Emergency evacuation plan for a multispecialty hospital a qualitative evidence synthesis

Rajendra D, Ghaffar UB, Arshad A, Mohammed Ahmad, Shaik R A

Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, College of Medicine, Majmaah University, Majmaah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Disasters have an extraordinary capacity to highlight vulnerabilities in systems structures, processes, and people, resulting in significant losses, and hospitals are no exception to this. Recent disasters have demonstrated that hospitals' operational resilience, as well as their structural resilience, must be addressed. Hospital preparedness is an integral part of effective mass casualty management in case of emergency situation arising out of a disaster. This review aims at finding qualitative data regarding an emergency plan that is suitable for a hospital with more than 200 beds. All the major medical databases were searched with relevant keywords and articles published between March 2005 and January 2020 were reviewed and 39 were selected for qualitative synthesis following PRISMA guidelines. Most of the information contained in the reviewed literature shows that a preparedness is related to architectural or design considerations and should be considered while building a new facility or upgrading an existing one. Fire, power outages, or exposure to hazardous materials remain the most common emergency conditions requiring a planned preventive management and emergency evacuation. ICU evacuation is also a very important area to be focused upon as it has the most vulnerable and dependent patients. For sufferers/workers to take refuge, a safety zone (internal or external) must exist. An alternative transport and unquestionably reliable communication and coordination system is essential for patient’s evacuation. Hospitals are vulnerable to many natural and man-made disasters and the current hospital planning at most of the hospitals have inadequate preparedness. Good communication, functional logistics, and training opportunities should all be included in the planning, which should be based on an ongoing risk and weak point analysis. It is advisable that if necessary, adapt to what you are faced with and that justifies the evacuation.

Keywords:

Emergency evacuation plan, Disaster management, Emergency preparedness, Qualitative synthesis