Audit of the functional preparedness of the selected military hospital in response to incidents and disasters: participatory action research

INTRODUCTION: Since hospitals play an important role in dealing with disaster victims, this study was conducted to audit the functional preparedness of the selected military hospital in response to incidents and disasters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This applied action research was conducted in all wards of a military hospital from September 2020 to September 2021. The functional preparedness of the hospital was assessed using a functional preparedness checklist containing 17 domains and the weaknesses of the hospital were identified. Then, during the hospital audit cycle, a plan was developed to improve work processes and the functional preparedness of different wards of the hospital in response to incidents and disasters using the FOCUS-PDCA model. The functional preparedness of the hospital was compared before and after the intervention and analyzed using SPSS22. RESULTS: The relative mean score of hospital preparedness in response to disasters was 508 out of 900 (56.44%) before the intervention, which was moderate. The relative mean score of the hospital preparedness in response to disasters was 561 (63.63%) after the intervention, which was good. The highest preparedness was related to risk assessment (85%) and the lowest preparedness was related to victims’ dead bodies (44%). CONCLUSION: Considering the effect of action research on improving the hospital’s functional preparedness in response to disasters, other healthcare facilities are encouraged to incorporate auditing into their work plans.