Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2018

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department

Health Management and Systems Sciences

Degree Program

Public Health Sciences with a specialization in Health Management, PhD

Committee Chair

Allen, Susan Olson

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Esterhay, Robert

Committee Member

Esterhay, Robert

Committee Member

McKinney, William

Committee Member

Hunter, Sandy

Committee Member

Little, Bert

Author's Keywords

disaster; preparedness; mass; gathering; Hajj; assessment

Abstract

Objectives: 1) Assess knowledge regarding disaster preparedness for mass gathering among SRC-EMS providers during the Hajj 2016 2) Explore the relationship between the demographic variables and knowledge about disaster preparedness among SRC-EMS providers during the Hajj 2016 3) Explore the sources of knowledge for SRC-EMS providers about disaster preparedness. Method: The data collection for this study was a cross-sectional survey using an online Qualtrics survey. It was convenience sample of 1650 respondents. For the analyses descriptive statistics was used, one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons tests, multiple regression analyses, and Pearson’s product coefficients. Results: The main findings in this study was providers in the age of 35-39 years and master’s degree had more general knowledge of disaster preparedness. Paramedics had more general knowledge of disaster preparedness and physicians had more knowledge of the Hajj. The military sector had more knowledge of disaster preparedness than other sectors. The trainings, workshops and drills should be held four times per year, the duration should be 6-12 months, trainings no more than 9 hours and workshops and drills more than 20 hours for retaining high knowledge of disasters. Thus, the characteristics of multiple regression analysis model for general knowledge of disaster preparedness are the level of EMS provider, highest level of education, and number of workshops ever attended and characteristics of knowledge of the Hajj model are the number of drills attended and level of EMS providers. Most sources of general knowledge of disaster preparedness are continuing education, university courses the media and the most sources of knowledge of the Hajj are real disasters, continuing education, university courses, and the media. Conclusion: This study indicates a relationship between the demographic variables with general knowledge of disaster preparedness and knowledge of the Hajj 2016. It provides valuable insights into understanding predictive factors. Also, it defines the sources of knowledge about disaster preparedness for mass gathering among SRC-EMS providers. This study offers recommendations to the Saudi government for improving the knowledge of disaster preparedness for SRC-EMS providers such as improving training and education and changing the scope of practice for Saudi EMS system.

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