Comparison of Emergency Wards in University-Affiliated Hospitals with Iranian Ministry of Health Standards

The emergency room is the most critical and important ward in hospitals. Increasing industrialization in the developing world has contributed to an epidemiological transition in disease pattern from infectious diseases to trauma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the emergency rooms in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. This cross-sectional study was conducted in February 2008 on emergency rooms in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. We used the standards of "Ministry of Health and Medical Education" as a check list in our query. The authors evaluated 18 items viz. physical structure, triage, physical examination room, resuscitation room, operating room, nursing station, isolated room, and other important parts and characters in emergency wards. This study carried out in seven emergency rooms of seven university-affiliated hospitals. The most important problems were related to physical structure, operating room and isolated room. In regards to triage and resuscitation rooms the optimum score was related to 4 and 5 hospitals, respectively. The other criteria had optimum score in most of the hospitals. The emergency rooms in university-affiliated hospitals were in acceptable situation though, they showed some problems which need to be improved.