An Updated Narrative Review of Disaster Management in Hospitals

Disasters are becoming increasingly prevalent across the world with the increased amount of damage that human beings have imposed on the nature or potential threats of emerging diseases as well as the evolution of new infectious agents. The most essential facility that must be prepared to respond successfully to any mass-casualty incident and disaster is hospitals. Hospitals and healthcare providers are directly involved in disasters and crises. Hospitals as permanent and specialized centers for providing medical services, with facilities and experienced staff are one of the important components of the process of responding to emergencies. This is why many researchers are interested in hospital resilience, and as a result, several models for forecasting disaster reactions, calculating risks and hazards, and various other models of risk management in disaster situations have been offered in the literature. Many studies have focused on human resources preparedness; while some evaluate the structural resources at hospitals. Based on our narrative review, different countries have developed their own models of predicting risks of disasters and their management. Some nations have adopted the strategies of leading countries in their work environments. However, the point is that all models, in some way, address the role of healthcare personnel, as well as structural, non-structural, and functional components.