Assessment of Physician Preparedness and Response Capacity to Bioterrorism or Other Public Health Emergency Events in a Major Metropolitan Area

BackgroundThe role of physicians in the detection, reporting, and response to infectious disease outbreaks, anomalous biologic events, or other public health emergencies is critical to the community's safety.Objective/MethodIn an effort to assess the level of preparedness of local physicians to respond to such events, the City of Fort Worth Public Health Department, the Fort Worth/Tarrant County Health Authority, and the Tarrant County Medical Society collaborated in designing and administering a cross-sectional study in spring 2006.ResultsThe results serve as a baseline of the local clinical community's preparedness, with 91% of local physicians reporting their knowledge as “fair-poor,” 80% desiring more information, and 83% favoring more training opportunities.ConclusionInformation obtained through this assessment is used to help cultivate educational interventions that will enhance the participation, integration, and mobilization of clinicians in the event of a community emergency.