Survey of natural disasters preparedness in public and private hospitals of Islamic republic of Iran (case study of shiraz, 2011)

Abstract

Background: Natural disasters are extreme geographical fragmentations with a high severity which can have catastrophic economic, social, and environmental impacts. Damage to the infrastructure can severely impede economic activity. Iran is a country which is highly susceptible to natural disasters and because of the unpredictable nature of the disasters, it is essential to be prepared for them. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the status of disaster preparedness in the hospitals of Shiraz, Iran. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in nine government and six private hospitals of Shiraz, Iran. The study data were collected using a self-administered checklist through observation and interview. The checklist included 220 yes/no questions in 10 domains of emergency (30 questions), admission (24 questions), evacuation and transfer (30 questions), traffic (15 questions), communication (16 questions), security (17 questions), education (17 questions), support (28 questions), human workforce (21 questions), and leadership and management (22 items). Scores 0 and 1 were given to No and Yes choices, respectively. The validity and reliability of the checklist was confirmed in this study. Then, the data were analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 16). Results: Overall, the relative mean of disaster preparedness in the study hospitals was 62.3%. The highest and the lowest scores of the disaster preparedness were related to emergency and evacuation and transfer domains, respectively. Conclusion: Although the disaster preparedness in the study hospitals was good, they were not well prepared in some domains, such as evacuation and transfer, traffic, communication, and security; therefore, plans are needed to be developed in these regards.