TY - JOUR
T1 - Hospital disaster preparedness in Italy
T2 - A preliminary study utilizing the World Health Organization Hospital Emergency response evaluation toolkit
AU - Ingrassia, Pier L.
AU - Mangini, Marco
AU - Azzaretto, Massimo
AU - Ciaramitaro, Ilenia
AU - Costa, Laura
AU - Burkle, Frederick M.
AU - Della Corte, Francesco
AU - Djalali, Ahmadreza
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA.
PY - 2016/12
Y1 - 2016/12
N2 - BACKGROUND: Natural and human-initiated disasters are occurring with greater devastating consequences and increased frequency. During these events, hospitals have the burden to care for acutely ill and injured patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of disaster preparedness of Italian hospitals. METHODS: Site visits were conducted from January, 2014 to December, 2014. The hospital emergency response checklist, developed by the WHO, was used as an evaluation toolkit. It consists of 92 items classified as 9 key components, such as command and control, triage, and critical services. The status of each component was determined by consensus of 3 independent evaluators. RESULTS: The study selected 15 hospitals from different areas in Italy. Out of the 15 hospitals, 12 were considered to be at insufficients level of preparedness, only 3 were considered to have an effective level of preparedness. The average preparedness of all components were lower than the optimal level suggested by the WHO checklist. CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed that a large majority of Italian hospitals evaluated are not well prepared to manage potential disasters. Also, all important elements of hospital preparedness, such as the command system, surge capacity, and safety, were insufficiently implemented. Nationwide standards, guidelines and procedures are required to improve hospital disaster preparedness in Italy.
AB - BACKGROUND: Natural and human-initiated disasters are occurring with greater devastating consequences and increased frequency. During these events, hospitals have the burden to care for acutely ill and injured patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of disaster preparedness of Italian hospitals. METHODS: Site visits were conducted from January, 2014 to December, 2014. The hospital emergency response checklist, developed by the WHO, was used as an evaluation toolkit. It consists of 92 items classified as 9 key components, such as command and control, triage, and critical services. The status of each component was determined by consensus of 3 independent evaluators. RESULTS: The study selected 15 hospitals from different areas in Italy. Out of the 15 hospitals, 12 were considered to be at insufficients level of preparedness, only 3 were considered to have an effective level of preparedness. The average preparedness of all components were lower than the optimal level suggested by the WHO checklist. CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed that a large majority of Italian hospitals evaluated are not well prepared to manage potential disasters. Also, all important elements of hospital preparedness, such as the command system, surge capacity, and safety, were insufficiently implemented. Nationwide standards, guidelines and procedures are required to improve hospital disaster preparedness in Italy.
KW - Crisis intervention
KW - Disasters
KW - Hospitals
KW - Italy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85008178742&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
SN - 0375-9393
VL - 82
SP - 1259
EP - 1266
JO - Minerva Anestesiologica
JF - Minerva Anestesiologica
IS - 12
ER -