Citation

Shah NA, Shahzad N, Afzal MS. J. Nucl. Med. Technol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Society of Nuclear Medicine)

DOI

10.2967/jnmt.120.252577

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pakistan is a nuclear capable country in the region sharing borders with two other nuclear powers i.e., India in the East and China in the North East. This makes the area a "nuclear flash point". It is therefore, imperative to have commensurating health care facilities to meet any eventualities. Although, Pakistan is trying to improve medical facilities for the people, but medical setup is already overwhelmed by patients because of large population of the country. The study was conducted to evaluate the level of awareness/preparedness of medical responders against nuclear/radiological disasters in public hospitals in major cities of Pakistan.

METHODS: A detailed questionnaire survey covering all the different aspects of the study was designed and discussed with the most concerned people in the field of medicine, nuclear sciences and disaster management in Pakistan. It was adopted based on the early studies on the subject with necessary modification to fulfill the requirements at Pakistan's level. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with key personnel of different response agencies in Pakistan.

RESULTS: A total of 554 surveys were completed and collected from medical providers in different hospitals across the country. Medical responders included doctors, nurses and medical assistants from emergency and non-emergency departments. The medical responders were aware about the catastrophic consequences of nuclear disaster and were found willing to respond to these kinds of disasters voluntarily, but they were not satisfied with their level of preparedness/awareness about nuclear/radiological disasters.

CONCLUSION: Although medical responders had good educational background and knowledge in their specific fields and were found quite active and energetic in response against conventional injuries and natural disasters but in order to effectively respond to nuclear/radiological disasters a dire need was felt to enhance their level of knowledge/preparedness against unconventional disasters/injuries.

Language: en

Keywords

emergency medical services; preparedness; disaster; nuclear warfare; Other; Radiation Safety; Research Methods