{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Emergency and Disaster Preparedness at a Tertiary Medical City.
{Author}: AlHarastani HAM;Alawad YI;Devi B;Mosqueda BG;Tamayo V;Kyoung F;Abu Shaheen A;Sierra S;
{Journal}: Disaster Med Public Health Prep
{Volume}: 15
{Issue}: 4
{Year}: 08 2021
{Factor}: 5.556
{DOI}: 10.1017/dmp.2020.28
{Abstract}: The aim of this study was to evaluate the readiness of a tertiary medical city's response to a disaster by assessing the hospital resources and knowledge, attitudes, practices, and familiarity of health care providers toward disaster and emergency preparedness.<BR>All KFMC (King Fahad Medical City) staff with > 1 year of clinical experience were eligible to participate in a cross-sectional study. Participants responded to the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ), knowledge and practice questionnaires, and a disaster planning attitude checklist. Data about resources were collected using the hospital disaster preparedness self-assessment tool.<BR>The overall mean knowledge score for disaster and emergency preparedness was 4.4 ± 1.1, and the mean overall familiarity score was 3.43 ± 0.97. Most participants knew that disaster drills (90.2%) and training (74.6%) are ongoing. Sixty-six (21.0%) agreed that KFMC is unlikely to experience a disaster. The highest and lowest EPIQ familiarity scores were for decontamination (83.0%) and accessing critical resources and reporting (64.3%), respectively. Most participants (99.4%) have access to work computers; however, only 53.0% used the Internet to access information on bioterrorism and/or emergency preparedness. The hospital is ready to respond in case of a disaster according to the used tool.<BR>The participants' levels of knowledge, practices, and overall familiarity toward emergency and disaster preparedness were satisfactory; however, participant attitudes and familiarity with where and how to access critical resources in the event of an emergency or disaster situations require reinforcement.