Knowledge and organizational readiness of health care providers in dealing with bioterrorism attacks in Bukan city in2020

Bioterrorism is an important health issue all overthe world. Rapid identification and preparation in dealing with bioterrorism attacks are the best methods of defense against bioterrorism. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the knowledgeand organizational readiness of health care providers in dealing with bioterrorist attacks.

This study was a cross-sectional study conducted by census and with the informed participation of all health care providers of Bukan health center with 105 people.In order to do the work, a researcher-made questionnaire was used in three sections: demographic, knowledge(16 questions) and organizational readiness (14 questions). The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the faculty membersShahid Beheshti University, School of Public Health and Safety.Cronbach's alpha test was used to determinethe reliability of the questionnaire in two areas of knowledge and organizational readiness for 20 samples. Cronbach's alpha of the questionnaire was (70.9% and 76.4%), respectively, and SPSS v. 21 software was used for data analysis.

Organizational readiness of health care providers in dealing with bioterrorismattacks was 23.6%. In addition, awareness of bioterrorismand biological defense was 89.5% with maximum score in fighting bioterrorism equal to 89.5% and minimum score in recognizing bioterrorism equal to 67.6%. There was a directand statistically significant relationship between awareness and work experience (p=0.022).

The results of the present study can be helpful in managing health policy makers in order to do educational interventions to promote participation in healthmanagement, performance and integration of front-line forces against bioterrorism in the community.