ASSESSMENT OF THE PREPAREDNESS OF ALL AHWAZ MEDICAL CENTERS IN THE FACE OF THE CRISIS IN 2017

Accidents and disasters are sudden and sometimes catastrophic events that disrupt the pattern of life of people in society and, hospitals are among the first units that can play a vital role in saving the injured. In this study, the preparedness of all Ahwaz medical centers in dealing with the crisis in 2017 was investigated. Materials and method: This research is a descriptive study. The research tool is a Hospital Preparedness Assessment Questionnaire, which has 9 key components of command control, triage, human resource, communication, capacity building, support and logistics management, safety and security, continuity of critical services and post-disaster recovery. Score 1, score 2 and score 3 were respectively assigned to the under-review, in progress and completed activities. Findings: Command component has the highest average (88.9%). Thereafter, there were components of increasing capacity, safety and triage. The lowest level of preparedness, which itself has the most studied components, was related to human resource (44.4%), continuity of basic services (49.8%), and post disaster recovery (42.7%). The highest level of preparedness was in private hospitals. Discussion and conclusion: The preparedness level of 43.9% for the hospitals was evaluated at a good level. However, hospital managers should recognize the likely risks in their hospital or coverage area and, based on their geographical and indigenous conditions and hazards, they should be ready to deal with any crisis, while designing an accident prevention program. Keywords: preparedness, crisis, health centers