Ammar Abdullah Attar

Abstract

Saudi Arabia is annually receiving the largest mass gathering in the world, who come to perform Hajj or Umrah within a confined time and place. To assess preparedness for disasters at three health institutes in Holy mosques from the perspectives of the health workers. A cross-sectional study design, 314 health workers were selected randomly from Makkah health center (n=151), Madinah health center (n=68), and Al Ansar hospital (n=95) who responded to questionnaire adopted to assess preparedness for disaster. A significantly greater percentage of workers in Makkah center (79.5%) indicated that there is a disaster plan, comparable to those in Al Ansar hospital (61.1%) or Madinah health center (60.3%) (p<0.05). Also, a significantly higher proportion of the health workers in Makkah center (78.1%) agreed that they are adequately prepared to deal with the sudden influx of a large number of patients if compared to those in Madinah HC (55.9%) or those in Al Ansar hospital (52.6%) (p<0.05). A significantly higher percentage of the workers in the Makkah center (79.5%) compared to those in Al Ansar hospital (57.9%) and Madinah health center (61.8%) indicated that there is regular execution of disaster drills p<0.05. Makkah center is more adequately prepared to deal with disasters than the Madinah health center and Al Ansar hospital. Deliberate efforts are needed to enhance the disaster preparedness of the Madinah center and Al Ansar hospital to cope with the projected progressive increment in the number of pilgrims soon.