Disaster preparedness of health professionals at mass gatherings: a scoping review

Abstract

Mass gathering disasters involving large numbers of casualties can adversely affect the performance of healthcare systems. This scoping review aims to explore the current literature on the preparedness of health professionals for disasters during mass gathering events. Four databases were searched to identify papers examining health professionals' disaster preparedness during mass gatherings between 2011 and 2022. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis for Scoping Reviews was applied to undertake this review. A total of 2024 articles were identified, of which 18 qualified for inclusion in the scoping review. Some studies reported the level of professionals' preparedness for disaster management, while others reported strategies to enhance preparedness and challenges associated with disaster preparedness during mass gatherings. More studies are needed in this field to better understand the level of disaster preparedness of health professionals to improve response and management of potential disasters during mass gathering events.