Counting Crises: US Hospital Evacuations, 1971–1999

Abstract

Objectives:To investigate the relative distribution of hazards causing hospital evacuations, thereby to provide rudimentary risk information for hospital disaster planning.Methods:Cases of hospital evacuations were retrieved from newspaper and publication databases and classified according to hazard type, proximate and original cause, duration, and casualties. Both partial and full evacuations were included. The total number of evacuation incidents for all hazards were compared to the total number of hospital incidents for the one hazard, fire, for which national data is available.Results:There were 275 reported evacuation incidents from 1971–1999, with an annual average of 21 in the 1990s, the period for which databases were more reliable. The most, 33, were recorded in 1994, the year of the Northridge Earthquake. Of all incidents, 63 (23%) were attributable primarily to internal fire, followed by internal hazardous materials (HazMat) events (18%), hurricane (14%), human threat (13%), earthquake (9%), external fire (6%), flood (6%), utility failure (5%), and external HazMat (4%).Conclusions:More than 50% of the hospital evacuations occurred because of hazards originating in the hospital facility itself or from human intruders. While natural disasters were not the preponderant causes of evacuations, they caused severe problems when multiple hospitals in the same urban area were incapacitated simultaneously. Clearly, as hospitals are vulnerable to many hazards, mitigation investments should be assessed not in terms of single-hazard risk-cost-benefit analysis, but in terms of capacity to mitigate multiple hazards. In view of the many qualifications and limitations of the dataset used here, but value of such data for disaster planning, hospitals should be asked to submit standardized incident reports to permit national data gathering on major disruptions.

Evaluation of Functional Preparedness and Non Structural Safety of Different Health Units of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in Coping With Natural Disasters

“…As per the findings of the present study, the greatest risk was related to earthquake and dust, which is consistent with the results of Sokhanvar et al [17]. Sternberg et al [18], after reviewing 275 reports on natural disasters during 1971-1999, found that earthquake was the fifth highest form of disaster in terms of repeatability. In relationship with the degree of readiness of the studied centers in facing the crisis and maneuvers conducted, it was found that maneuvers are well performed.…”

Getting Kids From the Big Easy Hospitals to Our Place (Not Easy): Preparing, Improvising, and Caring for Children During Mass Transport After a Disaster

“…1 Between 1950 and 2005, 286 hospital evacuations have been described, including horizontal evacuation (within the same floor), vertical evacuation (between floors), evacuation of a ward or wing, and complete hospital evacuation. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Of the 286 between 1971 and 1999, 275 were reviewed by Sternberg et al 8 There are 22 reported cases of complete hospital evacuation since 1950; of these, 1 occurred in Canada and 8 resulted from the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. 4,5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Of 43 reported incidents for which duration is known, only 12 evacuations lasted longer than 24 hours.…”

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Of the 286 between 1971 and 1999, 275 were reviewed by Sternberg et al 8 There are 22 reported cases of complete hospital evacuation since 1950; of these, 1 occurred in Canada and 8 resulted from the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. 4,5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Of 43 reported incidents for which duration is known, only 12 evacuations lasted longer than 24 hours. 8 Eleven percent of evacuations in the series reviewed by Sternberg et al listed at least 1 casualty, and the deadliest reported hospital disaster occurred in 1971, when partial collapse of a California Veteran's Administration hospital claimed 49 lives.…”

“…4,5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Of 43 reported incidents for which duration is known, only 12 evacuations lasted longer than 24 hours. 8 Eleven percent of evacuations in the series reviewed by Sternberg et al listed at least 1 casualty, and the deadliest reported hospital disaster occurred in 1971, when partial collapse of a California Veteran's Administration hospital claimed 49 lives. 8 Hurricanes are the third most common cause for hospital evacuation, accounting for 38 of 286 reported evacuations; only internal fire and internal hazardous-material events are more common.…”

“…8 Eleven percent of evacuations in the series reviewed by Sternberg et al listed at least 1 casualty, and the deadliest reported hospital disaster occurred in 1971, when partial collapse of a California Veteran's Administration hospital claimed 49 lives. 8 Hurricanes are the third most common cause for hospital evacuation, accounting for 38 of 286 reported evacuations; only internal fire and internal hazardous-material events are more common. It is notable that only 3 evacuations since 1950 involved 1000 or more patients.…”