Assessing the hospital pharmacy preparedness to mass casualty incidents

This study aims to assess the current state of awareness and preparedness for Mass Casualty Incidents (MCIs) among hospital pharmacies in Egypt, focusing on the availability of disaster plans either for pharmacy or for a hospital as a whole, participation in drills and the perceived adequacy of essential medication stocks.

A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated, self-administered questionnaire distributed to licensed pharmacists across various public, private, and university teaching hospitals, across different governorates in Egypt.

Our findings show significant gaps in preparedness and awareness of many aspects of the mass causality events' handling. While just over half of participants reported that they have a pharmacy-specific disaster plan, over a third (36.6%) were unaware of their hospital's overall disaster plan. A striking 75% of pharmacists had never participated in a disaster drill. Confidence in medication stocks was high for common drugs like analgesics (70.3% agreed adequate). 65.4% of pharmacists reporting that chemical weapon antidote stocks were insufficient. Larger, better-resourced hospitals were significantly more likely to have a formal disaster plan.

This research is the first focused examination of hospital pharmacy preparedness for MCIs in Egypt, which fills a significant gap in the national and regional literature. The findings provide novel, practical evidence that goes beyond intuitive opinion to identify specific readiness gaps, offering a critical foundation for stakeholders to build on.