Do voters effectively hold elected officials accountable for policy decisions? Using data on natural disasters, government spending, and election returns, we show that voters reward the incumbent presidential party for delivering disaster relief spending, but not for investing in disaster preparedness spending. These inconsistencies distort the incentives of public officials, leading the govern...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to assess occupational health professionals' terrorism preparedness and perceptions of worksite readiness. METHODS Questionnaire data were collected at the conclusion of an educational workshop on disaster response. RESULTS Participants reported increased confidence in clinical skills and the ability to avoid exposure while providing care to victims...

OBJECTIVE Children's summer camps are at risk for multiple pediatric casualties during a disaster. The degree to which summer camps have instituted disaster preparedness is unknown. We assessed disaster preparedness among selected camps nationally for a range of disasters. METHODS We partnered with a national, web-based electronic health records system to send camp leadership of 315 camp orga...

It’s been 1 year since the American Medical Association closed the Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health and stopped supporting its preparedness and response programs. To ensure the continuation and potential growth of these programs as vital components of the evolving discipline of disaster medicine and public health, 2 major transitions were undertaken. The first was to revise the Na...

STUDY HYPOTHESIS Since the 1990s, Italian hospitals are required to comply with emergency disaster plans known as Emergency Plan for Massive Influx of Casualties. While various studies reveal that hospitals overall suffer from an insufficient preparedness level, the aim of this study was to better determine the preparedness level of Emergency Departments of Italian hospitals by assessing the kn...

Disaster medicine and public health preparedness are commonly perceived as subfields of the larger fields of medicine and public health rather than being recognized as an emerging academic field embracing all of the disciplines that contribute to effective disaster response. As such, they serve as appropriate subjects for multidisciplinary work in the social sciences, whether it is a sociologic...

Following Hurricane Katrina many residents of the Gulf Coast had difficulties managing their cardiovascular risk factors especially hypertension. Care for patients with chronic diseases can be an enormous challenge after any disaster. The difficulties are compounded if the population prior to the disaster was already experiencing major health disparities. Focusing on hypertension we review the ...

This special issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is being published as a result of the tragic events that occurred on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) campus in April 2007. Such events vividly underscore the need for specialized training to ensure the most appropriate and effective response on the part of the medical and public health...