Assessment of the Preparedness of Ahvaz Training Hospitals in Confronting Disasters

Background and Objectives: Disaster incidence rate is very high in Iran and hospitals as the most important settings for treatment of wounded and injured people need to be prepared to accomplish their mission at crisis time. This study aimed to determine preparedness of Ahvaz educational hospitals for confronting disasters. Material and Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in educational hospitals affiliated with Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Data gathering instrument was a checklist which included 220 questions. Its validity was confirmed by content analysis. Kappa reliability test approved checklist with 0.8. Due to small study population, all the training hospitals were included in the study. Data were analyzed by SPSS 17. First, the total score of each hospital was calculated from the checklist in each component, and then the percentage of each hospital was determined in all components. Preparedness level was considered as poor for the average scores less than 50%, relatively prepared for average scores between 50% to 80%, and perfect for the average scores over 80%. Results: The mean score calculated for the studied hospitals was 58%; so the studied hospitals can be estimated relatively prepared in case of disasters. The traffic component with 70% and the evacuation and transferring component with 29% were the highest and lowest dimensions, respectively. The overall preparedness in each hospital was calculated between 51- 63 percent. Conclusion: Studied hospitals were estimated relatively prepared in all preparedness components except for the evacuation and transfer; and overall preparedness estimated as relatively well. It seems necessary for these hospitals to revise and update their disaster plans, in order to improve different components of preparedness; especially the evacuation and transferring.