Abdullah Alruwaili

Paramedic

Saudi Arabia

Doctorate Title: Emergency and Disaster Management: An Investigation of Hospitals Disaster Preparedness in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Doctorate Description: The primary aim of the study was to investigate disaster preparedness among hospitals in the Eastern Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The specific objectives are: to assess disaster preparedness of hospitals in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia; to compare the disaster preparedness between private and government hospitals in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia; and to determine factors influencing the preparedness for disasters among hospitals in the Eastern Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Methods

A descriptive cross-sectional study of all hospitals in the Eastern Region of KSA was conducted between July 2017 and July 2018. The included hospitals were selected using convenience sampling. The survey was adapted according to World Health Organization (WHO) National Health Sector Emergency Preparedness and Response Tool and Hospital Emergency response checklist. It was distributed together with an official letter providing information about the aim and objectives of the study as well as ethical issues guiding their participation in the exercise. Out of 72 hospitals in the region, 63 responded to the survey and were included in the analysis. Before data collection, ethical approval was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of New England and the Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.