Original Research Article

Healthcare Workers' Readiness and Emergency Preparedness at the National Center for Disaster Management, Riyadh: A Cross-Sectional Study

Reem Al Harbi¹, Amwaj Jubairy², Fatemah Al Khars³, Ola Mousa^3*

¹National Center for Disaster Management, Riyadh, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.
²Riyadh First Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.
³College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.

*Corresponding Author's E-mail: olaessam1977@yahoo.com

Received: 02 March 2023  I  Accepted: 25 March 2023  I  Published: 29 March 2023  I  Article ID: MRJMMS23010
Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.
This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0.

Abstract

The term "disaster" a widespread destruction of the environment, economics, healthcare, and social infrastructure that may disrupt the individuals' or whole communities' ability to use their resources to overcome such events. Disaster preparedness usually includes a variety of activities, programs, and systems that should be implemented before an event occurs. As soon as such policies are developed, they should be implemented into the healthcare system and all healthcare workers should be trained in their implementation. The current study investigated emergency preparedness and factors which may affect healthcare workers' readiness at the National Center of Disaster Management in Riyadh district. This study used a descriptive cross-sectional design. The survey was conducted in December 2022 on an online platform with primary data collection and a non-probabilistic purposive sample. The study involved 80 healthcare workers from the National Center for Disaster Management in Riyadh district. The responses were quantified using descriptive statistics including frequencies, means, percentages, and standard deviations. According to the survey, 41 (51.2%) of respondents reported they were somewhat prepared, while 22 (27.5%) reported they were somewhat unprepared. More than one-quarter of the healthcare workers 23 (28.7%) did not take any training in disaster management. There were some gaps in disaster preparedness among healthcare providers. In the study, healthcare workers did not perceive themselves as fully prepared for disasters and were unaware of disaster management protocols. During disaster preparedness, recommendations are made for enhancing clinical and educational efforts in healthcare workplaces.

Keywords: Disaster, Disaster Preparedness, Healthcare Providers, Saudi Arabia