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

Abstract #109475

Janel Alberts, PhD, Curtis Condon, PhD, and Mark Horton, MD, MSPH. Quality Management - Research, Orange County Health Care Agency, 405 West 5th Street, Suite 458, Santa Ana, CA 92701, 714-834-2034, ccondon@ochca.com

Given their role as healthcare's first responders, a survey was developed and distributed to evaluate bioterrorism (BT) preparedness and training needs of hospital emergency department (ED) clinical staff and school nurses in Orange County, California. The survey assessed knowledge of bioterrorism and need for training, previous and preferred training methods, and demographic information. A total of 196 individuals responded to the survey, including emergency department personnel (67%), school nurses (21%), and other professionals (12%).

The greatest training priorities included knowing when to decontaminate for biological agents, knowing existing regulations or policies related to BT, knowing the proper handling procedures for biological specimens, and identifying the route of exposure and emergency response for BT agents. Both groups rated themselves as highly confident in their ability to identify biological agents and to identify proper isolation precautions. However, more than 30% of all respondents were not able to correctly match a variety of biological agents with their signs and symptoms, and very few respondents knew the proper isolation precautions for specific biological agents.

Almost two-thirds of ED staff had received bioterrorism preparedness training in the previous two years, with most receiving five or fewer hours of training. In contrast, only 7% of school nurses had received BT-related training in the previous two years.

Most respondents were interested in receiving all types of bioterrorism preparedness training. Compared with ED staff, school nurses showed a much higher need for training in all areas of BT-related competencies.

Learning Objectives: Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to

• Assess the current level of bioterrorism preparedness of hospital emergency department and school nursing personnel;
• Identify the training priorities/deficiencies of these healthcare providers;
• Apply quantitative/qualitative measures to identifying training needs and deficiencies in bioterrorism training.

Keywords: Bioterrorism, Assessments

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation