Developing a practical toolkit for evaluating hospital preparedness for surge capacity in disasters

Hospitals play a key role in providing health care services for a surge of disaster victims. For better planning in this area, it is necessary to have a toolkit for evaluating hospital preparedness for surge capacity. This study was aimed to design an elementary toolkit for evaluating hospital preparedness for surge capacity in disasters, based on the experts' viewpoints. This study consisted of four stages. In the first stage, in order to design an initial toolkit, an expert panel was held. The second stage was done to verify the initial toolkit. In the third stage, the components of the toolkit were weighed and in the fourth stage, at first the components of the toolkit were scored and then, a system for ranking the rate of hospital's preparedness for surge capacity was developed. In both the second and the third stage, Delphi method was used. In this study, a toolkit was developed which consisted of 64 components in five categories and 13 sub-categories. Among 64 components, 33 components were weighed as critical, 18 as core and 13 as advanced components. Also, it was determined that each component could earn a score between 0 and 5. Finally, a system with five levels was presented for ranking the rate of hospital's preparedness for surge capacity in disasters. The toolkit presented in this study can be used for evaluating hospital preparedness for surge capacity in disasters, as well as a guide for better planning and management in this regard.