Shiraz hospitals [public and private] preparedness in dealing with disasters

ABSTRACT

Iran is a disaster-prone country and it can be considered as one of the most vulnerable countries for disasters in the world. Hospitals play an important role in disasters. This paper aims to study the preparedness of public and private hospitals in Shiraz dealing with disasters; to investigate and to identify problems and issues comparing current status with standards. In this cross-sectional study, 15 public and private hospitals were evaluated in Shiraz in 2010. The data was collected by using observation, interview and also a checklist including 10 fields and 220 questions. Then the collected data were analyzed by using SPSS. Totally, the results are as follows the average disaster preparedness in the mentioned hospitals was 62/3%; evacuation, transport, traffic, communication and security fields were in the middle level; and emergency services, reception, training, logistics, human resources, commanding and management were in a good average level. Despite having an adequate preparation in the studied hospitals in Shiraz, appropriate measures should be taken to improve some fields such as evacuation, transport, traffic, communication, and security