Ready or Not Does Household Preparedness Prevent Absenteeism Among Emergency Department Staff During a Disaster

The authors administered a survey to emergency department staff to determine if household preparedness correlates with likelihood of reporting to work during a disaster. Household preparedness did not have an effect on self-reported likelihood of reporting during a disaster. Having dependents in the home; female gender; past disaster relief experience; having a spouse or domestic partner; and not owning pets were factors found to be associated with predicted absenteeism, though this varied based on disaster type.