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Nonstructural Safety of Hospitals for Disasters: A Comparison Between Two Capital Cities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2014

Ahmadreza Djalali ,
Ali Ardalan ,
Gunnar Ohlen ,
Pier Luigi Ingrassia ,
Francesco Della Corte ,
Maaret Castren  and
Lisa Kurland
Ahmadreza Djalali*
Affiliation:
Center for Research and Education in Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy Department of Clinical Sciences and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Ali Ardalan
Affiliation:
Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, National Institute of Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Gunnar Ohlen
Affiliation:
Department of Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Pier Luigi Ingrassia
Affiliation:
Center for Research and Education in Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
Francesco Della Corte
Affiliation:
Center for Research and Education in Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
Maaret Castren
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Sciences and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden Section of Emergency Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Lisa Kurland
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Sciences and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden Section of Emergency Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Ahmadreza Djalali, MD, EMDM, PhD, Center for Research and Education in Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, via Lanino 1, 28100 Novara, Italy (e-mail: djalali@med.unipmn.it).
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Abstract

Objective

Hospitals are expected to function as a safe environment during disasters, but many become unusable because of nonstructural damage. This study compares the nonstructural safety of hospitals to disasters in Tehran and Stockholm.

Methods

Hospital safety in Tehran and Stockholm was assessed between September 24, 2012, and April 5, 2013, with use of the nonstructural module of the hospital safety index from the World Health Organization. Hospital safety was categorized as safe, at risk, or inadequate.

Results

All 4 hospitals in Stockholm were classified as safe, while 2 hospitals in Tehran were at risk and 3 were safe. The mean nonstructural safety index was 90% ± 2.4 SD for the hospitals in Stockholm and 64% ± 17.4 SD for those in Tehran (P = .014).

Conclusions

The level of hospital safety, with respect to disasters, was not related to local vulnerability. Future studies on hospital safety should assess other factors such as legal and financial issues. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-6)

Keywords

hospitaldisasternonstructuralsafety
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , April 2014 , pp. 179 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2014 

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