To investigate the relative importance of 10 attributes identified in prior studies as essential for effective disaster medical responders and leaders.

Emergency and disaster medical response personnel (N=220) ranked 10 categories of disaster worker attributes in order of their importance in contributing to the effectiveness of disaster responders and leaders.

Attributes of disaster medical leaders and responders were rank ordered, and the rankings differed for leaders and responders. For leaders, problem-solving/decision-making and communication skills were the highest ranked, whereas teamwork/interpersonal skills and calm/cool were the highest ranked for responders.

The 10 previously identified attributes of effective disaster medical responders and leaders include personal characteristics and general skills in addition to knowledge of incident command and disaster medicine. The differences in rank orders of attributes for leaders and responders suggest that when applying these attributes in personnel recruitment, selection, and training, the proper emphasis and priority given to each attribute may vary by role. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:700–703)

To identify key attributes of effective disaster/mass casualty first responders and leaders, thereby informing the ongoing development of a capable disaster health workforce.

We surveyed emergency response practitioners attending a conference session, the EMS State of the Science: A Gathering of Eagles. We used open-ended questions to ask participants to describe key characteristics of successful disaster/mass casualty first responders and leaders.

Of the 140 session attendees, 132 (94%) participated in the survey. All responses were categorized by using a previously developed framework. The most frequently mentioned characteristics were related to incident command/disaster knowledge, teamwork/interpersonal skills, performing one’s role, and cognitive abilities. Other identified characteristics were related to communication skills, adaptability/flexibility, problem solving/decision-making, staying calm and cool under stress, personal character, and overall knowledge.

The survey findings support our prior focus group conclusion that important characteristics of disaster responders and leaders are not limited to the knowledge and skills typically included in disaster training. Further research should examine the extent to which these characteristics are consistently associated with actual effective performance of disaster response personnel and determine how best to incorporate these attributes into competency models, processes, and tools for the development of an effective disaster response workforce. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 4)

Understanding ambulance utilization patterns is essential to assessing prehospital system capacity and preparedness at the national level.

To describe the characteristics of patients transported to US emergency departments (EDs) by ambulance and to determine predictors of ambulance utilization.

Data were obtained from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey using mode of arrival, demographic and visit information, ICD-9-CM E and V-codes, and classified reasons for the visit.

The rates for ED visits of persons conveyed by ambulence were stable between 1997 and 2003, consisting of approximately one in every seven ED visits (14%). In 2003, there were 16.2 million ED visits for which an ambulance was used in the US. However, for patients with mental health visits, nearly one in three ED presentations (31%) arrived by ambulance. Significantly higher rates of ambulance use were associated with: (1) mental health visits; (2) older age; (3) African-Americans; (4) Medicare or self-pay insurance status; (5) urban ED location; (6) US regions outside of the South; (7) presentation between 12 midnight to 0800 hours; (8) injury-related visits; (9) urgent visit status; and/or (10) those resulting in hospital admission. Among mental health patients, older age, self-pay insurance status, urban ED location, regions outside the southern US, and urgent visit classification predicted ambulance use. Ambulance usage within the mental health group was highest for suicide and lowest for mood and anxiety disorder-related visits.

Reliance on ambulance services varies by age, insurance status, geographic factors, time of day, urgency of visit, subsequent admission status, and type of mental health disorder. Even after controlling for many confounding factors, mental health problems remain an important predictor of ambulance use.