Norman I D, Aikins M, Binka F N, Nyarko K M
Department of Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health Science, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, LG 13 Legon Accra, Ghana.
Ghana Med J. 2012 Mar;46(1):34-42.
This paper assessed the emergency preparedness programs of health facilities for all-risks but focused on Road Traffic Accidents, (RTA) resulting in surge demand. It adopted W. H. O checklist covering hospital preparedness, equipment, manpower and surge capacity planning as best practices for the mitigation of public health emergencies.
This is a cross-sectional study of purposively selected health facilities. The method used consisted of site visit, questionnaire survey, literature and internet review. The W. H. O. standard for emergency preparedness of health facilities was used to evaluate and assess the nation's hospitals surge capacity programs. The study was conducted between March-June, 2010. A total of 22 district and regional health facilities including teaching hospitals participated in the study. All 10 regions of the country were covered.
These were: (1) many of the nation's hospitals were not prepared for large RTA's resulting in surge demands, and did not possess general emergency preparedness programs. (2) The hospitals' respective abilities to handle large scale RTA's were compromised by the lack of competent medical and allied health personnel and adequate supplies.
The inadequacies of the hospital system in responding to emergencies raise serious public health concerns. The biggest challenge facing the hospitals in their emergency intervention is the lack of pre-emergency and emergency preparedness plans as well as the coordination of the hospitals response mechanisms.
The paper ended with recommendations on how the nation's hospitals and their supervisory agencies could improve emergency preparedness.
本文评估了医疗机构针对所有风险的应急准备计划，但重点关注因道路交通意外（RTA）导致需求激增的情况。它采用了世界卫生组织涵盖医院准备、设备、人力和激增能力规划的清单，作为缓解突发公共卫生事件的最佳实践。
这是一项对有目的地选择的医疗机构进行的横断面研究。所使用的方法包括实地考察、问卷调查、文献和互联网检索。采用世界卫生组织医疗机构应急准备标准来评估和评价该国医院的激增能力计划。该研究于2010年3月至6月进行。共有22家地区和区域医疗机构（包括教学医院）参与了该研究。该国所有10个地区都涵盖在内。
结果如下：（1）该国许多医院没有为因需求激增的重大道路交通意外做好准备，也没有一般应急准备计划。（2）医院各自处理大规模道路交通意外的能力因缺乏合格的医疗和专职医疗人员以及充足的物资供应而受到损害。
医院系统在应对紧急情况方面的不足引发了严重的公共卫生问题。医院在应急干预中面临的最大挑战是缺乏应急前和应急准备计划以及医院应对机制的协调。
本文最后就该国医院及其监管机构如何改进应急准备提出了建议。
