Preparing for disasters: What should you know, and when should you know it?

Three waves of terrorism have ushered in a new era in public health, safety, and health care in the United States: The February 26, 1993 explosions at New York’s World Trade Center, the April 19, 1995 bombing at the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, and the September 11, 2001 attacks, along with the anthrax cases that followed. Those events have awakened federal, state, and local governments to the urgency of improving their disaster-response capabilities. The health professions have also stepped forward to delineate the roles of their members in disasters, establish minimum competencies, and develop new training programs. Physician assistants have a strong tradition of responding to crisis. In all likelihood, PAs will be among the first responders to any disaster in the United States. It is incumbent on the profession and on individual PAs to understand what their roles would be in a disaster and to prepare accordingly.