Readiness of hospitals affiliated with Tabriz University of Medical Sciences to Face Disasters

Unexpected events and disasters are often uncontrollable events occurring around the world, including Iran. Health care delivery centers, especially hospitals play the most important role in treating injured and wounded people and accomplishing the mission in the time of crisis. They need to be in a proper level of readiness.This study aimed to evaluate the readiness of hospitals affiliated with Tabriz University of Medical Sciences for dealing with crisis and disaster. This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed in six hospitals affiliated with Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2011. Data is collected using checklist that it’s the reliability and validity was estimated at an acceptable level. The gathered information was analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS version 16. In all of six hospitals, reception units only meet 30% of standards and were the least ready for dealing with disasters. There was an average level of readiness in the fields of emergency (54%), support (57%) and traffic (58%) while they were in a readier condition than other fields. Scores concerning human resources (77%) and organization and structure (66%) represent a satisfactory level of readiness. There was an average level of readiness regarding physical space (47%), performance chart (44%) and protocols (40%). According to the average standard necessary requirements for disaster management in emergencies, the studied hospitals need improvement in the fields of transportation, traffic, communication, safety, training, support, human resources and administration and especially reception, and it is recommended to implement a holistic policy for promoting the current situation.