Preparedness Planning for Emergencies Among Postpartum Women in Arkansas During 2009

Healthy Start: Description of a Safety Net for Perinatal Support During Disaster Recovery

“…This study underscores the need for all community and governmental programs that care for vulnerable families on an everyday basis, to take a proactive effort aimed at prevention and reduction of risks before disasters and to respond and build resilience during post-disaster recovery. For example, flood mitigation programs must make the effort to assist low income families living in natural disaster prone areas to protect themselves and be better prepared for future events, including finding housing outside flood prone areas and planning resources for evacuation if indicated [44, 45]. Policies that build sustained resilience to disaster also call for more widespread social programs that empower women and promote resilience through life course decisions in areas such as in family planning and education.…”

Disaster preparedness among women with a recent live birth in Hawaii, a cross-sectional study, results from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), 2016

“…Race and ethnicity have previously been shown to be important predictors of preparedness, although no consensus exists between the direction of association of race and preparedness in current literature (Zilversmit, Sappenfield, Zotti, and McGehee 2014;DeBastiani, Strine, Vagi, Barnett, and Kahn 2015;Baker 2011;Murphy, Cody, Frank, Glik, and Ang 2009;Diekman, Kearney, O'Neil, and Mack 2007;Bethel, Burke, and Britt 2013). An assessment of the 2006 -2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System general preparedness module found Black and Hispanic respondents were more likely to have a three-day supply of water, and an evacuation plan prepared compared to White respondents; however White respondents were more likely to have a three-day supply of food, battery operated radio, and medication (Bethel, Burke, and Britt 2013).…”

“…Compared to women with a family size of two, family sizes of four or more were associated with increased likelihood of having emergency plans, a family size of four was associated with a higher likelihood of having copies of important documents, and a family size of five or more was associated with a higher likelihood of having emergency supplies. A study by Zilversmit et al (2014) observed families with five or more members were 30% more likely to have an emergency plan compared to families of one to four members when assessing the presence of an emergency plan among postpartum women in Arkansas. A focus group discussing household emergency preparedness among homeowners found children in the home promote preparedness for two reasons: it is a way for parents to protect their children, and preparedness is a result of increased involvement in community activities that prompt preparedness behaviors (Diekman, Kearney, O'Neil, and Mack 2007).…”

“…Baseline measures of preparedness can inform public health education campaigns to increase preparedness and help in planning to meet the population's needs during a disaster. Limited information is available on the prevalence of preparedness among pregnant and postpartum women (Zilversmit, Sappenfield, Zotti, and McGehee 2014;Maher 2019;National Institutes of Health 2019;Hapsari, Jayanti, Nugraheni, and Panuntun 2020). It may be difficult to estimate baseline measures of preparedness among pregnant and postpartum women through traditional population-based sampling since they are a small percentage of the general population (Horney, Zotti, Williams, and Hsia 2012).…”

“…The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is an annual survey conducted by states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which can be used to estimate baseline preparedness among women who recently had a live birth. An analysis of one 2009 Arkansas PRAMS emergency preparedness question provided the first prevalence estimate of postpartum women who responded that they had an emergency preparedness plan (Zilversmit, Sappenfield, Zotti, and McGehee 2014). In 2016, PRAMS introduced an eight-part supplemental question to assess disaster preparedness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2016).…”