5. Hospitals safe from disasters

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hospitales seguros frente desastresSixty-seven percent of the health facilities in Latin America and the Caribbean are located in areas subject to disaster risk. On average, a hospital that goes out of service leaves some 200,000 people without health care, and the loss of emergency services during disasters considerably reduces the possibility of saving lives. As a consequence, over 45 million people in the Americas remained without health care for months, and sometimes years, between the years 2000 and 2009, as a result of damages directly caused by disasters.

 

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5.1 Requirements for certifying a health facility as safe from disasters

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Protection of life

With minimum damage, a ‘safe’ facility withstands a very intense destructive event in the vicinity where it is located.

  • It meets seismic safety standards for the design of health facilities that include parameters governing strength and resistance, details about the facility’s individual elements, and its ability to meet demand.
  • Quality control is undertaken during construction.

 

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5.2 A program for safe hospitals in disasters

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Achieving safe hospitals requires a comprehensive strategy that addresses the necessary policy, legal, and technical issues, and that ensures that all relevant institutions and actors will contribute to reaching the goal. Recognition by planners of the social, economic and political benefits of health care facilities that continue to function in disasters is considered a fundamental element in advancing this initiative, and in ensuring that there is a perception of real results on the part of the public.

In addition to a policy platform, a legal framework that supports the policy and technical support, it is also necessary to establish a formal program that indicates specific actions, timeframes, and designated responsible staff to facilitate monitoring progress.

 

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5.3 Strategies and activities

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a. National and international political agreements

  • National civil defense/protection systems should be made aware of the multisectoral nature of the challenge and collaborate on this issue.
  • Subregional agencies involved in disaster risk reduction should be involved.
  • The topic should receive visibility and should be presented to ministers, congressional health committees, national directors of health, and those responsible for providing health services.

These agreements should reflect a political will to implement these measures, including a policy with work plans and clear strategies and a national safe hospitals program that makes it possible to carry out action, allocate resources and monitor and evaluate progress.

 

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5.4. Preliminary indicators

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Achievement Indicators

  • Number of new safe hospitals versus total number of hospitals built.
  • Number of safe existing hospitals versus total number of hospitals identified as priorities (according to critical areas, square meters of space, beds, capacity, etc.).
  • Number of hospitals that continued operating given the number of intense phenomena that occurred.
  • Health networks that continued to provide services after a disaster


 

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