Impact of an Education Intervention on Missouri K-12 School Disaster and Biological Event Preparedness.

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS ® ) 21.0t-test

Missouri Association of School Nurses (MASN) members were e-mailed a survey link in fall 2013 (ie, preintervention), links to online education modules (ie, intervention) in late fall, and a postintervention survey link in spring, 2014. School biological event readiness was measured using 35 indicators, for a possible score range of 0-35. A paired t-test compared pre- to postintervention

The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current disasters.

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scores.

School biological event readiness

We used a pre- and postintervention methodology to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention on school

Sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or event requiring immediate action.
Note 1 to entry: An emergency is usually a disruption or condition that can often be anticipated or prepared for, but seldom exactly foreseen.

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management plans at the start and end of the 2013-2014 school year. Missouri Association of School Nurses members were e-mailed a link to an online survey in the fall of 2013 (ie, preintervention), sent links to online education modules (ie, intervention) in late fall, 2013, and e-mailed a link to a second online survey in spring of 2014 (ie, postintervention). The online surveys were administered through Qualtrics® (an online survey platform). Follow-up recruitment e-mails were distributed 2 and 4weeks after each initial e-mail to maximize

Actions taken during or immediately after a disaster in order to save lives, reduce health impacts, ensure public safety and meet the basic subsistence needs of the people affected.

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rates. Nurses were told that completion of the online survey(s) and/or intervention implied consent to participate in the study.

Data retrieved from online surveys. (pre and postsurvey

The purpose

A total of 133 school nurses (33.6% response rate) completed a survey; 35.3% of those (N=47) completed both preand postintervention survey that could be matched. Pre- and postintervention preparedness scores ranged from 5 to 28.5 (x=13.3) and 6.5 to 25 (x=14.8), respectively. Postintervention scores were significantly higher than preintervention scores for those who watched at least 1 module (t=-2.3, p<.05).The education intervention was effective at improving school preparedness, though the impact was small. The education intervention needs to be reassessed, especially in regard to providing a longer intervention period.

The Saint Louis University Institutional Review Board approved this study (protocol # 23654).

Situation where widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses have occurred which exceeded the ability of the affected organisation, community or society to respond and recover using its own resources.

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The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current disasters.

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of schoolsbioterrorism, infectious diseases, and pandemics.A 2011 nationwide school pandemic preparedness study found schools to be deficient. We examined the impact of a school nurse educational intervention aimed at improving K-12 school biological event preparedness.