Resilient Hospitals
Hospitals are a lifeline for any community. In rural areas a single hospital or clinic may be the only place to go for medical care. But at a time when people need them most, disasters can cripple these facilities.
Utilities and roads can also suffer damage and fail, cutting off outside services.
To care for a surge of injured patients, and to keep functioning through challenging conditions, hospitals must prepare to go it alone. That’s why we help medical staff identify their crisis roles, plan how to evacuate, practice disaster response in realistic simulations, and avoid losses.We also help plan for backup water, power, communications, and critical supplies.
“No one should survive a disaster and then die at a hospital due to poorly built facilities or system failure. Hospital resilience is more than ensuring the safety of facilities. It is also developing staff leaders who are ready to face the unexpected situation that many recent disasters have provoked.”
Garmalia Mentor-William, M.D.
Haiti Representative, GeoHazards International
Projects
Kathmandu Hospital Pre and Post Earthquake Assessments Compared
2017
Kathmandu, Nepal
Two Kathmandu hospitals had been assessed for disaster preparedness just before the 2015 M7.8 Gorkha earthquake. Pre- and post-earthquake findings are compared.
Disaster Scenarios for Risk-Informed Planning
2016 - 2019
West Nepal
Scenarios of a plausible earthquake quantify impacts, including more than 50% of schools damaged, and guide communities to reduce extreme risk before a disaster.
Review and Field Test of the Global Hospital Safety Index
2014
Solomon Islands, Nepal
Technical review and field testing of a World Health Organization (WHO) tool to screen hospitals’ vulnerabilities to multiple hazards as well as their level of emergency and disaster preparedness.
Hospital Disaster Planning, Preparedness and Training
2013, 2016-2019
Bhutan
Emergency planning and realistic disaster simulations for staff at hospitals in Bhutan, plus mitigations to keep the facilities functioning post disaster.
Seismic Resilience Evaluations
2013, 2016 - 2018
Bhutan
Engineers gained skills to assess structural vulnerability of Bhutan’s schools and health facilities, so that the government could evaluate post-earthquake safety of buildings.
“It is not enough that a hospital building itself withstands an earthquake, flood, fire, or terror attack. Critical equipment and services of the hospital have to remain running, at 300% of design capacity, to serve the dependent community.”
Hari Kumar, Ph.D.
South Asia Coordinator, GeoHazards International
