Kahan Ernesto, Fogelman Yacov, Kitai Eliezer, Vinker Shlomo
Department of Family Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Fam Pract. 2003 Aug;20(4):441-2. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmg419.
The threat of bioterrorism consequent to the September 11, 2001 attack in the USA generated suggestions for improved medical response mainly through hospital preparedness.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of this period of tension on patients' first choice for care and for receiving relevant information, and on primary care doctors' feelings of responsibility in the eventuality of an anthrax attack.
During October 11-31, 2001, 500 patients from 30 clinics throughout Israel were asked to complete a questionnaire on their awareness of the anthrax threat, measures taken to prepare for it, and preferred sources of care and information. Their 30 physicians, and an additional 20, completed a questionnaire on knowledge about anthrax and anthrax-related patient behaviours and clinic visits.
The outstanding finding was the low rate (30%) of patients who chose the hospital emergency department as their first choice for care or information if they were worried about an anthrax attack or the media communicated that an attack was in progress. The other two-thirds preferred their family doctor or the health authorities. Most of the physicians (89%) felt it was their responsibility to treat anthrax-infected patients and that they should therefore be supplied with appropriate guidelines.
This study suggests that in Israel, a country with a high degree of awareness of civil defence aspects, both patients and primary care doctors believe that family physicians should have a major role in the case of bioterrorist attacks. This must be seriously considered during formulation of relevant health services programmes.
2001年9月11日美国遭受袭击后出现的生物恐怖主义威胁引发了关于主要通过医院准备工作来改善医疗应对措施的建议。
本研究的目的是调查这段紧张时期对患者就医及获取相关信息的首选，以及对初级保健医生在炭疽袭击事件中的责任感的影响。
2001年10月11日至31日期间，来自以色列各地30家诊所的500名患者被要求填写一份问卷，内容包括他们对炭疽威胁的认识、为应对该威胁所采取的措施，以及首选的就医和信息来源。他们的30名医生以及另外20名医生填写了一份关于炭疽知识、与炭疽相关的患者行为和门诊就诊情况的问卷。
显著的发现是，如果患者担心炭疽袭击或媒体报道袭击正在进行，选择医院急诊科作为就医或获取信息首选的患者比例较低（30%）。另外三分之二的患者更倾向于他们的家庭医生或卫生当局。大多数医生（89%）认为治疗炭疽感染患者是他们的责任，因此应该为他们提供适当的指导方针。
本研究表明，在一个对民防方面有高度认识的国家以色列，患者和初级保健医生都认为在生物恐怖袭击事件中家庭医生应发挥主要作用。在制定相关卫生服务计划时必须认真考虑这一点。
