Identifying and Conceptualizing Quality Indicators Influencing Prehospital Disaster Exercises Across Structure,...

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Disaster Preparedness
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Exercises are crucial for enhancing disaster preparedness and continuous improvement in emergency response.
• Prehospital disaster exercises range from simple plan discussions to complex multi-agency events.
• Identifying quality indicators (QIs) is essential for optimizing these exercises.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and conceptualize quality indicators (QIs) that influence prehospital disaster exercises.
• To analyze these QIs across exercise structure, conduct, and outcome.
• To provide a framework for designing effective and standardized prehospital disaster exercises.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases.
• Thematic content analysis for data interpretation.
• Adherence to PRISMA guidelines for search and CASP for quality assessment.

Main Results:

• 10 high-quality studies were analyzed from an initial 3,083 articles.
• Identified QIs categorized into 3 themes, 8 categories, and 21 subcategories.
• Key themes included exercise structure (knowledge, resources), conduct (skills, decision-making), and outcome (evaluation, capabilities).

Conclusions:

• A knowledge framework for designing scientifically sound and standardized prehospital disaster exercises was developed.
• Implementation of exercises based on QIs can enhance knowledge, promote behavioral change, and standardize responses.
• This framework supports improved disaster response processes and emergency management in prehospital settings.