Health care system hazard vulnerability analysis: an assessment of all public hospitals in Abu Dhabi |
| |
| Authors: | Saleh Fares Meg Femino Assaad Sayah Debra L Weiner Eugene Sun Yim Sheila Douthwright Michael Sean Molloy Furqan B Irfan Mohamed Ali Karkoukli Robert Lipton Jonathan L Burstein Mariam Al Mazrouei Gregory Ciottone |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Adjunct faculty member in the Disaster Medicine Section, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, an adjunct faculty member in the Division of Disaster Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and Head of the Emergency Department, Zayed Military Hospital, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates;2. Adjunct faculty member in the Division of Disaster Medicine and the Director of the Emergency Management Department, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, , Boston, Massachusetts, United States;3. Member in the Disaster Medicine Section, Harvard Medical School, Boston, and Chair of the Emergency Department, Cambridge Heath Alliance, , Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States;4. Charter member of the Disaster Medicine Section, Harvard Medical School, and an Attending Physician in the Emergency Department, Boston Children's Hospital, , Boston, Massachusetts, United States;5. Resident in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency, , Boston, Massachusetts, United States;6. Manager of Environment Health & Safety Department/Disaster Program Manager and Chair of Disaster Management Committees for health care facilities managed by Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates;7. Adjunct faculty member in the Disaster Medicine Section, Harvard Medical School, and a adjunct faculty member in the Division of Disaster Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, , Boston, Massachusetts, United States;8. Researcher at Aga Khan University, Faculty of Health Sciences, , Karachi, Pakistan;9. Group Director, Emergency & Disaster Preparedness, Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates;10. Senior Statistician in the Division of Disaster Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, , Boston, Massachusetts, United States;11. Member in the Disaster Medicine Section, Harvard Medical School, and a member in the Division of Disaster Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, , Boston, Massachusetts, United States;12. Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Al Corniche Hospital in the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates;13. Chair of the Disaster Medicine Section, Harvard Medical School, Chair of the Division of Disaster Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Founder and Director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative Disaster Medicine/Emergency Management Fellowship, , Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| |
| Abstract: | Hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) is used to risk‐stratify potential threats, measure the probability of those threats, and guide disaster preparedness. The primary objective of this project was to analyse the level of disaster preparedness in public hospitals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, utilising the HVA tool in collaboration with the Disaster Medicine Section at Harvard Medical School. The secondary objective was to review each facility's disaster plan and make recommendations based on the HVA findings. Based on the review, this article makes eight observations, including on the need for more accurate data; better hazard assessment capabilities; enhanced decontamination capacities; and the development of hospital‐specific emergency management programmes, a hospital incident command system, and a centralised, dedicated regional disaster coordination centre. With this project, HVAs were conducted successfully for the first time in health care facilities in Abu Dhabi. This study thus serves as another successful example of multidisciplinary emergency preparedness processes. |
| |
| Keywords: | Abu Dhabi disaster disaster planning emergency management emergency preparedness hazard vulnerability analysis United Arab Emirates |
|
|
