Assessment of Emergency Preparedness and Response of a Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper assessed the emergency preparedness and emergency response of Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State. Emergency training, logistics, planning, surge capacity, and triage system were adopted to evaluate emergency preparedness, while promptness and responsiveness were used to measure emergency response. The research design for this study comprises cross-sectional and inferential approaches. Purposive sampling technique was adopted for hospital selection. The sample estimation for hospital workers with respect to emergency preparedness was computed as 156 (this is a case of finite population). However, the sample size for the emergency response is computed as 113 (a case of infinite population). Data collection involved questionnaire and checklist. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and regression. For emergency preparedness, the results of the descriptive statistics showed that there is a substantial to moderate level of readiness in the sampled hospital. The mean values of emergency planning, logistics availability, triage system, and surge capacity, were computed as 3.71, 3.49, 3.14, and 3.45, respectively. Emergency training levels were low, with a mean score of 2.77, whereas emergency response among healthcare workers was high, with mean scores of 3.88 and 4.13 for promptness and responsiveness, respectively. Regression analysis revealed that emergency training, planning, and logistics have a significant impact on workers’ promptness (p= 0.00001<0.05), while triage system and surge capacity do not significantly influence promptness. Additionally, emergency training, planning, and triage systems significantly affect responsiveness (p= 0.00001<0.05), whereas logistics availability and surge capacity do not. It was therefore concluded that the hospital has a substantial level of emergency preparedness and response, with only emergency training and planning showing significant impacts on both promptness and responsiveness. The study recommended that hospital management should improve surge capacity, as it is the only preparedness factor that has no substantial impact on emergency response.