Abstract: Objective To examine influencing factors of the rural residents' response ability for public health emergency event.Methods A total of 2 136 rural residents were randomly selected from one city of Jiangsu province and one city of Anhui province with stratified sampling and surveyed with a self-designed questionnaire.The data collected were analyzed using statistical softw are SAS 9.1.Results Among the residents,the general risk aw areness rate was only 26.9% and the awareness rate of ordinary emergency treatment,poisoning treatment,radioactive accident treatment,food poisoning treatment,and infectious disease was 11.8%,6.2%,5.1%,13.3%,and 10.5%,respectively.The standard regression coefficient for the impact on the rural residents' response ability for public health emergencies was 0.723 for economic status,0.690 for education,0.560 for public health know ledge,0.449 for risk perception level,0.167 for age,0.152 for marital status,and-0.047 for gender,respectively.Conclusion It is very important to improve the rural residents'public health know ledge,risk cognition,economic condition,and education to promote their ability for public health emergency response.