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Fight or Flight: Emergency Health Care Workers’ Willingness to Work during Crises and Disasters. A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Study in the Netherlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2025

Lindsy M.J. Engels ,
Dennis G. Barten Open the ORCID record for Dennis G. Barten [Opens in a new window] ,
Thimo J.T. Boumans ,
Menno I. Gaakeer ,
Gideon H.P. Latten ,
Jannet Mehagnoul ,
Özlem Tapirdamaz ,
Frits van Osch  and
Luc Mortelmans Open the ORCID record for Luc Mortelmans [Opens in a new window]
Lindsy M.J. Engels
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, the Netherlands
Dennis G. Barten*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, the Netherlands
Thimo J.T. Boumans
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Zuyderland Medical Centre, Heerlen and Sittard-Geleen, the Netherlands
Menno I. Gaakeer
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Adrz Hospital, Goes, the Netherlands
Gideon H.P. Latten
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Zuyderland Medical Centre, Heerlen and Sittard-Geleen, the Netherlands
Jannet Mehagnoul
Affiliation:
Department of Intensive Care Medicine, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, the Netherlands
Özlem Tapirdamaz
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, the Netherlands Department of Emergency Medicine, Laurentius Hospital, Roermond, the Netherlands
Frits van Osch
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Epidemiology, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, the Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, NUTRIM School for Nutrition and Metabolism, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Luc Mortelmans
Affiliation:
Centre for Research and Education in Emergency Care, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; REGEDIM, Free University Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Emergency Medicine, ZNA Camp Stuivenberg, Antwerp, Belgium
*
Corresponding author: Dennis G. Barten; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

Expanding staff levels is a strategy for hospitals to increase their surge capacity. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether emergency health care workers (HCWs) are willing to work during crises or disasters, and which working conditions influence their decisions.

Methods

HCWs in the emergency departments (EDs) and intensive care units (ICUs) of 5 Dutch hospitals were surveyed about various disaster scenarios. For each scenario, HCWs were asked about their willingness to work (WTW) and which conditions would influence their decision. Knowledge, perceived risk, and danger were assessed per scenario.

Results

A total of 306 out of 630 HCWs completed the survey. Influenza epidemics, SARS-CoV-2 pandemics, and natural disasters were associated with the highest WTW rates (69.0%, 63.7%, and 53.3%, respectively). WTW rate was lowest in nuclear incident (4.6%) and dirty bomb (3.3%) scenarios. WTW rate was higher in physicians than in nurses. Male ED HCWs, single HCWs, and childless HCWs were more often willing to work. Personal protective equipment (PPE) and the safety of HCWs’ families were the most important working conditions. Perceived knowledge scored lowest in the dirty bomb, biological, and nuclear incident scenarios. These scenarios were rated highest with respect to perceived danger.

Conclusions

WTW depends on disaster type, profession, and department. The provision of PPE and the safety of HCWs’ families were found to be the predominant favorable working conditions.

Keywords

disasterscrisesemergency health care workerswillingness to work
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e336
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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