Abstract

Introduction and Objectives: Disasters and unexpected events are often uncontrollable accidents occurring in different parts of the world. Iran is no exception to this due to its geographical location. Therefore, preparedness for unexpected events is inevitable. One of the important issues in this regard is the continuous monitoring of preparedness of medical centres, which this study seeks to asses. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on all public hospitals affiliated to Arak University of Medical Sciences in the city of Arak, Iran. The data collection tool was a 234-item checklist consisting of two parts. The first part includes the general profile of the hospital and the second part of the checklist incorporates various areas of preparedness for crisis. Findings: The findings showed that the level of preparedness was moderate at Amirkabir Hospital (50%) and Taleghani Hospital (50%), good at Amir Al-Momenin Hospital (67%) and very good at Vali-e-Asr Hospital (84%) and Khansari Hospital (94%). Conclusion: The level of preparedness of teaching hospitals in the city of Arak for unexpected events and disasters was estimated as 73.6%, which is considered as good. Despite the fact that the public hospitals in the city of Arak have a good general preparedness, they need improvements in management, training, admission and traffic dimensions; and appropriate measures are necessary to be taken in this regard.