The Impact of Experience, Length of Service, and Workplace Preparedness in Physicians’ Readiness in the Response to Disasters

Abstract

With an increasing number of natural and man-made disasters, the need for preparedness in all levels of management is obvious. Among healthcare professionals responding to these emergencies, physicians are of particular importance due to their significant roles as leaders and frontline workers in minimizing morbidity and mortality of the affected population. This study analyses the preparedness of 549 physicians from all medical centers in Lublin, Poland to formulate their observations, suggestions, and recommendations concerning the improvement of the chain of response in disaster management. The results of this study show that the perceived preparedness of physicians for disaster management and response is not as high as it should be, and the majority of the respondents perceived their disaster preparedness insufficient. Training of physicians in disaster management and principles of disaster medicine is needed, by focusing on the specificity of rescue response to emergencies following disasters, and medical and non-medical aspects of the response with particular emphasis on a management approach covering all hazards.

Cohort research analysis of disaster experience, preparedness, and competency-based training among nurses

“…A recent study using the questions from this survey was conducted among physicians in Lublin with different outcomes. Consequently, and due to differences in nurses’ and physicians’ educational backgrounds and disaster management practices, the results in this study are presented separately [ 20 ].…”

“…From the nurses' answers to the questionnaire, it appears that at present the nurses' pre and post-graduate education places less emphasis on areas such as crisis management, disaster medicine and psychological care. Training is directed towards clinical tasks related to the provision of emergency care, rather than more proactive clinical management and prevention activities [17][18][19][20].…”

Increased Emergency Calls during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A National Retrospective Study

“…Urgent attention is needed to update emergency preparedness plans that take into consideration the potential for increased call volumes based on geography, time of day, and day of the week. Additionally, different types of emergency situations, such as prolonged pandemics, localized regional epidemics, consequences of natural disasters, or immediate localized threats such as terrorist events [ 12 , 13 ]. An assessment of the EMS systems in the Kingdom is needed to determine if resources are available to provide services based on both standard call volume patterns normally encountered during the year and the capability of the system to respond to multiple crisis events and or prolonged incidents, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, that may strain the EMS system capacity for an undetermined period of time.…”

The importance of pre-training gap analyses and the identification of competencies and skill requirements of medical personnel for mass casualty incidents and disaster training

“…Many researchers, dealing with the effectiveness of training related to mass casualty incidents and disasters, place emphasis on the organisational competence of individual employees as well as on individual teamwork skills. However, healthcare professionals should also demonstrate leadership, conflict avoidance, and management skills [10][11][12][13][14][15]. These skills and competencies should be evaluated continuously to improve both individual and team performance.…”