Good day.

The following is a first draft of a qualitative interview outline for the topic of Disaster and Emergency Preparedness. Please make comments or suggestions. This is the initial template for the interviews I hope you will conduct so that the entire class can have some data to code and analyze. The demographics have been designed to qualify for an IRB exempt status, to facilitate getting this done within our scholastic term.

Doc

“Pardon me. I am (Name) from the Disaster Medicine and Management graduate program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia (Penna). Would you be willing to give me not more than 15 minutes of your time to answer some questions about your perception of disaster and any preparation you have made?”

(No)- “Thank you anyway. You may take this list of websites if you would like to find information about this in the future.”

(Yes)-Thank you. Before we begin, has anyone asked you about disaster and preparation in the last month?

(Yes)- OK. Are there any questions you would like to ask me? Thank you for your time.

(No)- Great. This is an educational study for us to learn Applied Research methods. I have some questions to discuss with you. I will not record any information that can identify you, but rather some descriptions of your current life, some of your opinions or perceptions, and some limited facts about what you might have done to prepare for a possible disaster. None of this information will be shared outside of our class, and nothing will be reported outside of our program. Do I have your permission to continue?

What is your birth year? (If after 2002, loop back to the yellow highlighted line.) __________

(For the following lines, check boxes are for the interviewer to code the response for later recall. They may be used for prompts after the interviewee has given their response to amplify or clarify that response.)

Please tell me a little about where you sleep at this time.____________________________

o Dormitory oApartment oRow Home oTwin oSingle o Farm

Who else lives in the same unit? ________________________

o Alone oFellow student/roommate oPartner oFamily

Tell me a little about how you obtain your daily needs (food, clothing, energy).

o Scholarship funded o Parents oLoans oJob

Just a little about your education

oHigh school oTrade school o First year undergraduate oundergraduate ograduate ocontinuing education ofaculty oother staff oOther______________

What community organizations do you consider yourself a member of?

What kind of an area do you feel you are currently living in? Please name the area.

oFarm oCountry oSmall town oCity oBig City
oWilderness oFrontier oRural oSuburban oUrban

What do you believe are the disasters or major emergencies that could affect your life where you are living?

Who do you believe is responsible to provide for your survival in these events?

What have you done to make yourself feel safe against these events?

What have you saved or set aside to make your survival more likely if this (these) disasters were to occur while you were in this living situation?

What do you believe you would need to prevail (be successful) if these events would occur while you were here?

What, if anything, has prevented you from obtaining those items you have identified?

What, if any, training in disaster or emergency preparedness or response have you had?

How long do you think you would be comfortable without a safe space (room or building) to be in?

What would you do if you or another person had a wound that was gushing blood?

How long do you think you could be comfortable without heat or air conditioning?

How long do you think you could survive without heat if the outside was at freezing temperature?

What would you do in that case?

How would that change if the temperature was only at refrigerator temperature (56 degree F)?

How long do you feel you could live without a drink of water?

How long do you feel you could live without cleaning your hands or body?

How long do you feel you could live without bathroom facilities for stool?

How long do you feel you could live without medicine if all of your community was in a gymnasium?

What would you do if you had a cut that got infected, with pus, red streaks up your limb, throbbing, and fever? If there was no medicine available?

What do you feel would happen to you without cellphone, telephone, TV, or internet?

What do you feel would happen you if there were no electricity, and no travel away, for one week?

For one month?

Thank you so much for helping me. Do you have any questions I could help you with?

This is a list of some resources you might like to check about our study topic.