Disaster Preparedness Amongst Emergency Pharmacists for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the level of preparedness of pharmacists working in the emergency department at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) for any emergency disasters that may take place during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ by evaluating their awareness (A), attitude (A), and readiness (R). Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative observational study was conducted through a web-based survey. The survey was distributed among emergency pharmacists working in general hospitals under HMC. The questionnaire was composed of three major domains assessing awareness, attitude, readiness, as well as an additional domain to collect the participants' demographics. Student's t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation, and linear regression were used with an alpha level of 0.05. Results: Most pharmacists working in the emergency departments at HMC had high levels of awareness (76.9%), attitude (92%), and readiness (53.8%) for any emergency disasters that may occur during the FIFA World Cup 2022. Nonetheless, almost half of the respondents reported moderate level of readiness for emergency events. Pharmacists with >10 years' practice experience had significantly higher AAR score compared to those with <5 years' experience (P = 0.002). Significant direct positive correlations were found among the 3 AAR parameters (P < 0.05). Attitude was found to be a significant predictor of readiness (P < 0.05). A model composed of attitude and awareness could predict 12% of readiness score. Conclusion: Emergency pharmacists at HMC have high level of preparedness for any emergency disaster event during the World Cup. Future research should focus on the development of theory-based action framework for pharmacy departments during mass gathering events.

Emergency pharmacy workforce views and experience related to the provision of pharmaceutical care during mass gathering events: the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ experience

“…Despite the training provided by HMC and the ED, our study participants had mixed opinions on their preparedness. In the first phase of this project, ED pharmacists and clinical pharmacists reported that although awareness level was high, readiness for emergency disasters that could occur during the World Cup was still moderate (26). A plausible explanation could be the lack of pharmacy-specific training that was reported by the participants.…”

“…One of the strengths of this study is that it is part of a larger mixed methods study comprising quantitative and qualitative stages which allowed for the first time the exploration of the perspectives of the pharmacy workforce on the provision of pharmaceutical care during mass gathering events (26). Additionally, we promoted participants' ability to freely express their views and enrich the discussion by ensuring confidentiality and anonymity, conducting a separate focus group for supervisors, and using a semi-structured topic guide.…”

“…A semi-structured discussion guide comprising 13 questions was designed based on the responses from the first stage of this project (26), existing literature, research team expertise, and through iterations and feedback within the research team. The topic guide pilot was tested on two pharmacists working in the ED.…”

“…Although previous research has looked into the preparedness of the pharmacy workforce for emergency disasters (22)(23)(24)(25), there is a dearth of studies on pharmacists' preparedness for mass gathering events. A recently published paper from Qatar showed that although emergency pharmacists had a high level of awareness in regard to emergency disasters that could occur during the World Cup, their level of readiness was still moderate (26). It is therefore imperative to investigate possible underpinnings and planning gaps and to capture pharmacists' reflections on their experiences and roles during the World Cup.…”