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Disaster Preparedness in an Australian Urban Trauma Center: Staff Knowledge and Perceptions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2012

Ellen Corrigan  and
Iromi Samrasinghe
Ellen Corrigan*
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Iromi Samrasinghe
Affiliation:
Staff Specialist, Emergency Department, St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, Australia
*
Correspondence: Ellen Corrigan 5th Year Medical Student University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia E-mail [email protected]
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Abstract

Introduction

A substantial barrier to improving disaster preparedness in Australia is a lack of prescriptive national guidelines based on individual hospital capabilities. A recent literature review revealed that only one Australian hospital has published data regarding its current preparedness level.

Objectives

To establish baseline levels of disaster knowledge, preparedness, and willingness to respond to a disaster among one hospital's staff, and thus enable the implementation of national disaster preparedness guidelines based on realistic capabilities of individual hospitals.

Methods

An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to individuals and departments that play key roles in the hospital's external disaster response. Questions concerned prior education and experience specific to disasters, general preparedness knowledge, perceived preparedness of themselves and their department, and willingness to respond to a disaster from a conventional and/or chemical, biological, or radiological incident.

Results

Responses were received from 140 individuals representing nine hospital departments. Eighty-three participants (59.3%) had previously received disaster education; 53 (37.9%) had attended a disaster simulation drill, and 18 (12.9%) had responded to an actual disaster. The average disaster preparedness knowledge score was 3.57 out of 10. The majority of respondents rated themselves as “not really” prepared and were “unsure” of their respective departments’ level of preparedness. Most respondents indicated a willingness to participate in both a conventional incident involving burns and/or physical trauma, and an incident involving chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) weapons.

Conclusions

Australian hospital staff are under-prepared to respond to a disaster because of a lack of education, insufficient simulation exercises, and limited disaster experience. The absence of specific national standards and guidelines through which individual hospitals can develop their capabilities further compounds the poverty in preparedness.

CorriganE , SamrasingheI . Disaster Preparedness in an Australian Urban Trauma Center: Staff Knowledge and Perceptions. Prehosp Disaster Med.2012;27(5):1-7.

Keywords

disasterdrillemergencyhospital responsemass-casualty incidentpreparednessstaff knowledgeterrorism
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , October 2012 , pp. 432 - 438
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

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