Terrorism Planning Through the Eyes of the Public

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Terrorism Planning Through the Eyes of the Public
Ventura County Terrorism Preparedness Study

• Jamshid Damooei, PhD
• Daniel Jordan, PhD February 2005

Forward-Thinking
State-of-the-Art Economic Social Analysis
C
Creative Research Center
R
C
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Study Purposes

• To produce insights for improving communication
  between County emergency authorities and
  residents in the event of a bio-terrorism attack.
• To identify whether some groups of residents may
  respond differently to bio-terrorism attacks and
  the best ways to communicate with different
  groups during a crisis.

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Study Design

• Modified the nationwide phone survey conducted by
  the New York Academy of Medicine to reflect and
  assess the socio-economic characteristics of
  Ventura County.
• 54 items.
• Randomized sample selection to assure adequate
  representation of Ventura County populations.
• Inferences at the 95 confidence level for the
  County and each ZIP Code.

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Study Procedures

• Pilot testing.
• Spanish version.
• Experienced surveyors recruited and trained
• Randomly generated telephone numbers.
• Supervision of data collection and entry.
• Data cleaning.
• Statistics Frequency distributions, percentages,
  contingency tables (cross-tabulation)

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Study Limitations

• A snapshot in time of peoples perceptions.
• Does not represent people
• without a phone number,
• whose numbers are too new to be in directories,
• unlisted telephone numbers

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Emergency PreparednessThemes

• Across five demographic variables
• Level and types of concerns.
• Knowledge, attitude, and reaction towards the
  countys emergency plans.
• Health and health service knowledge and attitude.
• Health risks related to Sheltering in Place.
• Level of interest and needs to learn more about
  emergency planning.

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Natural Disasters Most Worried About
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Level of Concern About Various Terrorist Attacks
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How likely is a terrorist attack in Ventura
County in the next 10 years?
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Whose instructions would you follow in the case
of a terrorist attack?
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If the County Health Officer said to go get
medicine or a vaccine, which would you do?
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If you hear about a disease outbreak, how worried
would you be about catching the disease?
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What would you do for information and advice?
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What would you do for information and advice?
If want to talk to someone . . .
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What might keep people from getting needed
medicine or vaccines?
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How prepared do you think Ventura County is to
deal with terrorist attacks?
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PublicParticipation

• More than 80 say that the public can influence
  bio-terrorism planning
• More than 70 of respondents say it is at least
  moderately important for County officials to
  include the public in bio-terrorism planning
• But 70 also said they know nothing of the
  Countys plans

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What would you do if ordered to shelter in
place for protection from radiation or a
chemical spill?
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Would you leave after being told to shelter in
place? If Yes, Why?
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Level of Concern, Cooperation, and Compliance at
Time of Crisis
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Policy Recommendations Demographics, Fears and
Trust

• Findings offer clues to earn trust and calm
  fears.
• Fears, concerns, and trust in county authorities
  in general and Public Health Department in
  particular vary by demographics and geography.
• Latinos have the highest rates of fears of an
  attack and of medications Asians are least
  likely to trust officials. Women are more likely
  to fear hostage situations than men.
• Must understand the roots of apprehension, then
  try to resolve issues while communicating
  solutions.

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Policy Recommendations County Readiness and
Public Trust

• Finding 45 of respondents had very little or
  confidence that Ventura County is ready to deal
  with a crisis situation when the occasion arises.
  
• Recommendation 1 Reassure community members of
  the Countys capacity to deal crises. Areas that
  lack preparedness should be addressed
  immediately.

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Policy Recommendations Community Member Task
Force

• Finding Be proactive in developing plans to deal
  with a crisis, and support a greater role from
  the public in planning.
• Recommendation 2 Local authorities in general
  and public health in particular should establish
  a bio-defense response team formed of volunteers
  to help victims and career personnel during a
  crisis.
• Recommendation 3 Involve variety of residents in
  preparedness planning so they will be confident
  that planners know their concerns.

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Policy Recommendations Community Member Task
Force

• Recommendation 4 Develop a Volunteer Rapid
  Response Team of paid and volunteer community
  members to give information to the public during
  a crisis.
• Mock crises should be conducted annually, at
  minimum including these community members
• These people should be easily reachable and
  available when their services are needed
• Mobilize volunteers under the supervision of
  officers that they worked with in training

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Policy RecommendationsPlanning, Training and
Practicing

• Recommendation 5 Because of high trust levels in
  law enforcement authorities, fire captains, and
  the public health department, they should be
  rigorously trained for various potential crisis
  situations.
• Recommendation 6 Improve coordination of public
  and private policy planning to readily deploy
  resources to function effectively in crises.
• Stage joint-practice sessions with all of the
  countys key agencies and personnel.
• Develop after-action plans from these exercises.

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Policy RecommendationsCommunication and Public
Trust

• Recommendation 7 Gain trust by discussing
  economic, environmental and social dangers of
  bio-terrorism attacks and other crises.
• Recommendation 8 Give the public information
  about preparedness and crisis priorities to
  reduce fears among 28 who believe authorities do
  things that would harm them.

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Policy RecommendationsCommunication and Public
Trust

• Recommendation 9 Create and identify safe
  places where large groups of people can go
  during a crisis.
• Include places people already go or would want to
  go in a crisis Work sites, shops, malls,
  schools, day care centers, hospitals and clinics,
  recreational and entertainment facilities,
  government buildings, apartment buildings, and
  transportation terminals.
• Train managers of these places on what to do in a
  crisis.

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Policy RecommendationsCommunication and Public
Trust

• Recommendation 10 Make public announcements in
  advance identifying safe places via
  newspapers, local television and radio stations.
• Recommendation 11 Provide advance and continued
  information about what to do when asked to go to
  nearby locations to get medicines or vaccines.
  Using the Internet can be crucial.

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Conclusions

• Increasing public awareness via films and
  presentations on disasters in around the world,
  including lessons learned and mistakes made to
  show our communities they have a pro-active local
  government and public health authority serious
  about protecting their safety and well-being.
• Transparency about mistakes made during crises
  will help people trust their local authority and
  comply with instructions.

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Q and A

• Thank you
• We Will be Glad to Answer Questions
• Jamshid Damooei
• damooei_at_clunet.edu
• Daniel Jordan, PhD
• drdanj_at_adelphia.net