During natural disasters, hospital resilience is key

American Meteorological Society suggests having medical centers look at their structural designs and consider relocating critical components to higher ground


Members of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), have recently expressed their concerns about hospital resilience in the aftermath of “high-impact” weather events throughout the country, according to an article on The Florida Times-Union website.

The meteorological society suggestions include having medical centers look at their structural designs and, in some cases, relocate critical components to higher ground.

In a disaster, healthcare’s main concern is supply and demand. Supply decreases when health infrastructure is damaged, but the demand increases as the number of victims adds up, the article said.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently told a Rockefeller Foundation audience that the first lesson is to build resilient systems that can be “scaled up” quickly.

In other words, know which systems are already in place that can be expanded on short notice to serve more people in a hurry, the article said.

Read the article.

 

 



July 17, 2014


Topic Area: Safety


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