Disaster safety assessment of primary healthcare facilities: a cross-sectional study in Kurdistan province of Iran

Arezoo Yari,Homa Yousefi-Khoshsabeghe,Siamak Vahedi,Farin Fatemi,Farzam Bidarpoor,Mohamad Esmaeil Motlagh,Ali Ardalan,Yadolah Zarezadeh,Mohsen Soufi Boubakran

doi:10.1186/s12873-021-00417-3

Abstract

BackgroundKurdistan province of Iran is among disaster prone areas of the country. The Primary Health Care facilities in Iran deliver health services at all levels nationwide. Resiliency and flexibility of such facilities is important when a disaster occurs. Thus, evaluating functional, structural, and non-structural aspects of safety of such facilities is essential.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, the instrument used to evaluate four sections of functional, structural, non-structural, and total safety of 805 healthcare facilities in Kurdistan Province was the safety evaluation checklist of primary healthcare centers, provided by the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Each section scored from 0 to 100 points, and each section of the safety was classified to three safety classes according to their total score: low (≤34.0), average (34.01–66.0) and high (> 66.0).ResultsThe levels of functional, structural, non-structural and total safety were equal to 23.8, 20.2, 42.3 and 28.7, out of 100, respectively. Regarding the functional safety, rapid response team scored the highest, while financial affairs scored the lowest. Nevertheless, in structural and non-structural sections, the scores of different items were almost similar.ConclusionsThe results of the study revealed that safety score of primary healthcare facilities in general was unsatisfactory. Thus, promoting preparedness, resilience and continuity of service delivery of these facilities are essential to response to disasters and emergencies. The finding of this study could be beneficial for national and provincial decision-makers and policymakers in this regard.

Highlights

Kurdistan province of Iran is among disaster prone areas of the country
The highest safety score was related to the non-structural section, while the lowest ones belonged to structural safety section (Fig. 2)
The lowest score of functional preparedness items were related to financial affairs, water and food supplies, and providing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for staff with the score of 16.5, 18.5, and 18.7, respectively (Fig. 4)

Summary

Introduction

Kurdistan province of Iran is among disaster prone areas of the country. The Primary Health Care facilities in Iran deliver health services at all levels nationwide. The focus of Primary Health Care (PHC) is on delivering essential services to improve the. Policies and strategies should focus on equipping and preparing PHC facilities because they can reduce the vulnerability of families, societies, and public health systems, caused by disasters and emergencies [2]. Continuous training and exercises as strategies for improving functional safety can improve preparedness and resiliency of health staff and people against disasters and emergencies [4]. Availability and continuity of public health services to all populations are one of the principal actions of public health in order to reduce disaster risks [1, 6]. Regarding global significance of the issue, the World Health Assembly of WHO approved a resolution on strengthening national health emergency and disaster management capacities and resiliency of health systems in May 2011 [7]

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Conclusion