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Measuring the Efficacy of a Pilot Public Health Intervention for Engaging Communities of Puerto Rico to Rapidly Write Hurricane Protection Plans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2020

Mark E. Keim Open the ORCID record for Mark E. Keim [Opens in a new window] ,
Laura A. Runnels ,
Alexander P. Lovallo ,
Margarita Pagan Medina ,
Eduardo Roman Rosa ,
Maximiliano Ramery Santos ,
Mollie Mahany  and
Miguel A. Cruz
Mark E. Keim*
Affiliation:
DisasterDoc LLC, Atlanta, Georgia
Laura A. Runnels
Affiliation:
LARC Consulting LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Alexander P. Lovallo
Affiliation:
DisasterDoc LLC, Atlanta, Georgia
Margarita Pagan Medina
Affiliation:
Puerto Rico Department of Health, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Eduardo Roman Rosa
Affiliation:
Puerto Rico Department of Health, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Maximiliano Ramery Santos
Affiliation:
Puerto Rico Department of Health, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Mollie Mahany
Affiliation:
National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Miguel A. Cruz
Affiliation:
National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Correspondence: Mark E. Keim, MD, MBA 141 Chantilly Lane Lawrenceville, GeorgiaUSA30043 E-mail: mark@disasterdoc.org
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Abstract

Objective:

The efficacy is measured for a public health intervention related to community-based planning for population protection measures (PPMs; ie, shelter-in-place and evacuation).

Design:

This is a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) prospective study of intervention efficacy, measured in terms of usability related to effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, and degree of community engagement.

Setting:

Two municipalities in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are included.

Participants:

Community members consisting of individuals; traditional leaders; federal, territorial, and municipal emergency managers; municipal mayors; National Guard; territorial departments of education, health, housing, public works, and transportation; health care; police; Emergency Medical Services; faith-based organizations; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and the private sector.

Intervention:

The intervention included four community convenings: one for risk communication; two for plan-writing; and one tabletop exercise (TTX). This study analyzed data collected from the project work plan; participant rosters; participant surveys; workshop outputs; and focus group interviews.

Main Outcome Measures:

Efficacy was measured in terms of ISO 9241-11, an international standard for usability that includes effectiveness, efficiency, user satisfaction, and “freedom from risk” among users. Degree of engagement was considered an indicator of “freedom from risk,” measurable through workshop attendance.

Results:

Two separate communities drafted and exercised ~60-page-long population protection plans, each within 14.5 hours. Plan-writing workshops completed 100% of plan objectives and activities. Efficiency rates were nearly the same in both communities. Interviews and surveys indicated high degrees of community satisfaction. Engagement was consistent among community members and variable among governmental officials.

Conclusions:

Frontline communities have successfully demonstrated the ability to understand the environmental health hazards in their own community; rapidly write consensus-based plans for PPMs; participate in an objective-based TTX; and perform these activities in a bi-lingual setting. This intervention appears to be efficacious for public use in the rapid development of community-based PPMs.

Keywords

community engagementdisaster risk reductionpopulation protection measurespublic health emergenciespublic health intervention
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 32 - 41
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

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