Examining the experience and lessons learnt for disaster-preparedness in Sri Lankan hospitals: A scoping review

The incidence of disasters and the impact in terms of death, disabilities and economic loss are increasing globally. Low-income countries are impacted greatly compared to high income countries. Asia suffered the most from all types of disasters during the last two decades. Sri Lanka has been frequently battered by natural and man-made disasters. Adequate preparedness of hospitals is essential to ensure a robust response to disasters and save lives. Sri Lanka has considerable disaster experience impacting upon its health system, however there has been no review of the literature related to the levels of disaster preparedness across the hospitals. This paper synthesises the lessons learned from hospital level disaster preparedness in Sri Lanka. A scoping review was conducted using five databases and also searching the grey literature. Studies conducted on hospital level disaster preparedness in Sri Lanka, published in English, were selected by two independent reviewers. Data extraction and synthesis were based on lessons identified in terms of four domains, “space”, “stuff”, “staff’ and “systems”. Out of 1298 of total articles, 13 were selected for data analysis. Of those, 10 articles provided some lessons on at least one domain. A lack of studies on disaster preparedness in Sri Lankan hospitals and inadequate preparedness of all four domain were identified. Potential challenges and motivational factors for capacity-building in disaster preparedness were also identified. These findings will be important in improving resilience of local hospitals to withstand future disasters.