Untersuchung zur Einbindung des Öffentlichen ...

Anesthesiology. The survey requested information about three main complexes of
topics relevant for catastrophe and disaster medicine:
1. Occupational training of physicians working in the GPHS
(medical school, postgraduate training)
2. Knowledge of catastrophe and disaster medicine and its source
3. Opinions and perspectives
The set of questions had been set up according to profiles for public health service
physicians as requested in the literature. After approval and consensus
agreement on study procedures and the survey by the German City Council and
the German District Council, the questionnaire was mailed to all lower public
health service authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany (number n = 429)
at the beginning of Mai 2001. All responses were processed anonymously.
Overall, responses were received from n = 339 of 429 contacted lower PHS
authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany (79%). Respondents report that
91% of the GPHS physicians who are responsible for catastrophe and disaster
medicine are board-qualified public health service physicians, 22% have
completed a training in emergency and rescue service, and 4% participated in a
training program for the leading emergency physician. Almost two-third of the
GPHS physicians indicate that they are already involved in catastrophe and
disaster medicine preparedness plans. They state that they gained their knowledge
of medical topics relevant for catastrophe medicine while being educated in
medical school. However, it has to be stressed here, that this knowledge is not
specifically related to catastrophe and disaster medicine, but only related to skills
for treatment of individual cases. The answers to the questionnaire also show that
merely a very small part of the training for the boards of public health service
physicians includes education in expert knowledge of catastrophe medicine
(management of infectious disease in epidemics). Nevertheless, only a few items
with relevance for catastrophes and disasters are subject of teaching. The survey
also demonstrates that GPHS physicians are well aware of the problem of their
integration into catastrophe preparedness and management plans. They recognize
their clear need for special catastrophe preparedness training and explicitly state
wishes for particular teaching sessions (mainly in catastrophe response tactics,
epidemic infectious disease containment, management planning of incidents with
transports of hazardous material).
3.4 Evaluation of the Lower Catastrophe Prevention Authorities for
Integration of German Public Health Service Physicians into
Preparedness Planning of Medical Care for Catastrophes and
Disasters
To evaluate the administrative authorities and officers who are responsible for
catastrophe prevention (catastrophe prevention officers) a questionnaire survey
was developed in cooperation with the German City Council and the German
District Council again, that addressed three main complexes of topics:
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