Background: Disasters have altered Earth and its inhabitants from the dawn of humankind. An external disaster affects
the entire facility or only a portion of the facility. Aim: Assessed expectations and awareness of hospital staff about the
external disaster management plan at Diarb Negm Central Hospital. Methods: A descriptive design was utilized,
including all 200 available hospital staff. Data collection tools consisted of the Disaster Expectation Questionnaire and
Disaster Awareness Questionnaire. Results: The majority of studied participants had a low total level of external disaster
expectations. Also, more than half of them reported low awareness of the total external disaster preparedness plan.
Conclusion: The majority of study participants had low external disaster expectations and awareness.
Recommendations: Give continuous courses about disaster precautions. Provide training and educational endeavors for
hospital staff' about awareness of disaster preparedness plans through orientation and on-the-job training courses.