Emergency department preparedness and hospital disaster planning: lessons from disasters

Earthquakes significantly affect public health, causing mass casualties and increased mortality risks. They can damage healthcare facilities and disrupt essential services like information, energy, and water supplies. This study aims to explore the experiences of emergency medicine specialists and healthcare personnel involved in earthquake response efforts to improve Hospital Disaster and Emergency Plans (HAPs).

This study used a phenomenological approach to explore the experiences of emergency medicine specialists and healthcare professionals after the earthquake. Eighteen participants were purposively selected, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews following ethical approval and consent, and analysed using MAXQDA software.

Six themes and twenty-four categories were identified. Participants reported fear and anxiety during the earthquake, particularly regarding their children's safety. Post-earthquake, concerns for family and patient overload were prevalent. Issues related to HAPs included staff feeling like disaster victims, poor protocol implementation, disorganisation, and unclear job roles. After the earthquake, patients were transferred to emergency departments, facing challenges with hygiene, sanitation, heating, and power.

It is crucial to build hospitals and emergency departments that can withstand disasters and adhere to strict seismic codes and standards. Hospitals must adopt functional, context-specific disaster plans that recognize healthcare workers as disaster victims, ensure basic needs and family support, and embed role-based drills into routine practice to ensure staff understand their roles in the HAPs.