Disaster Risk Assessment in Educational Hospitals of Qazvin Based on WHO Pattern in 2015

Abstract

IntroductionIn addition to damaging communities and infrastructures, unexpected disasters affect service provider centers as well. Structural, non-structural, and functional components of hospitals could be affected when hazards or disasters occur, and they may be unable to admit casualties, have their own personnel and patients killed or injured, have their property destroyed. In such as case, they would increase the burden of death resulting from the disaster. Therefore, in this study, hospital safety was reviewed in two hospitals in Qazvin in 2015.MethodsThis cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on two of the Rajaee and Velayat Hospitals in Qazvin. The tools used to assess for the hospitals’ risk of experiencing a disaster were observation, interviews, and a checklist of hospital disaster risk assessment provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), including 5 sections and 145 indices for the safety assessment of hospitals. To determine the general weight, three main parts of the questionnaire, i.e., functional safety, non-structural safety, and structural safety, were given weights of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5, respectively, according to the original version of the indices. Each index was scored as 0, 1, and 2 based on the low, medium, and high scores. The safety scores that were obtained were categorized in three groups, i.e., low safety (≤ 34%), medium safety (34–66%), and high safety (> 66%). The data were analyzed using Excel 2007 software.ResultsFunctional, structural, and non-structural safety scores were evaluated as 60.20% (medium safety), 67.61% (high safety), and 76.16% (high safety), respectively. General preparedness of the hospitals we studied were 71.90%, a high safety level. This high preparedness was related to the indices of availability of medicines, equipment, water supply, and other resources required in emergency conditions (85%), and the lowest preparedness was related to contingency plans of medical operations (19%).ConclusionThe preparedness of the two hospitals in the study was evaluated as being high. Considering the history of disasters in this Province, it would be effective to retrofit hospitals and compile written plans for administrative measures at the time of disasters. These measures must be consistent, and there should be safe installation of risky office and medical equipment.

Emergency Response of Iranian Hospitals Against Disasters: A Practical Framework for Improvement

“…Among them, 1 (2015) was conducted in 6 training hospitals affiliated to Qazvin University of Medical Sciences based on the same instrument. The results showed that the mean hospital emergency response rate was 71.90% 21 . Moreover, Hasanpoor et al, 22 performed a similar investigation in 13 hospitals in Alborz province.…”

“…27 The results of a study carried out by Hasanpoor et al 22 demonstrated that the least and highest mean values were related to surge capacity (28.55%) and triage (70.30%), respectively. A study by Asefzadeh et al 21 found…”

“…The results showed that the mean hospital emergency response rate was 71.90%. 21 Moreover, Hasanpoor et al, 22 performed a similar investigation in 13 hospitals in Alborz province. According to their findings, the hospital emergency response rate was reported to be only 44.17%.…”

Research Paper: Preparedness of Nurses for Crises and Disasters in Imam Khomeini and Social Security Hospitals of Saqqez

“…Iran, as one of the top ten most vulnerable countries in the world, is one of the most disaster-prone geographical areas, with almost 90% of its population exposed to natural hazards [7,8]. It is the fourth country in Asia after India, China and Bangladesh and the sixth in the world in terms of being affected by natural disasters [9].…”

Functional Safety Status in Isfahan Private Hospitals in Response to Disasters in 2015

“…Hook study in the field of hospital safety culture in 6000 hospitals in the United States indicated that organizational learning and continuous improvement of processes are noticeable and significant to maintain the hospital safety culture [6]. Asefzadeh study on the risk assessment in Qazvin hospitals according to the World Health Organization model showed that the functional safety level is moderate in the hospitals [23]. Another part of the present research results, including action plan to respond to internal and external risks, were consistent with Asefzadeh study findings, while the rest were inconsistent.…”