Improving Hospital Earthquake Safety in India

Hospitals are vulnerable to crippling earthquake damage in northern and northeast India, where seismic risk is very high. Our program shows how to avert predictable failures, so hospitals will be able to function and care for patients during a time of crisis.

 

Earthquake damage to water or power systems can render a hospital inoperable, even if the building's structure is undamaged. Patients and staff can be injured by falling items, or by failure of life support systems. Expensive, essential equipment can be destroyed.
 

We developed a manual that explains how to fix the hazards caused by things that fall, rupture or topple during earthquakes. It shows specifically how to anchor medical equipment, furnishings, pipes and ducts, tanks, mechanical and electrical systems, and architectural elements. 

 

More than 1600 administrators and staff from 100+ hospitals have attended our workshops, held in partnership with the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, to introduce earthquake preparedness concepts and the manual. The manual was disseminated to hospitals and government health departments throughout India.

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We also developed an on-site training program to show doctors, nurses, and facilities personnel exactly how to make changes. (See link to guides at left.) We piloted the training in two Delhi hospitals and are expanding to more hospitals in India.

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Funded by reinsurer Swiss Re