en تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Tahoma;"><span style="line-height:2;"><strong>Background:</strong> Among the various dangers posed by disasters, biological hazards hold particular significance, and healthcare institutions serve as the frontline defense against biological threats. Many hospitals lack sufficient readiness to manage biological hazards effectively. The objective of this study was to evaluate the state of preparedness among hospitals in Guilan province for confronting biological threats.<br> <strong>Material & Methods:</strong> This research employed a cross-sectional analytical design. A census approach was used for data collection, incorporating all hospitals (33) within the province. The assessment instrument was the &quot;Hospital Preparedness Assessment Checklist in Biological Events,&quot; consisting of 147 items with a total possible score ranging from 0 to 294. Standardized scores were classified into three levels: poor (0&ndash;33%), medium (34&ndash;66%), and good (67&ndash;99%). Analysis was performed with SPSS16 software, applying descriptive statistics, the Friedman test, and the Mann-Whitney test, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05.<br> <strong>Results:</strong> The average overall preparedness score for facing biological threats was 32.8, situating it near the lower end of the medium category. Analysis using the Friedman test demonstrated a significant variation among the scores of the different preparedness dimensions (&chi;&sup2; (7) = 193.5, P < 0.001). The dimensions of &quot;laboratory system&quot; (43.4) and &quot;resilience&quot; (41.3) received the highest scores, while &quot;education & training&quot; (22.9) and &quot;management structures&quot; (25.1) received the lowest. No statistically significant disparity in preparedness was detected between government and private hospitals, or between general and specialized hospitals.<br> <strong>Conclusion:</strong> In light of the generally insufficient preparedness of Guilan&#39;s hospitals for biological threat response, it is imperative that health administrators prioritize and enact essential interventions to improve readiness levels.</span></span></span></div> biological threats, hospital, preparedness, response 0 0 http://hdq.uswr.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-431-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Fatemeh Nouroozi Fashtali fatemehno66@gmail.com No Student Research Committee, University of Guilan Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran Mohammad Taghi Moghadamnia samansmaroufizadeh@gmail.com No Department of Medical surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran Saman Maroufizadeh moghaddamnia92@gmail.com No Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran Majid Pourshaikhian pourshaikhian_m@yahoo.com Yes Department of prehospital emergency, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran