Improving flood disaster preparedness of hospitals in Central Thailand: Hospital personnel perspectives

Aim To improve hospitals disaster preparedness during floods. Background The Thai flood disaster in 2011 struck several sectors, including hospitals. It is necessary to build a disaster preparedness system that ensures that hospitals have the capacity to respond effectively to any kind of disaster. Methods This qualitative study was conducted using content analysis. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 participants, including doctors, nurses and other staff involved in disaster preparedness, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with them. The study was reported according to COREQ guidelines. Results Healthcare personnel identified several ways in which flood disaster preparedness of hospitals may be enhanced. Three themes and eight subthemes were identified during the data analysis. The three themes were as follows: 1) ongoing efforts for flood prevention and mitigation at a national level; 2) developing operational guidelines to effectively prevent and resolve flood problems at provincial levels; and 3) increasing the levels of flood readiness at the hospital level. Conclusions The results of this study indicate strategies to help policymakers and health personnel enhance flood disaster preparedness measures at hospitals based on the experiences of hospital personnel involved in one of the worst flood disasters worldwide. Relevance to clinical practice Hospitals alone cannot deal with unpredictable events; they need additional assistance in disaster preparedness. There are three levels at which improving hospital flood disaster preparedness can take place: national, provincial and hospital levels. Nursing professionals participate in hospital disaster preparedness and work with multidisciplinary teams to provide services. Nurses should be prepared for such participation, as their involvement, through tailored services for hospital disaster preparedness, can expand the literature on nursing knowledge to improve clinical outcomes.