Mass casualty incident response: Assessment of the level of preparedness among hospital pharmacists

Abstract

Mass casualty incidents (MCIs) and outcomes depend on the resources of the admitting institutions and their preparedness, respectively. We assessed the preparedness of hospital pharmacists for MCIs. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 132 pharmacists working in hospitals in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria, over 1 month, using a 26-item self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 21). A Chi-square test was used for further analysis. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The response rate was 79.5% (105/132). Most respondents were 26–30 years, 31.4%, had been practicing for <10 years, 44.8%, and were female, 59.0%. Overall, 42.9% of the respondents had >400 beds, 66 (62.9%), and 48 (45.7%) had general and pharmacy-specific disaster preparedness plans, respectively. Respondents agreed that the hospital committee consensus determined medications to be stocked, 64 (60.9%) and that disaster plans were mainly for natural disasters, 73 (35.4%). Only 7 (6.6%) respondents practiced mock disaster preparedness. There was a significant association between respondents’ year of practice and response on including disaster events in the institutional plan (χ2 = 95.637, df. = 72, P = 0.033). Most respondents, 95 (90.0%), were positive (mean ± SD: 4.42 ± 0.875) about the need for analgesics during disaster events. Preparation for disaster preparedness was suboptimal based on the number of beds, pharmacy-specific disaster preparedness plan, and practice for mock disasters. This calls for immediate awareness to address these shortfalls through orientation, training, and retraining on preparedness for MCIs.