Hospital disaster risk management improving strategies: A systematic review study

Hospitals are the basic infrastructure for disaster response. While they themselves are exposed to disasters, they also play an important role during the disaster response period. Therefore, they are expected to be able to maintain their performance during and immediately after disasters. The aim of this study is to discover strategies to improve the hospital disaster risk management.

This study is a systematic qualitative study with thematic analysis. Data sources including Persian and international databases were searched using the "Hospital, Disaster, Risk management, Risk reduction, Improvement, and Strategy" keywords and their combinations of them. The search time period ranged from January 2010 to January 2020. Data were extracted by two independent arbitrators for qualitative thematic analysis.

In total, 889 articles and documents were retrieved. Of which, 166 articles were deleted due to duplication, 436 articles did not meet the objectives of the research, and 263 articles did not meet the eligibility criteria and were deleted. Finally, 24 articles were included in the study. After thematic analysis, 33 subthemes were obtained and classified into five themes of organizational-managerial strategies, preventive and risk reduction strategies, preparedness strategies, response strategies, and recovery strategies. Not all articles discuss all categories.

Applying strategies to improve the hospital disaster risk management resulting from this study can be useful in improving the preparedness of hospitals in the face of disasters.