@article{ref1,
title="Communications between local health departments and the public during emergencies: the importance of standardized web sites",
journal="Journal of public health management and practice",
year="2011",
author="Fallon, L. Fleming and Schmalzried, Hans D. and Hasan, Nausheen",
volume="17",
number="1",
pages="E1-6",
abstract="Of the 2790 local health departments (LHDs) in the United States, Internet homepages were located for 1986. We reviewed each homepage to document the presence of 9 elements deemed to be critical for effective communications during emergency or disaster situations. LHD Web site homepages had a mean of 4.1 (±1.4) elements. Among the findings, this review revealed that 4 of 5 (80.5%) of the LHDs included the agency phone number, half (49.4%) provided links to emergency information, and about 1 in 5 (19.6%) listed an agency e-mail address. Fewer than 1 in 20 (4.3%) of the LHD homepages reviewed allowed visitors to sign up for automatic alerts or notifications. We suggest that these results be used as a starting point in developing a standardized template containing the 9 homepage elements. Such a template complements National Incident Management System protocols and can provide a recognizable source of consistent and reliable information for people during a public health emergency or disaster.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1078-4659",
doi="10.1097/PHH.0b013e3181e31d22",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0b013e3181e31d22"
}