How can we use the hospital safety index tool? A cross-sectional study of hospitals in South-East of Iran
Seyed Mobin Moradi, Mahmood Nekoei-Moghadam, Ahmad Abbasnejad, Behzad Abbasnejad, Hojjat Farahmandnia, Parham Khosravi BamiBACKGROUND:
Healthcare facilities, especially hospitals, are the most critical infrastructures in a society. Given the importance of hospitals in disaster management, the purpose of using HSI in this study was to assess the safety and vulnerability of hospitals using an internationally standardized method.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
The current cross-sectional and descriptive research was conducted in 2024 in Kerman, Iran. In this study, the 2015 version of the Hospital Safety Index (HSI) prepared by WHO/PAHO was used. The HSI calculator designed by the World Health Organization was used to calculate the safety and vulnerability index. Weighting of components was conducted both vertically and horizontally using the comprehensive guide for the HSI tool.
RESULT:
Hospital A was in average safety status (B) with a safety score of 0.57. The insecurity of non-structural components was the hospital’s biggest problem. In hospital B, The final safety score was 0.71, which is generally classified as safe (A). In this hospital, the safety of non-structural and functional components needed to be improved. The final hospital safety score in hospital C was 0.50, which places it in a generally average safety status (B). Hospital D was in an unsafe condition (C) with a safety score of 0.33. Due to their advanced age, the structural components in these two hospitals were at high risk and required immediate attention.
CONCLUSION:
Safety of critical infrastructures is one of the most important governance issues. Important point in infrastructure safety is the necessity of designing decentralized retrofitting and safety programs. If retrofitting programs are designed in a centralized manner, the result will be a waste of resources.