CDC Report Targets Hospitals' Terrorism Preparation
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new report that reviews U.S. hospitals' preparations for the fallout from terrorist attacks. The report, "Training for Terrorism-Related Conditions in Hospitals: United States, 2003-2004," is based on data from the annual National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, conducted by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new report that reviews U.S. hospitals' preparations for the fallout from terrorist attacks. The report, "Training for Terrorism-Related Conditions in Hospitals: United States, 2003-2004," is based on data from the annual National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, conducted by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Among its findings:
* Teaching hospitals were better trained than other hospitals for bioterrorism
* Hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations had prepared more of their physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses and lab staff for such emergencies.
* Eighty-eight percent of hospitals surveyed in 2003 and 2004 report their nurses had been trained in recognizing and treating patients exposed to at least one of seven pathogens, including smallpox, anthrax, plague, botulism, tularemia, viral encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever, and chemical or radiological attacks.
* Eighty-six percent of clinical staff members in hospitals with 24-hour emergency departments or outpatient clinics were trained to recognize and treat smallpox, and 82 percent were trained to recognize and treat anthrax infection.
"Training for Terrorism-Related Conditions in Hospitals: United States, 2003-2004" can be accessed at www.cdc.gov/nchs. To access a report on hospital preparedness published in September 2005, visit
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad364.pdf .
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