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Prioritizing Communication About Radiation Risk Reduction in the United States: Results from a Multi-criteria Decision Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2020

Rennie W. Ferguson ,
Daniel J. Barnett ,
Ryan David Kennedy ,
Tara Kirk Sell ,
Jessica S. Wieder  and
Ernst W. Spannhake
Rennie W. Ferguson*
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Baltimore, Maryland
Daniel J. Barnett
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Baltimore, Maryland
Ryan David Kennedy
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Baltimore, Maryland
Tara Kirk Sell
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Baltimore, Maryland Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Baltimore, Maryland
Jessica S. Wieder
Affiliation:
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement, Bethesda, Maryland
Ernst W. Spannhake
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Baltimore, Maryland
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Rennie W. Ferguson, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205; (e-mail: rfergu18@jhu.edu).
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Abstract

Objectives:

The lack of radiation knowledge among the general public continues to be a challenge for building communities prepared for radiological emergencies. This study applied a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to the results of an expert survey to identify priority risk reduction messages and challenges to increasing community radiological emergency preparedness.

Methods:

Professionals with expertise in radiological emergency preparedness, state/local health and emergency management officials, and journalists/journalism academics were surveyed following a purposive sampling methodology. An MCDA was used to weight criteria of importance in a radiological emergency, and the weighted criteria were applied to topics such as sheltering-in-place, decontamination, and use of potassium iodide. Results were reviewed by respondent group and in aggregate.

Results:

Sheltering-in-place and evacuation plans were identified as the most important risk reduction measures to communicate to the public. Possible communication challenges during a radiological emergency included access to accurate information; low levels of public trust; public knowledge about radiation; and communications infrastructure failures.

Conclusions:

Future assessments for community readiness for a radiological emergency should include questions about sheltering-in-place and evacuation plans to inform risk communication.

Keywords

Emergency risk communicationmulti-criteria decision analysisradiation preparedness
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 15 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , pp. 718 - 726
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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