LIHUE — The Kauai Emergency Management Agency is assisting the state Department of Health and DOH Kauai District Health Office to conduct a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response, or CASPER, survey to assess the emergency preparedness levels of
LIHUE — The Kauai Emergency Management Agency is assisting the state Department of Health and DOH Kauai District Health Office to conduct a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response, or CASPER, survey to assess the emergency preparedness levels of local residents.
Survey members will go door-to-door from Aug. 1 through Aug. 4, to 30 census tracts that are weighted towards more populated areas within the county. Seven houses within each tract will be selected at random.
The survey teams will ask residents about emergency preparedness, communication preferences, health needs and evacuation plans following a disaster.
Team members will have on vests identifying themselves as part of the DOH Survey Team and will carry identification cards. All survey responses will be confidential, and survey teams will not be collecting names or addresses.
Survey results will establish a baseline for the percentage of Kauai families who have the necessary supplies after an emergency. It will help improve Kauai county plans and enable the DOH to best meet the community’s health needs following a disaster.
Survey teams are comprised of DOH staff with support from KEMA, Kauai Medical Reserve Corps, American Red Cross, and the Community Emergency Response Teams.
The CASPER survey methodology was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a way to rapidly assess the health and other resource needs of a community after a disaster. Alternatively, the methodology can also be used in a non-disaster scenario to assess the current preparedness levels of a community.
