Will the doctor be there in an emergency?
Let's say this swine flu business got really serious and a pandemic flu emergency took hold. You might expect an army of doctors and nurses would flock to hospitlas to serve the public at a time of crisis -- right?
Well, according to a new study, one in six public health workers said they would NOT go to work during a pandemic flu emergency, regardless of how severe it is, according to a new survey by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
And those findings are an improvement from a 2005 report that found more than 40 percent of public health employees were unlikely to go to report for duty such an emergency.
Now, there are some limitations to the study: The findings come from a survey of 1,835 public health workers in just three states -- Minnesota, Ohio and West Virginia. Just because people say something in an internet survey, doesn't mean they won't rise to the challenge if an actual emergency happened.
Workers' own fears and perceptions about the severity of the emergency were key factors in whether they would respond. For instance, those who said they were concerned about the threat of the pandemic and those who said they were "confident" that their roles would have a meaningful impact were 31 times more likely to respond than workers who didn't think the threat was big or that they could make a difference.
Experts think the study will help them strengthen emergency plans and devise ways to reinforce the vital role that health care providers play in a crisis. "This study is important in that it both documents the problem and points the way towards specific interventions -- those that increase both concern and confidence -- to increase willingness to respond," said Jonathan Links, director of Hopkins' public health preparedness programs.
