Date of Award

Fall 12-16-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Emergency Management & Homeland Security

Department

Emergency Management

College

College of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics

Committee Chair

Dr. Bethany Swindell

Second Committee Member

Dr. Rejina Manandhar

Third Committee Member

Dr. Jamie Stacy

Program Director

Dr. Rejina Manandhar

Dean of Graduate College

Dr. Sarah Gordon

Abstract

There are numerous studies that focus on household preparedness however, there are few studies that focus on the preparedness levels of first responders. The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to (a) establish, analyze, and compare the current level of disaster preparedness among Hinesville City Fire Department and Liberty County Fire Services located within the same region of Southeastern, Georgia and (b) analyze any correlation between demographics of the Firefighters and their level of disaster preparedness. This research sought to benchmark the organizational level of disaster preparedness of two critical departments (city and county fire services) by measuring three key attributes: knowledge, skills, and personal preparedness. The researcher collected data by using the Disaster Preparedness section of the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) via an in-person distributed survey. The DPET results provide scores for each organization and determines the overall organizational mean preparedness level for knowledge, skills, and personal preparedness. The differences in organizational preparedness across city and county fire services and the correlation between demographics and level of disaster preparedness is observed and discussed.

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