A Review of Studies Conducted to Evaluate the Preparedness of Medical Centers Against the Potential Risks of Natural Disasters in Iran

Among service providers, medical centers, especially hospitals, are among the first organizations involved in responding to disasters and can play a crucial and decisive role. The purpose of this study was to review studies on the level of preparedness of medical centers against the potential risks of natural disasters in Iran that have been examined.

The present study is a type of review study that by searching for sources and databases inside and outside the country, all articles that reported the preparedness of hospitals and published from 2008 to 2021 were extracted using a single checklist. The quality of articles was evaluated based on the STROBE checklist and poor quality articles were excluded from the study and other studies entered the content analysis level.

By searching the sources, 17 published articles were identified following the inclusion criteria, one of which was excluded due to poor quality, and finally, 16 articles were reviewed. It should be noted that these studies have evaluated a total of 118 hospitals.

The preparedness of Iranian hospitals is average. Also, the preparedness of the studied hospitals in terms of admission is poor, In emergencies, transfer and evacuation, traffic, communications, safety, human resources, and management and command are also medium. In terms of education and support, the level of preparedness of the studied hospitals is good.