Analysis of healthcare workers’ disaster preparedness status from the perspective of awareness and attitude

Disasters can impact the physical, social, and psychological well-being of communities. Strengthening disaster preparedness among healthcare professionals is vital to ensuring effective response and resilience. This study aims to assess the awareness, attitudes, and preparedness practices of healthcare professionals in Diyarbakir, Türkiye. A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. Data were randomly selected from 284 healthcare workers who volunteered to participate in an online survey. A valid and reliable scale was used to measure demographic characteristics and attitudes toward disasters. Statistical analyses were performed using the Independent Samples t-test and one-way ANOVA in SPSS. The Scheffe test was used to determine between-group differences. Of the participants, 57.7% were female, 43% were aged 35 and over, and 61.6% were married. Regarding knowledge and experience with disasters, 71.5% of participants had experienced a disaster, 54.2% had not received disaster training, 70.8% had first aid training, and 68.7% had a disaster and emergency kit. However, 61.6% of participants did not have a family disaster plan. Significant differences were found in disaster attitude scores by marital status, presence of an emergency kit at home, personal or family disaster planning, andsource of disaster information (p < 0.05). Strengthening the disaster preparedness level of health personnel should be considered as a priority in terms of the effectiveness of disaster management.