Articles

Making all facilities safe in disasters is a great challenge, both because of the number of facilities and because of the investment needed to improve safety.

Thus, action must be prioritized, both at the level of health networks and within facilities. The Hospital Safety Index can aid in this task..

Columns, beams, walls, slabs, foundations and other components form the structural elements that are part of the system that supports a building. Structural engineers should conduct both the assessment and design of these elements. Click here to take a short virtual tour through a ‘safe’ hospital.

As mentioned earlier, nonstructural elements usually do not have an impact on the stability of a building, but they can indeed endanger the lives patients, staff and visitors in the hospital, and they are fundamental to the facility’s operation.

The ability of a health facility to function during and after a disaster is also dependent on how well prepared it is–from a technical and administrative organizational standpoint–to respond to the emergency conditions.