Abstract
Back ground: Disasters are parts of human life; they will never ask for permission to occur in particular area. The world over, they have been caused disastrous complications, disrupting human lives, and exposing the world economy to untold cost. In times of disasters, hospitals are among the most crucial institutions as they are considered as sanctuaries where victims seek ministration. Although major disasters are always to be expected, past disasters and more recent events shows that communities are not yet fully prepared. Objective: The study was intended to assess current awareness, attitude, and practice of the health care workers regarding disaster preparedness and to find out what arrangements were in place should a disaster occur at the hospital. Methodology: The study utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Data collection was made through self-administered questionnaires and semi- structured key informant interview. A total of 290 respondents were participated in the study. Data analysis: Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with Epi-info and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Qualitative data were analyzed after organizing into themes and summaries. Result: About half of (50.8%) health care workers had good knowledge about hospital disaster preparedness and its plan. The remaining 49.2%) had low knowledge. Their general attitude towards the issue was largely positive as 64.8% of respondents had favorable attitude. Low practice (8.3%) of disaster preparedness at the hospital was observed. Moreover, the hospital had neither nor disaster preparedness plan nor other forms of arrangements and preparations for occurrence of disasters. Conclusion and recommendations: The present study found that the health care workers at the hospital had fair awareness and largely positive attitude on disaster preparedness. As the national health policy has not given sufficient attention to hospitals disaster preparedness, there were negligible arrangements in place at the hospital. Therefore, much effort is still expected from all stakeholders including Federal Ministry of Health and managements of hospital.
Highlights
The world health organization defines the term disaster as “a sudden ecological phenomenon of sufficient magnitude to require external assistance”
Days, marked shift is being made on the way emergencies are managed
More emphasis was on humanitarian response, the way emergencies are managed and relief activities than on strategies and actions to mitigate the effects of disasters on communities to preserve lives and assets
Summary
The world health organization defines the term disaster as “a sudden ecological phenomenon of sufficient magnitude to require external assistance”. The JCAHCO has somewhat different definition; which states a disaster as “an imbalance in the availability of medical care and a mal-distribution of medical resources versus casualties within a community” [1]. Days, marked shift is being made on the way emergencies are managed. More emphasis was on humanitarian response, the way emergencies are managed and relief activities than on strategies and actions to mitigate the effects of disasters on communities to preserve lives and assets. Health facilities have symbolic social and political values that contribute to a community’s sense of security and wellbeing. Hospitals primarily must be Ashenafi Habte Woyessa et al.: Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Disaster Preparedness among
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