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

Abstract #121286

Christine Rinehart, MPH candidate¹, Ryan Ramos, MA², Curtis Condon, PhD², and Mark Horton, MD, MSPH². (1) Master of Public Health Program, University of Southern California, 16271 Sundancer Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92649, 714-658-0057, christine.rinehart@usc.edu, (2) Quality Management - Research, Orange County Health Care Agency, 405 West 5th Street, Suite 458, Santa Ana, CA 92701

The threat of a bioterrorism attack is real, thus it is critical that those responsible for securing the public's safety be prepared. A survey was developed to identify the competencies and training needs related to bioterrorism preparedness for law enforcement, fire and ambulance personnel. The surveys consisted of three sections: knowledge of bioterrorism and need for training, previous and preferred training methods, and demographic information. Respondents included 616 law enforcement personnel and 594 individuals from fire departments and ambulance companies.

Higher-ranking personnel had a greater knowledge and were more confident in bioterrorism preparedness than lower-ranking staff. Ambulance personnel showed a high need for training in all areas of bioterrorism competencies. County sheriff staff was less confident in identifying BT incidents compared to personnel from city police.

The greatest training priorities concerned knowledge of existing bioterrorism regulations and policies, ability to secure, isolate, and respond to a bioterrorism incident, the ability to identify whether an incident was a result of bioterrorism, proper handling procedures for biological specimens, and ability to know when to decontaminate for biological agents.

While almost all law (99%) and fire/ambulance (89%) personnel had received prior bioterrorism training in the previous two years, less than 2% of law and less than half (49%) of fire/ambulance respondents could correctly identify four or more BT event indicators.

The majority of respondents were interested in receiving annual bioterrorism training from the County, preferably via classroom instruction, exercises and drills, or workshops.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to
• Assess the current level of bioterrorism preparedness of Law Enforcement, Fire and Ambulance personnel.
• Identify the training priorities/deficiencies of local law enforcement, fire and ambulance services.
• Apply quantitative/qualitative measures to identifying training needs and deficiencies in bioterrorism training.

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.

Late Breaker Poster I

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA