The Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake: Will emergency managers be willing and able to report to work?

This study examines the factors that are likely to influence emergency managers’ willingness and ability to report to work after a catastrophic event using the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake threat as an example. The population approached for participation in this study was state-level emergency managers in Oregon and Washington, the areas anticipated to be the most impacted by the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. Concept mapping was utilized to elucidate factors influencing emergency managers’ ability and willingness to report to work following a catastrophic earthquake, as well as to identify specific strategies for addressing these factors to facilitate reporting to work. The six-step concept mapping process (i.e., preparation, generation, structuring, representation, interpretation, and utilization) is a structured and integrated mixed-method process that employs both qualitative and quantitative components to gather ideas and concepts of participants, and subsequently produces visual representation of these ideas and concepts through multivariate statistical methods (Caracelli and Green in Eval Program Plan 12(1):45–52, 1993; Kane and Trochim in Concept mapping for planning and evaluation, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, 2007). Results influence across a wide range of the levels of the ecological framework for both ability (transit barriers and infrastructure impacts, family/pet health and safety, social support and preparedness, work-related influences, personal health and resources, professional obligations, and location) and willingness (family/community preparedness and safety, emergency management responsibility and professionalism, motivation to come to work, transit barriers and infrastructure impacts, professional contribution, physical and mental health, worksite operations: structure and process, family first, personal contribution and history).