Financial burden of emergency preparedness on an urban, academic hospital

This study assessed the direct human resource costs of a hospital's emergency preparedness planning (in 2005) by surveying participants retrospectively. Forty participants (74% of the identified population) were surveyed. Using the self-reported hourly salary of the participant, a direct salary cost was calculated for each participant. The population was 40% male and 60% female; 65% had a graduate degree or higher; 65% were administrators; 35% were clinicians; and 50% reported that their job description included a reference to emergency planning activities. All participants spent a combined total of 3,654.25 hours on emergency preparedness activities, including 20.1% on personal education/training; 11.6% on educating other people; 39.3% on paperwork or equipment maintenance; 22.2% on attendance at meetings; 5.6% on drill participation; and <1% on other activities. Considering the participants' hourly salary, direct personal costs spent on emergency preparedness activities at the institution totaled US$232,417.Ten percent, all of whom were physicians, reported no compensation for their emergency preparedness efforts at the hospital level. As much as these results illustrate the strong commitment of the institution to its community, they represent a heavy burden in light of the often unfunded mandate of emergency preparedness planning that a hospital may incur. Such responsibility is carried to some extent by all hospitals.