A Functional Loss Assessment of a Hospital System in the Bío-Bío Province

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to introduce a damage and loss-of-function survey tool that can be used to standardize future assessment of hospital performance, to assess the impact of the 2010 Chilean earthquake on the functions of the public hospital system in the Bío-Bío Province, and to translate these results as lessons that can be applied to U.S. hospitals. This study focused on damage to structural and nonstructural components, utility services, and equipment, as well as loss of supplies and personnel. Structural engineers completed a visual inspection of facilities, and hospital administrators were surveyed to assess the overall impact on operations. All hospitals lost communications, electrical power, and water for several days. All hospitals reported some physical damage although only one suffered significant structural damage. The lessons learned from Chile are applied to U.S. practice of hospital seismic mitigation.

Shake table investigation on the seismic performance of hospital equipment supported on wheels/casters

“…Although the immediate occupancy performance objective is aimed in the seismic design of hospitals (either directly through a performance‐based approach or indirectly through the importance factor in prescriptive codes), this objective is oftentimes not met because of failure of nonstructural components, even when the structural system performs adequately. More recent examples of such disparity between structural and nonstructural performance include hospitals during the 2010 Chile Earthquake . The Chilean seismic design codes used in the design of the hospitals were very similar to the recent United States codes.…”

“…The Chilean seismic design codes used in the design of the hospitals were very similar to the recent United States codes. Post‐disaster reconnaissance reports noted that, whereas structural damage to the buildings was minimal, there were several cases of damage to unsecured equipment and contents (EC) that fell or broke during the earthquake, hindering the emergency response function of the hospitals . In many cases, large, unanchored equipment, such as incubators and computers, was reported damaged after falling to the floor .…”

“…Post‐disaster reconnaissance reports noted that, whereas structural damage to the buildings was minimal, there were several cases of damage to unsecured equipment and contents (EC) that fell or broke during the earthquake, hindering the emergency response function of the hospitals . In many cases, large, unanchored equipment, such as incubators and computers, was reported damaged after falling to the floor . Similarly, in the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, poor performance of utility networks and damage to nonstructural components were reportedly the major problems affecting the operation of the Canterbury hospital system .…”

Shake table testing of an elevator system in a full‐scale five‐story building

“…Although fatalities of elevator passengers have been extremely rare during past earthquakes, damage to elevator systems has often hindered building operability and emergency response efforts even following moderate intensity earthquakes (e.g., ). Traction elevators appeared to be more vulnerable to seismic damage than hydraulic elevators because of the presence of counterweights.…”

Resilient by design: the case for increasing resilience of buildings and their linked food-energy-water systems

“…Assessing a building's resilience goes beyond the safety of its structural elements and must include the resilience of its supporting systems and the services they supply. This includes utility services when assessing post-disaster building performance (e.g., Mitrani-Reiser et al 2012). Increasing the resilience of FEWS that exist within and link to a building increases the resilience of that building.…”