ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Disaster and Emergency Medicine
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1626854
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Strategies for Urban Public Health Resilience in Crisis SituationsView all 30 articles
Emergency Management in Primary Health Care Clinics in the Northern Region of Saudi Arabia: Cross-Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
Abdullah Mohammed Basnawi*
Ahmad Khalil Koshak- University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
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Background: Primary Health Care (PHC) clinics are vital for initial medical emergency management. This study aimed to assess emergency management in PHC clinics in the Northern region of Saudi Arabia by evaluating the availability and utilization of essential equipment, healthcare providers' training and experience, perceived challenges, and patient referral patterns during emergencies. Methodology: This cross-sectional study utilized a structured questionnaire to collect data from 40 healthcare professionals conveniently sampled from Primary Health Care (PHC) clinics in the Northern region of Saudi Arabia. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, alongside bivariate (Chisquared) and multivariable (binary logistic regression) inferential tests to examine determinants of preparedness.Results: The study found that while essential equipment like AEDs and nebulizers were available in many clinics, the availability of certain critical items, such as antidotes for common poisons, was notably limited. A significant proportion of healthcare providers had received BLS training, but the prevalence of advanced training (ACLS, PALS) was lower, with "lack of staff training or experience" being the most significant challenge. High patient referral rates were primarily due to the severity of conditions, need for advanced procedures, and lack of on-site equipment. Crucially, inferential analyses revealed that governmental clinic status and the presence of paramedics were significant independent determinants of adequate emergency preparedness.This study highlights significant gaps in advanced training and specialized equipment, underscoring an urgent need for targeted policy and procedural interventions within PHC clinics in the Northern region of Saudi Arabia.
Keywords: emergency management, Primary Health Care, Northern Region of Saudi Arabia, healthcare providers, training, equipment, Challenges
Received: 11 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Basnawi and Koshak. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Abdullah Mohammed Basnawi, abasnawi@ut.edu.sa
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