Abstract
Countries need healthcare professionals who are competent first responders with a positive attitude and prepared to deal with catastrophes. The study evaluated the knowledge, attitude, and readiness of the practice of healthcare professionals towards disaster management. A survey was carried out among hospital healthcare professionals using a self-administered validated questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised knowledge, attitude, and readiness to practice items. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Mann–Whitney, Kruskal–Wallis, correlation and regression tests) at alpha = 0.05 were used in the analysis. The mean (SD) score of knowledge was 12.25 (4.27) (range: 3.00 to 20.00), attitude (39.32 ± 9.55; range: 18.00 to 61.00), readiness to practice (32.41 ± 6.69; range: 21.00 to 61.00), and KArP (83.99 ± 12.21; range: 60.00 to 124.00). The average knowledge score was moderate, low attitude score, moderate readiness to practice score, and an average score of overall KArP. Attitude is a significant predictor of readiness to practice (p = 0.000). The levels of knowledge, attitude, and readiness of the practice of healthcare professionals were not satisfactory. The educators and health policymakers should build a robust curriculum in disaster medicine management and preparedness to prepare for the future of competent healthcare professionals for the nation.
Highlights
In this contemporary era, catastrophic events are becoming ubiquitous, causing a more detrimental and pronounced impact on societies’ health, quality of health services, the structure of health care systems, and countries’ economies [1]
Attitude is a significant predictor of readiness to practice
In our results, 57.0% showed that finding relevant information about disaster medicine preparedness related to this country’s needs is an obstacle to their level of preparedness this is high compared with the results found in Jordan (28.0%) [23]
Summary
Catastrophic events are becoming ubiquitous, causing a more detrimental and pronounced impact on societies’ health, quality of health services, the structure of health care systems, and countries’ economies [1]. The operational readiness of health care facilities plays a pivotal role in public health safety [1]. In the past few years, the severity and rate of human-made and natural disasters have escalated globally, putting humankind’s survival in jeopardy [2,3,4]. One of the recent examples is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused many deaths worldwide. One must ask whether the health care systems are sufficiently developed to cope with sudden hazardous events. Pakistan is prone to natural disasters due to its physiographical features and climatic extremes [5]. Some hazards such as landslides and floods happen annually, whereas other hazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis occasionally appear [5]
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