Response capability of hospitals to an incident caused by mass gatherings in southeast Iran

Hospitals are expected to provide a safe environment for patients, visitors, and employees during emergencies and disasters, as well as provide health care to disaster survivors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response capability of hospitals to an incident caused by mass gatherings (MG) in Kerman province.

This cross-sectional study was performed among hospitals of Kerman city in 2021. To collect data, the emergency response checklist-WHO (2011) was utilized with 90 questions prepared in nine domains. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 20 with descriptive tests.

In this incident, 438 people were injured and 61 killed (31 women and 30 men). Of the 438 injured taken to hospitals, 193 were treated on an outpatient basis, 146 were hospitalized and 99 were treated at Advanced Medical Post (AMP) and mobile hospital in the scene. Results showed a moderate response level of hospitals to an incidence (151.50±18.28). Among the components of hospitals' response to incidence, the command and control component had the highest mean score (159.16 ± 22.39) while the surge capacity component had the lowest mean score (129.78 ± 25.21).

Our hospitals faced new challenges in this incident; therefore, policymakers and executives managers of the health system in Iran should develop a comprehensive strategic plan to promote hospitals' preparedness for suitable and timely response to MG incidences and improve risk perception of mass gathering participants and hospitals personnel through training and implementing discussion and operation-based exercises.