EARLY PREPAREDNESS FOR DISASTER IN ALHASSA GOVERNORATE IN SAUDI ARABIA: EARLY WARNING SYSTEM IN HEALTH EMERGENCY
Abstract
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (herein referred to as Saudi Arabia) has faced several health
emergencies over the years due to natural disasters such as earthquakes, flooding, and other
extreme weather conditions. Upon flooding, families are often displaced and forced to suffer
serious health effects due to risks such as contamination of water and exposure to extreme weather
when buildings are destroyed. The current study will examine Alhassa’s preparedness for health
disaster management by focusing on early warning systems. In particular, the study will focus on
the interaction between EWS and health emergencies in Alhassa. This study sought to answer the
question; what determines the effectiveness of an early warning system? Addressing this question
required reviewing the extant literature in the general context and Saudi Arabia's setting. The
document analysis revealed that Saud’s government is the predominant player in the country’s
health emergency management. Drawing from the four phases of EWS, this study established that
Saudi’s national planning fails short of initiating sufficient emergency response actions to avert
and prevent the impact of health emergencies. Alhassa can only create effective EWS by adopting
a contextualized evidence-based approach in emergency preparedness.