Hospital Responses to Acute-Onset Disasters: A Review

Abstract

Introduction:Hospitals the world over have been involved in disasters, both internal and external. These two types of disasters are independent, but not mutually exclusive. Internal disasters are isolated to the hospital and occur more frequently than do external disasters. External disasters affect the community as well as the hospital. This paper first focuses on common problems encountered during acute-onset disasters, with regards to hospital operations and caring for victims. Specific injury patterns commonly seen during natural disasters are reviewed. Second, lessons learned from these common problems and their application to hospital disaster plans are reviewed.Methods:An extensive review of the available literature was conducted using the computerized databases Medline and Healthstar from 1977 through March 1999. Articles were selected if they contained information pertaining to a hospital response to a disaster situation or data on specific disaster injury patterns. Selected articles were read, abstracted, analyzed, and compiled.Results:Hospitals continually have difficulties and failures in several major areas of operation during a disaster. Common problem areas identified include communication and power failures, water shortage and contamination, physical damage, hazardous material exposure, unorganized evacuations, and resource allocation shortages.Conclusions::Lessons learned from past disaster-related operational failures are compiled and reviewed. The importance and types of disaster planning are reviewed.

Health and climatic hazards: Framing social research on vulnerability, response and adaptation

“…Climate-related hazards that entail physical forces capable of causing damage and disruption to infrastructure, such as floods and windstorms, can severely impair the capacity of health systems to provide care just when it is most needed (PAHO, 2003): presenting a threat akin to double jeopardy for affected populations. Hazards can also result in difficulties of access to health facilities, disruption of transportation and utilities, and shortages of available personnel-all of which cause disruption to the functioning of health systems (Milsten, 2000;Dang Van Chinh, 2003;Ohl, 2006). The resulting impairment of response affects not only those people with medical needs related to the hazard itself but also those with routine or chronic needs unrelated to the event that has caused the disruption.…”

Strategic planning and designing of a hospital disaster manual in a tertiary care, teaching, research and referral institute in India

“…[9,10] The plan and design of a disaster manual for a hospital require an extensive review of hospital infrastructure, workforce, materials and resources. [11] The policy-making should be based on capacity and layout of the hospital.…”

Decision-making on Hospital Emergency Evacuation in Disasters and Emergencies: Findings From a Systematic Review

“…In several review papers on the lesson learned of the hospital emergency evacuation, support, equipment, human resources, information management, communications, removing patient devices, transportation, resources such as staff and intersector and interinstitutional coordination were emphasized in the success of an emergency evacuation (6,7,9,23,35,36,43,46,68,69). The mentioned factors are perquisites for hospital evacuation.…”