Melnychuk E, Sallade TD, Kraus CK. Hospitals as disaster victims: Lessons not learned?
J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open 2022;
3:e12632. [PMID:
35036993 PMCID:
PMC8749465 DOI:
10.1002/emp2.12632]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 11/07/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Hospitals are a key component to disaster response but are susceptible to the effects of disasters as well, including infrastructure damage that disrupts patient care. These events offer an opportunity for evaluation and improvement of preparedness and response efforts when hospitals are affected directly by a disaster. The objective of this structured review was to evaluate the existing literature on hospitals as disaster victims.
METHODS
A structured and scoping review of peer-reviewed literature, gray literature, and news reports related to hospitals as disaster victims was completed to identify and analyze themes and lessons observed from disasters in which hospitals are victims, to aid in future emergency operations planning and disaster response.
RESULTS
The literature search and secondary search of referenes identified 366 records in English. A variety of common barriers to successful disaster response include loss of power, water, heating and ventilation, communications, health information technology, staffing, supplies, safety and security, and structural and non-structural damage.
CONCLUSIONS
There are common weaknesses in disaster preparedness that we can learn from and account for in future planning with the aim of improving resilience in the face of future disasters.
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