KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICES OF FEU-NRMF MEDICAL STUDENTS ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, RISK REDUCTION, AND MANAGMENT

ABSTRACT: The Philippines is continuously under the threat of natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, storm and surges, tsunamis, landslides, and volcanic eruptions which undoubtedly cause loss of lives, damage to properties, loss of access to services, disorder, and economic strains. In order to address this, communities and institutions whether private or public, must be evaluated regarding their disaster responses most especially after the enactment of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, Republic Act 10121. This study was designed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of FEU-NRMF Medical Students on disaster preparedness, risk reduction and management. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was employed with the use of self-administered questionnaires as data collecting tools. A simple random sampling across all the batches of medical students enrolled for the A.Y. 2014-2015 was utilized. The questionnaire sought to know the respondents' socio-demographic data, knowledge, attitude and practices regarding disaster preparedness. Risk reduction and management. The knowledge, attitude and practices were scored and determined following several parameters, Under knowledge, the scientific causes and the need for knowing such causes were considered. For the attitude, the awareness of past and future disaster effects, as well as the values and priorities of the respondents in times of disasters were considered. Finally, under practices, the social connections, pre-disaster and post-disaster preparedness including evacuation plans, disaster preparedness kit usage, and the ability to provide aid were determined. Certain parameters were assessed whether the responses show completely adequate knowledge, positive attitude, and proper practice which were defined as having a weighted mean of 4.50-5.00 following a five-point Modified Likert Scale. There were a total of 306 respondents aged 20-36 years, 39.9% of which are males and 60.1% are females. Overall, the respondents revealed adequate knowledge, with varying attitudes and practices. Current knowledge and beliefs, implementation by the authorities, and availability of resources may have contributed to these findings.

Department of Community & Family Medicine