Meta-evaluation of published studies on evaluation of health disaster preparedness exercises through a systematic review

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:Exercise evaluation is one of the most important steps and sometimes neglected in designing and taking exercises, in this stage of exercise, it systematically identifying, gathering, and interpreting related information to indicate how an exercise has fulfilled its objectives. The present study aimed to assess the most important evaluation techniques applied in evaluating health exercises for emergencies and disasters.METHODS:This was meta-evaluation study through a systematic review. In this research, we searched papers based on specific and relevant keywords in research databases including ISI web of science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Ovid, ProQuest, Wiley, Google Scholar, and Persian database such as ISC and SID. The search keywords and strategies are followed; “simulation,” “practice,” “drill,” “exercise,” “instrument,” “tool,” “questionnaire,” “ measurement,” “checklist,” “scale,” “test,” “inventory,” “battery,” “evaluation,” “assessment,” “appraisal,” “emergency,” “disaster,” “cricise,” “hazard,” “catastrophe,: “hospital”, “prehospital,” “health centers,” “treatment centers,” were used in combination with Boolean operators OR and AND.RESULTS:The research findings indicate that there are different techniques and methods for data collection to evaluate performance exercises of health centers and affiliated organizations in disasters and emergencies including debriefing inventories, self-report, questionnaire, interview, observation, shooting video, and photographing, electronic equipment which can be individually or collectively used depending on exercise objectives or purposes.CONCLUSION:Taking exercise in the health sector is one of the important steps in preparation and implementation of disaster risk management programs. This study can be thus utilized to improve preparedness of different sectors of health system according to the latest available evaluation techniques and methods for better implementation of disaster exercise evaluation stages.

Maintaining Preparedness to Severe Though Infrequent Threats—Can It Be Done?

“…Available and accessible evaluation indicators are still lacking in the healthcare emergency preparedness realm [10]. More so, very few tools were examined and found to provide conclusive evidence of effectiveness [42,43]. The main objective of the benchmarks is not simply to provide a score of the level of emergency preparedness (though this is important), but rather to provide a platform for an ongoing process of enhancing and improving readiness to potential emergency situations [10,39,44].…”

Challenges of patient handover process in healthcare services: A systematic review

“…Most studies have focused on handover communication challenges;[10111213141516171819202122] other studies have also stated the importance of coordination between the incoming and outgoing nurses. [232425] Another research showed the importance of using a checklist in handover process and suggested that applying checklist could improve intrahospital transport of intensive care patient to other floors.…”

“…[23] There was also information that was written but not transmitted by the outgoing nurse to the incoming nurse, as well as the information transmitted but not recorded and often some information removed or not completed during transfer which could lead to the patient injury or damage the care process. [10171822] It is suggested that a standard protocol or policy and procedure should be used to ensure that both handover process management and communication are improved. [20] Carroll et al in their research found that incoming nurse wanted eye contact and opportunity for question, but these same features are experienced as interruptions and problems for the outgoing nurse who wants to transfer care and get to go home.…”

Comparison of the Effect of Lecturing and Tabletop Exercise Methods on Level of Preparedness of Nurses against Natural Disasters

“…n 2017, of 335 accidents, 136 occurred in Asia, 93 in the US, 42 in Africa, 39 in Europe, and 8 in Oceania [1]. Iran, as an Asian country, is highly exposed to natural disasters due to its specific geographical characteristics [2,3]. These disasters exert detrimental effects on human health, infrastructures, and facilities [4].…”