Citation

Merrill JA, Orr M, Chen DY, Zhi Q, Gershon RRM. Disaster Med. Public Health Prep. 2015; 10(1): 87-97.

Affiliation

4Phillip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,School of Medicine,University of California,San Francisco.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Publisher Cambridge University Press)

DOI

10.1017/dmp.2015.135

PMID

26708604

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the preparedness of the US mass fatality infrastructure, we developed and tested metrics for 3 components of preparedness: organizational, operational, and resource sharing networks.

METHODS: In 2014, data were collected from 5 response sectors: medical examiners and coroners, the death care industry, health departments, faith-based organizations, and offices of emergency management. Scores were calculated within and across sectors and a weighted score was developed for the infrastructure.

RESULTS: A total of 879 respondents reported highly variable organizational capabilities: 15% had responded to a mass fatality incident (MFI); 42% reported staff trained for an MFI, but only 27% for an MFI involving hazardous contaminants. Respondents estimated that 75% of their staff would be willing and able to respond, but only 53% if contaminants were involved. Most perceived their organization as somewhat prepared, but 13% indicated "not at all." Operational capability scores ranged from 33% (death care industry) to 77% (offices of emergency management). Network capability analysis found that only 42% of possible reciprocal relationships between resource-sharing partners were present. The cross-sector composite score was 51%; that is, half the key capabilities for preparedness were in place.

CONCLUSIONS: The sectors in the US mass fatality infrastructure report suboptimal capability to respond. National leadership is needed to ensure sector-specific and infrastructure-wide preparedness for a large-scale MFI. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;0:1-11).

Language: en