Assessment of the Incident Command System Preparedness of the Hospitals in Qom City, Iran

Hospital and prehospital emergencies are the first lines of coping and dealing with emergencies as well as emerging crises of special status. Developing and improving the readiness of these centers is considered as the main component for success in the universities of Medical Sciences. This study aimed to assess the preparedness of the incident command system in Qom hospitals, Qom City, Iran.

This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 120 senior managers, nursing directors, administrative and financial members of the Crisis Committee of 7 hospitals in Qom. The obtained data were collected using the standard disaster preparedness questionnaire with 4 domains. The researcher collected the study data through observation, interview, and review of the committee’s documents. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS V. 20 using descriptive-analytical statistics, such as mean, standard deviation, and independent t-test.

The mean knowledge scores of supervisors and members of the Disaster Management Committee were 14.51 and 14.62, respectively, which was not significantly different (P = 0.486). In addition, the mean attitude scores of the supervisors and members of the Committee were 69.66 and 70.70, respectively, which was not significantly significant (P = 0.437). Regarding practice, the mean scores of the practice of the supervisors and members were 9.62 and 12.0, respectively, which was significantly different (P = 0.045).

Proper management of crises is achievable by organizing, coordinating, and strengthening all members of the crisis team.