Assessment on the Emergency and Disaster Preparedness of Healthcare Professionals in Davao City: Basis on a Proposed Enhancement Program

Abstract

This study, using the descriptive research design, determined the levels of knowledge, attitude, and practices on emergency and disaster preparedness of healthcare professionals in Davao city.  A researcher-made questionnaire (Cronbach’s ᾱ=0.941) was used to survey the 63 respondents who were purposively selected for this study. Results revealed that majority of the respondents were 31 to 35 years old (25 of 63 respondents; 40%), female (39 out of 63; 61.9%), Radiologic Technologists (45 out of 63; 71.4%) and between 6 - 10 years in service (28 out of 63; 44%).  Additionally, the respondents had an extremely high knowledge on emergency and disaster preparedness (M=3.8), possessed positive attitude towards emergency and disaster preparedness (M=4.1), and, in terms of practices, have been assessed of positively implementing and practicing disaster and emergency preparedness (M=3.87). However, they lacked several of the processes that are required for actual preparedness to provide optimal emergency management and disaster response. Hence, an intervention program for such concern was proposed accordingly.

Keywords: Health, Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, Healthcare Professionals, Descriptive, Davao City