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Evaluation of Hospitals’ Disaster Preparedness Plans in the Holy City of Makkah (Mecca): A Cross-Sectional Observation Study

Overview of attention for article published in Prehospital and disaster medicine, December 2016
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Title
Evaluation of Hospitals’ Disaster Preparedness Plans in the Holy City of Makkah (Mecca): A Cross-Sectional Observation Study
Published in
Prehospital and disaster medicine, December 2016
DOI 10.1017/s1049023x16001229
Pubmed ID
Authors

Ali S. Al-Shareef, Loui K. Alsulimani, Hattan M. Bojan, Taha M. Masri, Jennifer O. Grimes, Michael S. Molloy, Gregory R. Ciottone

Abstract

Makkah (Mecca) is a holy city located in the western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Each year, millions of pilgrims visit Makkah. These numbers impact both routine health care delivery and disaster response. This study aimed to evaluate hospitals' disaster plans in the city of Makkah. Study investigators administered a questionnaire survey to 17 hospitals in the city of Makkah. Data on hospital characteristics and three key domains of disaster plans (general evaluation of disaster planning, structural feasibility of the hospitals, and health care worker knowledge and training) were collated and analyzed. A response rate of 82% (n=14) was attained. Ten (71%) of the hospitals were government hospitals, whereas four were private hospitals. Eleven (79%) hospitals had a capacity of less than 300 beds. Only nine (64%) hospitals reviewed their disaster plan within the preceding two years. Nine (64%) respondents were drilling for disasters at least twice per year. The majority of hospitals did not rely on a hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) to develop their Emergency Operations Plan. Eleven (79%) hospitals had the Hospital Incident Command Systems (HICS) present in their plans. All hospitals described availability of some supplies required for the first 24 hours of a disaster response, such as: N95 masks, antidotes for nerve agents, and antiviral medications. Only five (36%) hospitals had a designated decontamination area. Nine (64%) hospitals reported ability to re-designate inpatient wards into an intensive care unit (ICU) format. Only seven (50%) respondents had a protocol for increasing availability of isolation rooms to prevent the spread of airborne infection. Ten (71%) hospitals had a designated disaster-training program for health care workers. Makkah has experienced multiple disaster incidents over the last decade. The present research suggests that Makkah hospitals are insufficiently prepared for potential future disasters. This may represent a considerable threat to the health of both residents and visitors to Makkah. This study demonstrated that there is significant room for improvement in most aspects of hospital Emergency Operations Plans, in particular: reviewing the plan and increasing the frequency of multi-agency and multi-hospital drills. Preparedness for terrorism utilizing chemical, biologic, radiation, nuclear, explosion (CBRNE) and infectious diseases was found to be sub-optimal and should be assessed further. Al-Shareef AS , Alsulimani LK , Bojan HM , Masri TM , Grimes JO , Molloy MS , Ciottone GR . Evaluation of hospitals' disaster preparedness plans in the holy city of Makkah (Mecca): a cross-sectional observation study. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32 (1):1-13.

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The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 3 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 100 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 100 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 12 12%
Student > Bachelor 11 11%
Student > Ph. D. Student 9 9%
Researcher 8 8%
Lecturer 6 6%
Other 16 16%
Unknown 38 38%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 24 24%
Nursing and Health Professions 15 15%
Social Sciences 4 4%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 3%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 2 2%
Other 10 10%
Unknown 42 42%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 May 2017.
All research outputs
#15,169,543
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from Prehospital and disaster medicine
#981
of 1,599 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#225,308
of 420,883 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Prehospital and disaster medicine
#21
of 27 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,373,627 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 38th percentile – i.e., 38% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,599 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.4. This one is in the 36th percentile – i.e., 36% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 420,883 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 45th percentile – i.e., 45% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 27 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 22nd percentile – i.e., 22% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.