Housam Adin M AlHarastani1, Yousef Ibrahim Alawad1, Bandana Devi2, Benly G Mosqueda3, Vanessa Tamayo3, Freiha Kyoung4, Amani Abu Shaheen5, Shirley Sierra1. 1. Disaster Management Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 2. Out-Patient Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 3. Emergency Medicine Administration, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 4. Medical Auditing Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 5. Research Center, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the readiness of a tertiary medical city's response to a disaster by assessing the hospital resources and knowledge, attitudes, practices, and familiarity of health care providers toward disaster and emergency preparedness. METHODS: All KFMC (King Fahad Medical City) staff with > 1 year of clinical experience were eligible to participate in a cross-sectional study. Participants responded to the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ), knowledge and practice questionnaires, and a disaster planning attitude checklist. Data about resources were collected using the hospital disaster preparedness self-assessment tool. RESULTS: The overall mean knowledge score for disaster and emergency preparedness was 4.4 ± 1.1, and the mean overall familiarity score was 3.43 ± 0.97. Most participants knew that disaster drills (90.2%) and training (74.6%) are ongoing. Sixty-six (21.0%) agreed that KFMC is unlikely to experience a disaster. The highest and lowest EPIQ familiarity scores were for decontamination (83.0%) and accessing critical resources and reporting (64.3%), respectively. Most participants (99.4%) have access to work computers; however, only 53.0% used the Internet to access information on bioterrorism and/or emergency preparedness. The hospital is ready to respond in case of a disaster according to the used tool. CONCLUSIONS: The participants' levels of knowledge, practices, and overall familiarity toward emergency and disaster preparedness were satisfactory; however, participant attitudes and familiarity with where and how to access critical resources in the event of an emergency or disaster situations require reinforcement.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the readiness of a tertiary medical city's response to a disaster by assessing the hospital resources and knowledge, attitudes, practices, and familiarity of health care providers toward disaster and emergency preparedness. METHODS: All KFMC (King Fahad Medical City) staff with > 1 year of clinical experience were eligible to participate in a cross-sectional study. Participants responded to the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ), knowledge and practice questionnaires, and a disaster planning attitude checklist. Data about resources were collected using the hospital disaster preparedness self-assessment tool. RESULTS: The overall mean knowledge score for disaster and emergency preparedness was 4.4 ± 1.1, and the mean overall familiarity score was 3.43 ± 0.97. Most participants knew that disaster drills (90.2%) and training (74.6%) are ongoing. Sixty-six (21.0%) agreed that KFMC is unlikely to experience a disaster. The highest and lowest EPIQ familiarity scores were for decontamination (83.0%) and accessing critical resources and reporting (64.3%), respectively. Most participants (99.4%) have access to work computers; however, only 53.0% used the Internet to access information on bioterrorism and/or emergency preparedness. The hospital is ready to respond in case of a disaster according to the used tool. CONCLUSIONS: The participants' levels of knowledge, practices, and overall familiarity toward emergency and disaster preparedness were satisfactory; however, participant attitudes and familiarity with where and how to access critical resources in the event of an emergency or disaster situations require reinforcement.
Entities:
Keywords:
EPIQ; Saudi Arabia; attitudes; disaster; knowledge; practices; preparedness