Explaining the Improving Strategies of the Disaster Risk Management in Military Hospitals

Background and Aim: The disasters and emergencies can pose major challenges to the health infrastructure. Hospitals are the main units for providing health services in response to disasters. Considering the vital role of military hospitals in responding to disasters, the present study was conducted with the aim of explaining the improving strategies of disaster risk management in military hospitals. Methods: The present study is a qualitative research conducted in 2020-2021. The participants were 14 managers, staff, and specialists in the field of hospital disaster management who were included in the study by purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and the contractual content analysis method based on the Granheim and Landman method was used to analyze them. Results: The topics raised by the participants in 5 categories and 18 subcategories including "Management and Leadership" (organization, planning, rules and regulations, communication and coordination, specialization, culture building, advocacy), "risk assessment" (Structural safety, non-structural safety, functional safety, environmental safety), "preparedness" (training, drill, surge capacity), "response" (resource provision, casualty management, volunteer management), and "recovery" (Measures based on sustainable development) were explained. Conclusion: Applying improving strategies of hospital disaster risk management presented in this study can be useful and effective in improvement of the readiness of military hospitals in the face of emergencies and disasters.