Pathology of the Training Process for the Incident Command System Staff of Hospitals in Guilan Province, Iran, Based on the Three-pronged Approach

Staff training in organizations is a measure for developing human capital. The pathology of this process needs to be assessed to understand the current situation and solve the challenges and limitations.

This study aims to assess the pathology of the training process for the incident command system (ICS) staff of hospitals in Guilan Province using the three-pronged approach.

This is a qualitative-quantitative study. The study population in the qualitative phase included experts in the hospital ICS. In the quantitative phase, the study population included all ICS managers and staff in the Guilan Province hospitals (n= 548). The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview in the qualitative phase and a researcher-made questionnaire in the quantitative phase. For data analysis, MAXQDA software, version 2020 was used in the qualitative phase and SPSS software, version 26 was used in the quantitative phase.

The results in the qualitative phase showed the extraction of 55 open codes, 25 axial codes, and 6 selective codes in the form of three domains of processes, context, and structure. The results in the quantitative phase showed that among all the domains, the process domain-related factors with a percentage of variance (impact) of 0.262 were more harmful than context- and structure-related factors in the training process.

The pathology assessment based on the three-pronged model is an effective method for determining the training priorities for the hospital ICS staff. The use of this model during a crisis can be an effective step for identifying shortcomings to solve them and take appropriate measures for the ICS staff training.