ASSESSMENT OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS BY CONDUCTING A MOCK DRILL IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING, RESEARCH AND REFERRAL MEDICAL INSTITUTE IN SOUTH INDIA

K.Vamsi Krishna Reddy; Jonnala Sindhu; N.Lakshmi Bhaskar

Volume : X, Issue : I, January - 2020

ASSESSMENT OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS BY CONDUCTING A MOCK DRILL IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING, RESEARCH AND REFERRAL MEDICAL INSTITUTE IN SOUTH INDIA

K. Vamsi Krishna Reddy, Jonnala Sindhu, N. Lakshmi Bhaskar

Abstract :

Background Disaster management occupies an important place in this country’s policy framework as it is the poor and the under–privileged who are worst affected on account of calamities /disasters. Disasters and mass casualties can cause great confusion and inefficiency in the hospitals. Hospital disaster drills provides the opportunity to plan, prepare and when needed enables a rational response in case of disasters/ mass casualty incidents. Method A mock drill was conducted to assess disaster preparedness of the hospital on 15th Sep 2015. Mock drill was done under the supervision of Department of Hospital Administration. The drill assessed the functioning of Emergency and other areas in the hospital during disaster situations. The assessment was done on the basis of a checklist/questionnaire developed from the “Tool for Evaluating Core Elements of Hospital Disaster Drills” prepared by The Johns Hopkins University Evidence based Practice Centre, Baltimore. Results Thus assessment of drills showed that the Incident Command System (ICS) and Treatment zone worked efficiently but the Restriction Zone and Triage Zones need to be strengthened and managed more efficiently. Recommendations There is need to conduct regular drills and their proper assessment with standardized tools should be done by appropriate authorities who are well trained beforehand. A tabletop exercise can help to motivate hospital staff to learn more about disaster preparedness and can help to teach staff about aspects of disaster–related patient care in a way that simulates the practice setting.