Document Type : Original Article(s)
Authors
1 Assistant Professor of Health Services Management, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
2 M Sc. Student of Health Services Management
3 B Sc. of Health Services Management
Abstract
Introduction: Disasters are always challenging to hospital managers as they give rise to critical conditions. From all natural disasters occurring in the world, 31 have happened in Iran, giving the country a high global rank in this regard. Therefore it seems necessary for hospitals to adopt contingency plans. This study aimed to assess the level of preparedness of hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences at the time of disasters.
Methods: In this cross–sectional study, 28 hospital managers from affiliated hospitals to Shiraz Medical University were interviewed using a questionnaire which was validated in previous studies. Data were analyzed with SPSS.
Results: The findings showed that 55.5% of the head nurses and 77.5% of the managers had attended crisis management courses. Only in 50% of the studied hospitals the nurses were trained for patients’ emergency evacuation and in 11% safety committee existed.
Conclusion: Chaos at the early stages of a disaster is inevitable; thus a contingency plan must be adopted to minimize mayhem. There is a real need for crisis management training programs for hospital executive managers.
Keywords: Hospitals; Natural Disasters; Safety Management; Health Services Administration; Management Information Systems
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