Disaster preparation in emergency health services: Assessment of institutions and health workers

Preserving public health and providing uninterrupted healthcare services during disasters is a fundamental requirement, necessitating healthcare workers to be adequately prepared for disasters. Disasters can adversely affect the delivery of healthcare services, and the unpreparedness of healthcare workers for disasters can lead to disruptions in healthcare services. Additionally, during disasters, healthcare workers perform critical tasks such as treating injuries, evacuating patients, and providing emergency interventions. The purpose of this study is to assess the preparedness levels of institutions providing emergency healthcare services and healthcare workers working in these institutions during disaster situations. For this purpose, the research was conducted in Istanbul province, involving 280 healthcare workers working at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Emergency Aid and Search and Rescue Directorate, Provincial Health Directorate, State Hospitals, and Private Hospitals in Istanbul, based on a voluntary basis. The survey technique was used as the data collection tool. The research was conducted in a descriptive type. Socio-demographic information form and Disaster Preparedness Levels Scale were used to collect information about the socio-demographic characteristics of the researchers and some characteristics related to disasters. The data collected with the help of, survey and scale were analyzed with the SPSS 25.0 statistical analysis program. In the research, data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, independent groups t-test for comparisons according to demographic characteristics, one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), and the Bonferroni test to analyze the source of difference in groups where differences were found. According to the results of this research, 54.3% of healthcare workers have high knowledge levels, 33.6% have medium knowledge levels, and 12.1% have low levels of disaster knowledge. When comparing the Level of Disaster Knowledge and its dimensions according to demographic characteristics, significant differences were found according to gender and job position, In the comparison of the dimensions of the Level of Disaster Knowledge according to whether they received disaster related training, participants who received training had a higher total score than those who did not. In the comparison of the dimensions of the Level of Disaster Knowledge according to participation in a disaster drill, the average of the participants who participated in the drill (3.71) was higher than that of those who did not participate (3.35). To increase the level of disaster preparedness among healthcare disaster workers, disaster preparedness training can be provided.