Year: 2012
Funding: NNPHI PHS Natural Experiment Award
Status: Completed
Overview
This project will assess whether state laws influence the public health workforce’s willingness to respond (WTR) in emergencies. The project’s aims are: 1) Identify and classify variations in emergency response laws in the 50 U.S. states; 2) Assess the association between specific state emergency preparedness laws and WTR during emergencies among the public health workforce (including health department staff and emergency medical services (EMS) workers); 3) Assess whether public health workers believe that particular future legal protections would enhance their WTR during emergencies. Aim 1 involves a mapping study to identify and classify specific emergency response laws in all 50 states. Aims 2 and 3 employ multi-level regression analyses using data from an existing national EMS worker sample and from an on-going survey of local health departments. Project deliverables include a protocol, codebook, and data set from the legal mapping study; peer-reviewed manuscripts; non-technical, translational materials; and conference presentations. Additional deliverables include a research brief detailing findings, policy/practice implications, and recommendations as well as a written report on the project and its findings for wide dissemination. Findings will be released within 12 months of the project’s completion. The project will collaborate with: 1) National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians; 2) Butler County Health Department in Missouri; and 3) Multnomah County (OR) Health Department.
Findings & Reports
- Law, Emergencies, and the Public Health System (October 2013)
- EMS Workers, Law, and Public Health Systems (December 2013)
- Research about Emergency Response Willingness (July 2014)
- Research Brief: Effect of Variations in State Emergency Preparedness Laws on the Public Health Workforce's Willingness to Respond in Emergencies
Presentations
- An Analysis of State Laws Impacting Emergency Preparedness Activities within the Public Health System (AcademyHealth PHSR SIG, June 2013)
- Impact of Legal Protections on the Public Health Workforce’s Willingness to Respond during Emergencies (APHA, November 2013)
- Emergency Preparedness, State Laws, and Willingness to Respond among the EMS Workforce (Keeneland Conference, April 2014)
- Effect of Variations in State Emergency Preparedness Laws on the Public Health Workforce’s Willingness to Respond in Emergencies (PHSSR Research-in-Progress Webinar, October 2014 recording )
Publications
- The Public Health Workforce and Willingness to Respond to Emergencies: A 50-State Analysis of Potentially Influential Laws (Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 2014)
- Emergency Preparedness Law and Willingness to Respond in the EMS Workforce (Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 2014)
- Legal Protections to Promote Response Willingness among the Local Public Health Workforce (Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, in press)
- Local Health Department Workers, Public Policy, and Willingness to Respond during Emergencies (American Journal of Disaster Medicine, in press)
Other Publications
- Willingness to Respond in Public Health Emergencies: The Role of Law (Public Health Law Blog, November 2014)
Contacts
Lainie Rutow & Daniel Barnett
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health