title: Investigation of the preparedness level of the hospitals against disasters in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in 2012.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the preparedness level of hospitals against natural disasters in Bandar Abbas, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in all the 9 hospitals in Bandar Abbas, Iran, during 2012. The required data was collected using a standard checklist comprising 220 items in 10 areas. It was completed for each hospital using observations and interviews. SPSS 16.0 was used to analyse the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall level of preparedness against disasters in Bandar Abbas hospitals was 38.6%. They were at a poor level in the areas of reception (31.4%), evacuation (28.1%), traffic (33.3%), security (34.6%), communication (30.6%), human resources (38.6%), and commanding and management (20.1%). Areas of emergency services (55.1%), training (53.5%), and logistics (53.5%) were moderate, while none of the areas could score enough to be in the good or very good category.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preparedness was poor and hospital administrators should establish necessary technical and communication infrastructures through sufficient budgets to improve weak areas.
authors.forename: Ghasem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sobhani
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khammarnia
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hayati
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ravangard
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Heydari
authors.forename: Sanaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heydarvand
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D002959:Civil Defense; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004189:Disaster Planning; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran