Hospital Practices and Research

Abstract Background: Evaluating preparedness in the health sector, particularly within hospitals, is crucial for mitigating the impact of uncontrollable disasters like chemical incidents.
Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the readiness of a military hospital in Tehran to respond effectively to such emergencies.
Methods: In this study, data were collected using a standardized and validated questionnaire, specifically the Hospital Preparedness Tool for Chemical Crises, developed to assess the readiness of the selected military hospital in Tehran.
Results: According to the study's results, the overall level of preparedness at the hospital was assessed as "very good," with a total score of 119. Among the six areas examined in the selected hospital, the highest score was for the planning and guidelines area, with points (73.94%), and in the "very good" category. In contrast, the lowest score was for the risk assessment and early warning area with 7 points (70%), and in the "good" category.
Conclusion: Based on the study findings, the performance of the selected hospital in various dimensions of preparedness and response is assessed at a very favorable level. Also, the hospital has significant capabilities in improving preparedness for various events, including chemical incidents.

Abstract Background: During disasters, hospitals play a key role in providing quality and appropriate medical services to increase resilience.
Objectives: This study was carried out with the aim of determining the response rate of the emergency department of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences hospitals to the Corona pandemic in 2021.
Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive research was conducted in educational-therapeutic hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. For this purpose, 230 senior and middle managers, emergency department nurses and emergency medicine specialists participated in this study. Hospitals were placed in two categories: special centers for COVID-19 (3 hospitals) and other educational and medical centers (general and specialized centers) (8 hospitals). The information was collected by the hospital readiness assessment checklist (2020) for the management of infectious disease epidemic crisis based on the guidelines of the World Health Organization for the response of hospitals to the COVID-19. After collecting the data, it was entered into SPSS 22 and analyzed.
Results: Findings of this study showed that the readiness of hospitals is at a good level (87%). The studied hospitals performed very well in items of support and management of financial resources, communication management, human resources management, diagnosis and management of patients, but in item of rapid identification and control and prevention of infection, they performed very poorly. The centers of COVID-19 scored higher than other educational-treatment centers, continuation of services and increased capacity, rapid identification, diagnosis, prevention and control of infection, which was statistically significant (p <0.05).
Conclusion: Rapid identification of patients seems to be an important challenge in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The allocation of special hospitals for the care of COVID-19 patients is also effective in preparing them for the pandemic.