Emergency/Disaster Preparedness of Rural Healthcare Providers

Abstract

Healthcare systems have a legal and moral duty to provide competent care to all consumers whom seek treatment even when natural disasters, terrorism events, pandemics, widespread chemical/radiologic exposure and other emergency/disaster events stress the system beyond its capabilities. Education, training and exercises are emergency/disaster preparedness activities that are essential to providing quality care to victims. Healthcare providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, are a vital resource for an emergency/disaster response; a consensus of research indicates an overall inadequate level of preparedness among healthcare providers. A majority of emergency/disaster planning efforts have been primarily aimed at urban communities with few published disaster planning efforts addressing the needs of rural communities and the unique challenges they face in emergency/disaster preparedness. The purpose of this practice improvement project was to identify the current status of education/training of rural healthcare providers and identify gaps in training/education to better prepare them to care for victims of emergencies/disasters. A needs assessment was administered to the healthcare providers at a rural healthcare facility in southwest North Dakota and analyzed for trends. Based on the analysis of the survey, the healthcare providers felt moderately prepared to care for victims, yet a universal desire to gain access to increased emergency/disaster education and training was reported. A comprehensive educational plan was developed, and corresponding educational resources were identified. The educational plan addressed 12 domains: personal preparedness, hazard recognition/response, terminology/emergency operations frameworks, communication, health/safety, patient logistics management, special needs populations, mental health considerations, legal/ethical principles, and hazard-specific medical management/triage. The needs assessment findings and education plan were provided to key stakeholders within the sponsoring organization to increase healthcare provider emergency/disaster preparedness awareness. Project methods can serve as a framework for ongoing development of assessment of rural healthcare providers’ competency in providing care to victims and rural emergency/disaster educational plans.