Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
Volume 9 – Issue 02 – April 2015
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=DMP&tab=currentissue

Brief Report
Legal Protections to Promote Response Willingness Among the Local Public Health Workforce
Lainie Rutkowa1 c1, Jon S. Vernicka1, Carol B. Thompsona2, Rachael Piltch-Loeba1 and Daniel J. Barnetta3
a1 Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
a2 Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
a3 Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
Abstract
Objective
The legal environment may improve response willingness among local health department (LHD) workers. We examined whether 3 hypothetical legal protections influence LHD workers’ self-reported response willingness for 4 emergency scenarios and whether specific demographic factors are associated with LHD workers’ response willingness given these legal protections.
Methods
Our 2011–2012 survey included questions on demographics and about attitudes and beliefs regarding LHD workers’ willingness to respond to 4 emergency scenarios given specific legal protections (i.e., ensuring priority health care for workers’ families, granting workers access to mental health services, and guaranteeing access to personal protective equipment). Data were collected from 1238 LHD workers in 3 states.
Results
Across scenarios, between 60% and 83% of LHD workers agreed that they would be more willing to respond given the presence of 1 of the 3 hypothetical legal protections. Among the 3 legal protections, a guarantee of personal protective equipment elicited the greatest agreement with improved response willingness.
Conclusions
Specific legal protections augment a majority of LHD workers’ response willingness. Policymakers must, however, balance improved response willingness with other considerations, such as the ethical implications of prioritizing responders over the general public.

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Special Section
The Role of Communication in Public Health Preparedness Measures and Response to Pandemics

Policy Analysis
Poxvirus Countermeasures During an Emergency in the United States
Steve Bicea1 c1 and Kevin Yeskeya2
a1 Steve Bice Associates, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia
a2 MDB, Inc, Washington, DC
Abstract
Although smallpox was eradicated worldwide by 1980, national security experts remain concerned that it could be used in a deliberate attack. The United States and other governments have given priority to developing and stockpiling vaccines and antivirals to protect their populations from the potential reintroduction of this deadly disease. Public health officials are also concerned about the spread of related zoonotic orthopoxviruses such as monkeypox and cowpox, against which smallpox vaccine provides protection. This report analyzes how medical countermeasures available in the US Strategic National Stockpile will be given priority and used in the event of an intentional or accidental release of smallpox in the United States. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:121-126)

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Systematic Reviews
Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) Communication During the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Outbreak: Literature Review (2009-2013) of the Methodology Used for EID Communication Analysis
Anat Gesser-Edelsburg, Nathan Stolero, Emilio Mordini, Matthew Billingsley, James J. James and Manfred S. Green

Perceptions and Behavioral Responses of the General Public During the 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic: A Systematic Review
Marloes Bults, Desirée J.M.A. Beaujean, Jan Hendrik Richardus and Hélène A.C.M. Voeten