Evaluation of applied public health emergency system at Prince Mohammed International Airport in Almedinah during Hajj season 2014: a qualitative case study

BMC Research Notes

Mazin M. Swarelzahab³  Khalid H. Alharbi²  Amin A. Fadl²  Ali M. Al-Hazmi²  Abdulaziz BinSaeed³  Ibrahim M. Gosadi¹ 

[1] Prince Sattam Chair for Epidemiology and Public Health Research, Community Medicine Unit, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11541, Saudi Arabia;Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

关键词: Airport;    Preventive;    Hajj;    Health;    Public;    Emergency;   

Others  :  1230166
DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-015-1415-2

 received in 2015-03-20, accepted in 2015-09-07,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

During the Hajj season 2014, several public health measures were applied by the Ministry of Health at Prince Mohammed International Airport in Almedinah. However, several operational defects affected the provision of preventive health services for passengers and airport workers. This study aims to evaluate the applied public health emergency system at the airport, detect any potential gaps and to provide appropriate operational solutions.

Methods

This is a qualitative case study conducted at Prince Mohammed International Airport in Almedinah during the 2014 Hajj season, September 2014. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, focus groups and policy document reviews. Interviews were conducted with the 14 individuals of the airport’s decision makers and relevant health practitioners. Data were recorded via taking notes during interviews and data coding was performed to produce the main themes and subthemes of the study.

Results

The main findings of the study revealed three main defects affecting the applied public health emergency system at the airport. The main themes were mainly related to shortage in logistics related to public health emergency systems, shortage in proper documentation of policies and lack of documented protocols of communications among airport stakeholders.

Conclusions

The study highlighted the main factors hindering the application of public health emergency measures at the airport. A Public Health Emergency Contingency Plan was proposed as a method to regulate the process of providing logistics for public health preventive services, the method of producing documented policies and methods of producing Memoranda of Understandings as communication regulators.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Gosadi et al.

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