Preparedness for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games: hospital treatment capacity in georeferenced areas

Abstract

Recently, Brazil has hosted mass events with recognized international relevance. The 2014 FIFA World Cup was held in 12 Brazilian state capitals and health sector preparedness drew on the history of other World Cups and Brazil's own experience with the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. The current article aims to analyze the treatment capacity of hospital facilities in georeferenced areas for sports events in the 2016 Olympic Games in the city of Rio de Janeiro, based on a model built drawing on references from the literature. Source of data were Brazilian health databases and the Rio 2016 website. Sports venues for the Olympic Games and surrounding hospitals in a 10km radius were located by geoprocessing and designated a "health area" referring to the probable inflow of persons to be treated in case of hospital referral. Six different factors were used to calculate needs for surge and one was used to calculate needs in case of disasters (20/1,000). Hospital treatment capacity is defined by the coincidence of beds and life support equipment, namely the number of cardiac monitors (electrocardiographs) and ventilators in each hospital unit. Maracanã followed by the Olympic Stadium (Engenhão) and the Sambódromo would have the highest single demand for hospitalizations (1,572, 1,200 and 600, respectively). Hospital treatment capacity proved capable of accommodating surges, but insufficient in cases of mass casualties. In mass events most treatments involve easy clinical management, it is expected that the current capacity will not have negative consequences for participants.

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