Abstract
Objectives: The lack of radiation knowledge among the general public continues to be a challenge for building communities prepared for radiological emergencies. This study applied a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to the results of an expert survey to identify priority risk reduction messages and challenges to increasing community radiological emergency preparedness. Methods: Professionals with expertise in radiological emergency preparedness, state/local health and emergency management officials, and journalists/journalism academics were surveyed following a purposive sampling methodology. An MCDA was used to weight criteria of importance in a radiological emergency, and the weighted criteria were applied to topics such as sheltering-in-place, decontamination, and use of potassium iodide. Results were reviewed by respondent group and in aggregate. Results: Sheltering-in-place and evacuation plans were identified as the most important risk reduction measures to communicate to the public. Possible communication challenges during a radiological emergency included access to accurate information; low levels of public trust; public knowledge about radiation; and communications infrastructure failures. Conclusions: Future assessments for community readiness for a radiological emergency should include questions about sheltering-in-place and evacuation plans to inform risk communication.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 718-726 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Disaster medicine and public health preparedness |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 23 2021 |
Keywords
- Emergency risk communication
- multi-criteria decision analysis
- radiation preparedness
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health