Disaster Preparedness in Primary Care: Ready or Not?

PurposeTo assess perceptions and attitudes toward disasters and disaster planning among outpatient primary care leaders.

METHODS: Written surveys and semi-structured interviews of non-physician clinical managers and physician medical directors were conducted using the 2009 H1N1 pandemic as a case-based scenario at 5 university-affiliated family medicine clinics. Domains assessed included perceived pandemic threat; value, existence, and barriers to creating personal disaster plans; staff absenteeism estimates; barriers to work attendance. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis with identification and coding of common themes, respectively.

RESULTS: All 12 invited leaders participated and believed a personal disaster plan was important but only 2 had plans. None had ever discussed with their staff the importance of having a personal disaster plan. Two common barriers in creating a plan were low threat perception level and never considering the possibility of pandemic influenza. Only half of respondents could list common barriers preventing staff from working. Staff were confident employees would come to work during a disaster.

CONCLUSION: Outpatient primary care leaders may hold misconceptions regarding future disasters, underestimate their potential impact on clinics, and lack personal preparedness. Further investigation and interventions are needed to ensure clinics can be prepared so they can function and help hospital and emergency services when disasters strike. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:644-648).