Assessing Structural and Non-structural Safety and Readiness of Healthcare Centers in Bojnord in Dealing with Functional, Non-structural and Structural Dimensions of Disasters in 1400

Abstract

Introduction: Natural and man-made disasters will have harmful impacts. Given the important role of healthcare centers in time of crisis, they need to be regularly assessed in terms of structural and non-structural readiness. Methods: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted on 22 urban and rural healthcare centers in Bojnord, a city in North Khorasan province, Iran. The relevant forms and checklists were completed through interviews with doctors, experts, and direct observation regarding functional, structural and non-structural documentation. After collecting data and completing the desired forms and checklists, the information obtained in all the centers was generally compared and evaluated. Results: Based on the results obtained from comprehensive urban and rural health service centers of Bojnoord Health Center, the level of functional readiness is 52.56, the safety of structural elements is 60%, the safety of non-structural elements is 57.32%, and the total safety is 57.71%. The disaster safety index is also 6 out of 10. Conclusion: According to the current research, the readiness of healthcare centers for disasters is far from the desired level. This situation could be due to the lack of an integrated disaster risk management, insufficient budget and knowledge on this issue. In the field of disaster risk management, it is necessary to plan to increase the understanding of disaster risk at the level of officials and society.