Are our hospitals safe against disasters? An evaluation of hospital safety index in Tabriz, Iran

Introduction: Iran's hazard level against disasters is estimated to be 8 out of 10. The Farsi version of Hospital Safety Index (FHSI) has been designed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to simply scan the hospital safety standards for disasters. This study was designed to investigate the uncertainty about the safety level of hospitals in Tabriz, Iran, against disasters and the importance of the issue. Methods: In this study, 21 hospitals in Tabriz City were evaluated. The items in the hospital safety index (HSI) were provided with a checklist. The collected data were entered into the SPSS statistical software. Finally, the safety levels of the hospitals were determined and compared with one another. Results: The average hospital safety score was 6.70 ± 1.16. Only 6 hospitals were in good condition, with the 4 cases being non-academic hospitals. The functional safety of the hospitals was acceptable, and the structural and non-structural safety levels were modest. The highest and lowest scores were related to functional safety and structural safety, respectively. The rate of safety of general hospitals was significantly higher than that of the specialized hospitals with rates 7.07 ± 1.03 and 5.75 ± 0.88, respectively. There was no significant correlation between the number of hospital beds with the level of safety score. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated the weak safety of Tabriz hospitals against disasters, especially in structural aspect. However, the probability of occurrence of various disasters in this area including earthquakes, extreme cold weather, etc. is very high. So, it seems to be necessary to attract attention to change policies about hospital management.