Hospital disaster preparedness in Iranian province: A cross-sectional study using a standard tool.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Hospitals are the first place to refer the victims of emergencies and disasters. Hamadan province, as one of the provinces in western Iran, like other parts of this country is exposed to various emergencies and disasters. This study was conducted to evaluate the level of hospital disaster preparedness in the Hamadan province of Iran using a standard tool. METHODS This study was conducted in Hamadan province's hospitals in Iran. The Persian version of the World Health Organization Hospital Emergency Response Checklist was used as an evaluation tool. It consists of nine key components: command and control, triage, human resources, communications, surge capacity, logistics/supply management, safety and security, continuity of essential services, and post-disaster recovery. Data entry and analysis were performed using IBM® SPSS® software (version 18). RESULTS Fifteen hospitals participated in this study (response rate 83 percent). Most hospitals (53.33 percent) were in moderate preparedness level, 26.66 percent are in good, and 13.33 percent are at a poor level. There was no significant relationship between "the hospital type" and "the hospital size" (number of beds) and preparedness score (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that most of the hospitals in the Hamadan province regarding the components of "logistics" and "essential services" are at a poor disaster preparedness level. Accordingly, the hospital authorities and managers must adopt a comprehensive strategy for strengthening the hospital disaster preparedness measures, especially in these components.