Assessing Structural and Non-structural Safety and Readiness of Healthcare Centers in Bojnord in Dealing with Functional, Non-structural and Structural Dimensions of Disasters in 1400

Davood  Khorasani Zavareh; Hossein Hatami; Ahmad Zare Mehrjerdi

doi:10.18502/tbj.v21i4.11504

Davood Khorasani Zavareh Professor, Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, School of Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hossein Hatami Professor, Head of MPH Department, Faculty of Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ahmad Zare Mehrjerdi MPH student, Faculty of Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tbj.v21i4.11504

Keywords: Disasters, Safety, Risk Management, Readiness

Abstract

Introduction: Natural and man-made disasters will have harmful impacts. Given the important role of healthcare centers in time of crisis, they need to be regularly assessed in terms of structural and non-structural readiness.

Methods: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted on 22 urban and rural healthcare centers in Bojnord, a city in North Khorasan province, Iran. The relevant forms and checklists were completed through interviews with doctors, experts, and direct observation regarding functional, structural and non-structural documentation. After collecting data and completing the desired forms and checklists, the information obtained in all the centers was generally compared and evaluated.

Results: Based on the results obtained from comprehensive urban and rural health service centers of Bojnoord Health Center, the level of functional readiness is 52.56, the safety of structural elements is 60%, the safety of non-structural elements is 57.32%, and the total safety is 57.71%. The disaster safety index is also 6 out of 10.

Conclusion: According to the current research, the readiness of healthcare centers for disasters is far from the desired level. This situation could be due to the lack of an integrated disaster risk management, insufficient budget and knowledge on this issue. In the field of disaster risk management, it is necessary to plan to increase the understanding of disaster risk at the level of officials and society.