Jordanian Public Hospital Disaster Preparedness based on WHO and ECHO Safety Index

Abstract

Objective: To determine the degree of hospital readiness for disasters in Jordan, the present study evaluated hospital employee knowledge linked to the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) functional standards. Methods: A qualitative was conducted in four main public Jordanian hospitals on 24 participants in four focus group (FG) interviews in 2016–2017. Results: The data analyses found that: (a) In general, all hospitals are not ready for the necessary responses to disaster, (b) This means that there is no clear and logical thinking regarding such significant issues related to crisis management, (c) there were weaknesses in the frequency of safety system inspections and corrections, and (d) there was a weakness in continuing education and training programs. Conclusions: Jordanian public hospitals are ill-prepared for disasters. A number of recommendations to assist hospital administrators improve Hospital Disaster Preparedness (HDP) are given.

Key words: Functional standards, Hospital Disaster Preparedness, focus group, Jordan.