Hospitals and disasters: how they fared; what they learned

Abstract

Disasters happen, be they nature-driven like a tornado, hurricane, or ice storm; accidents like plane crashes or train wrecks; or failures or defects in critical power systems. When they do take place and your hospital is called on to respond, a well-thought-out disaster plan, augmented by regular drills, can save the day. But, as we have reported in our coverage of many major disasters over the years, no plan covers all eventualities and there is always some unforeseen challenge that has to be overcome and incorporated into future plans. In this report, we'll give details of how hospitals and their security officials responded to an external disaster and an internal situation that was potentially disastrous, and what these real-life events taught them.