WORK GROUPS - TOPICS

HOSPITAL DISASTER MITIGATION
Coordinators: Victor Rojas, Dana VanAlphen, Patricia Gomez
Moderator: José Untama, Roy Barboza, Enrique Garcia, Ovidio Medina
Rapporteur: Carlos Alvarenga, Anita Huachi, Rosa María Rivas, Baltazar Mejia, Susy García

Statement of the problem and background documents

Approximately 50% of the 15,000 hospitals in Latin America and the Caribbean are located in high-risk areas. In the last 20 years, more than 100 hospitals and at least 1,000 health care centers in this region were damaged as a consequence of natural disasters.

Existing regulations concerning the design and construction of health facilities must be revised and enforced, reorienting them toward disaster mitigation, with the ultimate goal of protecting the lives of patients, staff and other occupants and ensuring that these facilities can continue to function during and after a disaster strikes. The knowledge on how to build safe hospitals exists and is accessible. This worKgroup discussed and modified the guide for investors and health managers.

Click below to view the "Guidelines for Vulnerability Reduction in the Design of New Health Facilities."

Click here to view the Discussion Guide on the Assessment and Validation of the "Guidelines for Vulnerability Reduction in the Design of New Health Facilities." (Summary for Decision Makers) (163 KB)

Conclusions and recommendations of the work group

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HOSPITAL EVACUATION
Coordinators: Carlos Roberto Garzon, Ciro Ugarte, Alejandro Santander
Moderator: Gloria de Calles
Rapporteur: Gabriel Paredes

Statement of the problem and background documents

At some point during an emergency or disaster, it may be necessary to evacuate hospitals. But unnecessary evacuation can lead to serious problems, including the reintegration of a health facility into the health services network, which could take several months. The topic of when to evacuate a hospital was discussed. Click here to view the discussion guide.(69 KB)

Conclusions and recommendations of the work group

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USE OF FIELD HOSPITALS
Coordinator: Claude de Ville, Felipe Cruz Vega
Moderators: Orestes Estrada Parada, Margarita Martínez de Fuente
Rapporteurs: Bipin Verma, Iván Alert

Statement of the problem and background documents

When hospitals are evacuated, one way to provide immediate medical care to victims of natural disasters seems to be the mobile field hospitals that many Western countries maintain for their defense forces. Some political authorities in disaster-affected countries have accepted the donation of self-contained field hospitals as a temporary substitute for health facilities damaged by disasters. However, often these foreign hospitals have not met the expectations, generating frustration and disappointment for all parties concerned: recipients and donor countries, the medical staff and the patients. On several occasions, field hospitals contributed to deterioration of health conditions among the affected population and delayed a return to pre-disaster levels.

The group discussed the working document on the use of foreign field hospitals in the aftermath of natural disasters. Click here to view this document. (68 KB).

Conclusions and recommendations of the work group

The main task of the work group was to review and modify the WHO/PAHO Guidelines for the Use of Field Hospitals in the Aftermath of Sudden Impact Disasters. The revised guidelines that appear below represent the consensus of the group..

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