The KAEPacity Study Analyzes Hospital Emergency and Disaster Plans From Hospitals Across Germany to Evaluate How Well Hospitals Are Prepared for Crises and Disasters Organizational Structures Communication Leadership Training Are Examined Within These Plans No Medical Intervention is Performed

NCT07440329 | Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: S-672/2025
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 319
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Hospital Emergency and Disaster Plans (Krankenhausalarm- und Einsatzplan-KAEP) are a central component of hospital preparedness in Germany. Despite national and international recommendations, considerable variability exists in structure, responsibilities, communication pathways, and training concepts across hospitals. This study aims to systematically analyze and compare KAEP documents from German hospitals using a structured qualitative and quantitative document analysis. The goal is to identify strengths, deficits, institutional influencing factors, and best-practice elements to support evidence-based improvements and harmonization of hospital emergency planning.

Conditions

Disaster Planning; Emergency Medical Services; Germany

Keywords

hospital preparedness; Disaster Preparedness; Healthcare Resilience; Crisis Management

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Maturity of Hospital Emergency Plans

  Overall maturity of hospital emergency and disaster plans assessed using a predefined composite score. The score is calculated by aggregating four predefined domains (structure, operational processes, communication, training/exercises) each rated on a standardized 0-5 ordinal scale. Domain scores are summed to generate a single overall maturity score per hospital.

  Baseline

• Derivation of Practice-Oriented Recommendations

  Identification of strengths, weaknesses, and improvement potential across hospitals.

  through study completion, an average of 1 year

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Institutional Influencing Factors

  through study completion, an average of 1 year

• Training and Exercise Practices

  Baseline

• Best-Practice Elements

  through study completion, an average of 1 year

• Use of Digital or AI-Supported Components

  Baseline

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Hospitals in Germany with an existing documented Hospital Emergency and Disaster Plan (KAEP).

You may qualify if:

• German hospitals with a documented KAEP Institutional consent to provide KAEP documents for analysis

You may not qualify if:

• Hospitals declining participation Specialized facilities without emergency or acute care services (e.g., rehabilitation clinics)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Lea Kölsch: lead
• University Hospital Heidelberg Department of Crisis and Disaster Management: collaborator
• Prof. Erik Popp - Head, Department of Crisis and Disaster Management: collaborator
• Prof. Markus Ries - Head of Research, Department of Crisis and Disaster Management: collaborator
• Hanne Schäfer - Head of Operational KAEP, Department of Crisis and Disaster Management: collaborator
• PD Dr. med. Fabian Weykamp - Senior Physician, Department of Radiotherapy: collaborator
• Dr. med. Maik von der Forst - Deputy Head, Department of Crisis and Disaster Management: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Stabsstelle Krisen- und Katastrophenmanagement

Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

RECRUITING

Related Publications (19)

• Mayring, P. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution. Social Science Open Access Repository (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), 143. http://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/39517

  BACKGROUND

• Wurmb, T., Kurz, S., Schwarzmann, G., Trautner, H., Kinstle, U., Wagenhäuser, U., Koch, F., Münch, M., Meybohm, P., & Kippnich, M. (2024). Application of quality indicators and critical lessons learned assessment as a research approach for the evaluation of rescue missions during terrorist attacks. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 25087. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-7626

  RESULT

• Was sind Kritische Infrastrukturen? (n.d.). Bundesamt Für Sicherheit in Der Informationstechnik. Retrieved November 20, 2025, from https://www.bsi.bund.de/dok/kritis-allgemein

  RESULT

• Walcher, F., Ramshorn-Zimmer, A., Janssens, U., Hoffmann, F., Werdehausen, R., & Wurmb, T. (2025). 10 Punkte zur Verbesserung der Notfall- und Katastrophenversorgung im deutschen Gesundheitswesen. Notarzt, 41(02), 76-79. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2549-8964

  RESULT

• Von Der Forst, M., Popp, E., Weigand, M. A., & Neuhaus, C. (2023). Sonderlagen und Gefahrenabwehr in deutschen Krankenhäusern - eine Umfrage zum Ist-Zustand. Die Anaesthesiologie, 72(11), 784-790. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00101-023-01349-2

  RESULT

• Von Der Forst, M., Germann, B. J., Schaefer, H., Salg, G. A., Weigand, M. A., Schmitt, F. C., Dietrich, M., Mohr, S., Küllenberg, J., Ries, M., & Popp, E. (2025). Impact of a full-scale mass casualty exercise on hospital staff and implications for future preparedness - A pre-post study. Progress in Disaster Science, 28, 100478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdisas.2025.100478

  RESULT

• Von Der Forst, M., Dietrich, M., Schmitt, F. C. F., Popp, E., & Ries, M. (2025). Perennial disaster patterns in Central Europe since 2000 and implications for hospital preparedness planning - a cross-sectional analysis. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 620. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84223-4

  RESULT

• Speicher, C., Wurmb, T., Schwarzmann, G., Zech, C., Jansen, H., Weismann, D., Anger, F., Paul, M., Münch, A., Ohr, M., Meybohm, P., & Kippnich, M. (2024). Evaluation der Krankenhausalarm- und -einsatzplanung anhand einer Übung eines Massenanfalls von Verletzten. Die Anaesthesiologie, 73(12), 810-818. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00101-024-01475-5

  RESULT

• Sorensen, B. S., Zane, R. D., Wante, B. E., Rao, M. B., Bortolin, M., Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard Medical School, Rockenschaub, G., & WHO Regional Office for Europe. (2011). Hospital emergency response checklist. In Hospital emergency response checklist (p. 6). https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/documents/publications/hospital-emergency-response-checklist.pdf

  RESULT

• Schulz, M., Oestmann, J., & Schütz, T. (2023). Resilienz deutscher Kliniken in Amok- und Terrorlagen. Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz, 66(10), 1146-1152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-023-03752-x

  RESULT

• Schorscher, N., Kippnich, M., Meybohm, P., & Wurmb, T. (2022). Lessons learned from terror attacks: thematic priorities and development since 2001-results from a systematic review. European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery, 48(4), 2613-2638. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-021-01858-y

  RESULT

• Rohde, A., Schmidbauer, W., Didion, N., Ritter, D., Demare, T., & Jänig, C. (2024). Medizinische Herausforderungen in der Starkregenkatastrophe im Ahrtal 2021. Notfall + Rettungsmedizin, 28(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10049-024-01428-w

  RESULT

• Ramshorn-Zimmer, A., Wurmb, T., Walcher, F., Werdehausen, R., Grashey, R., Drewitz, K., & Brod, T. (2025). Status quo der Krankenhausalarm- und -einsatzplanung in Deutschland. Notfall + Rettungsmedizin, 28(5), 344-351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10049-025-01578-5

  RESULT

• Künstliche Intelligenz im Krankenhaus - Fraunhofer IAIS. (n.d.). Fraunhofer-Institut Für Intelligente Analyse- Und Informationssysteme IAIS. https://www.iais.fraunhofer.de/de/publikationen/studien/2020/lotte.html

  RESULT

• Imach, S., Lefering, R., Kölbel, B., Wolf, M., Hackenberg, L., & Bieler, D. (2024). Nutzung von Registern zur Schaffung eines evidenzbasierten Vorgehens im Katastrophen- und Zivilschutzfall. Die Unfallchirurgie, 127(12), 855-860. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00113-024-01487-1

  RESULT

• Franke, A., Tralls, P., Wurmb, T., & Heller, A. R. (2025). Rahmenbedingungen und Grundannahmen bei der Erstellung der Leitlinie Klinische Katastrophen Medizin Deutschland (LeiKliKatMeD). Die Unfallchirurgie, 128(9), 645-653. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00113-025-01608-4

  RESULT

• Coffey, A. (2014). Analysing Documents. In Types of Documents and their analysis (pp. 367-379). https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446282243.n25

  RESULT

• Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK), Kowalzik, B., Hähn, F., Helmerichs, J., Stolzenburg, K., Weber, M., Rebuck, J., Degenhardt, L., Braubach, A., Scholtes, K., Wurmb, T., Kolibay, F., Franke, A., Tralls, P., Lücking, G., Jung, H. G., Lampe, I., Scheidmantel, S., Gottschalk, A., . . . Eberl, S. (2020). Handbuch Krankenhausalarm- und -einsatzplanung (KAEP). https://www.bbk.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Mediathek/Publikationen/Gesundheit/KAEP/handbuch-kaep.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=15

  RESULT

• Achatz, G., Bieler, D., Schweigkofler, U., Hoefer, C., Lehmann, W., & Franke, A. (2024). Berücksichtigung und Umsetzung der Elemente der Krankenhausalarm- und Einsatzplanung in den Kliniken der TraumaNetzwerke DGU®. Die Unfallchirurgie, 127(12), 867-877. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00113-024-01494-2

  RESULT

Central Study Contacts

Maik von der Forst, Dr. med.

CONTACT

+49 6221-5632939; maik.forst@med.uni-heidelberg.de

Lea Kölsch

CONTACT

l.koelsch@student.maastrichtuniversity.nl

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Doctoral Researcher

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 28, 2026
• First Posted: February 27, 2026
• Study Start: March 9, 2026
• Primary Completion: July 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2026
• Last Updated: March 11, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

DE (1)