Level of Preparedness towards Flood Disaster among Emergency Healthcare Workers In Malaysia

Flood Disaster Preparedness in Malaysia
Vol. 21 No. 1 : 2026 (228-243)

Hadi Fadhil Mat Said Hadi Fadhil Mat Said
Ahmad Khaldun Ismail Ahmad Khaldun Ismail

Abstract
Floods in Malaysia affect 22% of the population and 29,800 km2 of land. Disaster medicine is vital for flood response and directly involves emergency healthcare workers. Preparedness plans should involve both emergency medicine residents and administrative staffs. This study evaluated emergency healthcare workers’ knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding flood disaster preparedness in Malaysia. This observational cross-sectional study, conducted from January to December 2023, used the validated FloodDMQ-BM 2.0 questionnaire to assess the preparedness of emergency healthcare workers in 25 tertiary government hospitals. The target group were consenting emergency healthcare workers. Of the 496 participants, 434 were included. The sample was nearly balanced (50.5% male, 49.5% female). Most participants had poor knowledge (73%), moderate attitude (63.1%) and poor practice (66.6%) regarding flood preparedness. Multivariate analysis revealed that knowledge was influenced by age and residing state; attitude by age; and practice by gender, experience and involvement in drills. Positive correlations were found between KAP levels. Emergency healthcare workers in Malaysia show inadequate preparedness for flood disasters, with poor knowledge, moderate attitude and poor practice. Factors influencing preparedness include age, gender, residing state and experience. Tailored training is needed to improve healthcare workers’ response capabilities during floods.
Keywords : Disaster; emergency; healthcare workers,
Abstrak
Banjir di Malaysia memberi kesan kepada 22% daripada populasi dan melibatkan kawasan seluas 29,800 km2. Perubatan bencana memainkan peranan penting dalam menghadapi bencana banjir dan secara langsung melibatkan petugas kesihatan sektor kecemasan. Pelan kesiapsiagaan perlu melibatkan petugas kesihatan kecemasan dan kakitangan pentadbiran. Kajian ini menilai tahap pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan petugas kesihatan kecemasan terhadap kesiapsiagaan dalam menghadapi bencana banjir di Malaysia. Kajian pemerhatian hirisan lintang ini dijalankan dari Januari sehingga Disember 2023 dengan menggunakan soal selidik FloodDMQ-BM 2.0 yang telah disahkan untuk menilai tahap kesiapsiagaan petugas kesihatan kecemasan di 25 hospital kerajaan tertiari. Kumpulan sasaran terdiri daripada petugas kesihatan kecemasan yang memberikan persetujuan untuk turut serta dalam kajian ini. Daripada 496 peserta, seramai 434 telah diterima dalam kajian. Pembahagian sampel hampir seimbang dari segi jantina (50.5% lelaki, 49.5% wanita). Kebanyakan peserta mempunyai tahap pengetahuan yang rendah (73%), sikap yang sederhana (63.1%) dan amalan yang rendah (66.6%) terhadap kesiapsiagaan menghadapi banjir. Analisis multivariat mendapati pengetahuan dipengaruhi oleh faktor umur dan negeri tempat tinggal; sikap dipengaruhi oleh faktor umur; manakala amalan dipengaruhi oleh faktor jantina, pengalaman serta penglibatan dalam latihan simulasi. Terdapat korelasi yang positif antara tahap pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan. Petugas kesihatan kecemasan di Malaysia menunjukkan kesiapsiagaan yang tidak memuaskan terhadap bencana banjir, dengan tahap pengetahuan yang rendah, sikap yang sederhana dan amalan yang rendah. Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi tahap kesiapsiagaan termasuk umur, jantina, negeri dan pengalaman. Latihan yang bersasar perlu dilaksanakan bagi meningkatkan keupayaan tindak balas petugas kesihatan semasa menghadapi bencana banjir.
Kata Kunci : Bencana; kecemasan; petugas kesihatan,

Correspondance Address
Ahmad Khaldun Ismail. Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +6013 3276273 E-mail: khaldun_ismail@ukm.edu.my


FIGURE 1: Level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among healthcare workers regarding preparedness towards flood disaster in Malaysia (n = 434). The bar chart illustrates the distribution of participants classified as having "Good" vs. "Poor" levels of proficiency across the three domains