinder@doh.state.nj.us, Suzanne Miro, MPH, CHES, Communicable Disease Service, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, P.O. Box 369, Trenton, NJ 08625-0369, and Thomas Burke, PhD, MPH, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 624 N. Broadway, Hampton House Rm 484, Baltimore, MD 21205.

Hotlines have an established history of providing mental health services, medical advice/referrals, and crisis communications to members of the public; however, they are rarely evaluated to improve hotline management. Since its creation in 2003, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services' Emergency Communications Center has confronted two large-scale incidents testing its capability to communicate with residents of the state. The influenza vaccine shortage of 2004 and the April 2005 TOPOFF 3 full-scale bioterrorism exercise, provided both real-life and simulated crisis situations from which to derive general insights into the strengths and weaknesses of hotline administration.

This presentation will explore the lessons learned for future hotline management through two case studies: a real-life, national communicable disease event and New Jersey's participation in a national preparedness exercise. Call volume data and the observations of group feedback sessions and semi-structured interviews with hotline staff will be analyzed to inform recommendations in the areas of staff and message management.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Recognize staff and crisis message management challenges that arise in the context of emergency hotline operations
• Articulate evidence based data on call volume trends
• Identify alternative procedures to approve and disseminate crisis messages to hotline staff
• Apply lessons learned to inform hotline staffing decisions, hotline evaluation research, and crisis message management in future public health emergencies

Keywords: Bioterrorism, Disasters

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered