Assessing Preparedness of Hospitals in Iran's Markazi Province in encountering Biological (CBRN) Incidents -2016

Iran’s Strategic position in the Middle East is an important reason that causes threat for this country. One of the important and effective ways that is used by some countries to exploit and create chaos in other countries is using bioterrorism and Biological agents. For this reason a study by the aim of assessing preparedness of hospitals in Markazi province in encountering Biological (CBRN) incidents has been conducted. Method The current study is a cross- sectional study that was conducted in 2016. In this study 19 hospitals in Markazi province including 14 State hospitals, 2 private hospitals and 3 hospitals related to Social Security organization were examined. The tool for gathering information was American Hospital Association Chemical and Bioterrorism Preparedness Checklist . This tool includes different aspects related to preparedness of treatment centers in Biological incidents. Analyzing the information was done by SPSS16 software, ANOVA tests, Kruskal–Wallis Test and Spearman correlation coefficient.Results The average of gained marks in general information is 36%, in communication is 27%, in responding to patients’ needs is 38%, in organizing is 27%, in support and supplies is 32%, in medical treatment is 27%, in education is 24%, in managing hospital’s security is 8%, in psychological services is 11% and in detecting diseases is 28%.Discussion and Conclusion The preparedness level of hospitals in Markazi province was assessed as weak. This problem, considering imperialistic countries’ plan to use Biological sources against other countries, needs authorities attention.Therefore assessing the level of treatment centers’ preparedness in case of having a crisis, especially when we encounter bioterrorism and Biological threats is necessary in the current century. Another important thing is having standard plans in country to deal with these kinds of threats; also we need to define some measures for inspecting hospitals to give validity to treatment centers.

Keywords:

Bioterrorism , Hospital , Preparedness , Biological (CBRN) Incidents , Biological agents