Factors Associated with Differences in Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Findings from a Nationwide Survey in the United States

Using data from a national survey conducted in the United States during the Spring of 2020, the differences between emergency managers, transportation planners, and others involved in pandemic disaster response in terms of risk perception and protective actions are investigated.  The study found that 92 percent of respondents reported implementing voluntary actions with 35 percent reporting quarantine and 37 percent reporting isolation actions. The attributes of respondents and the agencies and communities they work in are categorized in terms of personal, disciplinary, or professional backgrounds, as attributes such as urban versus rural, coastal versus non-coastal, and other factors.  Three dependent variables are modeled including  1) risk tolerance; 2) level of preparedness (including support for training), and 3) implementation of protective measures for social distancing, quarantine, and isolation to ascertain the influences of personal, professional, and regional, locational characteristics. A risk tolerance score is implemented by asking respondents “what percentage of the population would need to be sick to implement voluntary and non-voluntary actions. Using Poisson regression analysis and correspondence analysis, the patterns, associations, and clustering of backgrounds and other attributes are modeled to show the relationships between risk perceptions, preparedness, and professional backgrounds. In addition to identifying which places and people are more inclined to support protective actions for the pandemic, this analysis also helps to demonstrate the intersections and mutual interests across public health, transportation, and emergency management.  Overall, this study found a low level of preparedness for the pandemic with 70 percent of the respondents supporting additional training.

• Record URL:
  https://annualmeeting.mytrb.org/OnlineProgram/Details/15987
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AMR10 Standing Committee on Critical Transportation Infrastructure Protection.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Kim, Karl E
  • Yamashita, Eric
  • Ghimire, Jiwnath
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 100th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2021-1-5 to 2021-1-29
• Date: 2021

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 21p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Communicable diseases; COVID-19; Disaster resilience; Poisson distributions; Public health; Regression analysis; Risk assessment; Surveys
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Security and Emergencies; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01763833
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRBAM-21-00523
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 4 2021 10:57AM