Title
Basic Seismic Response Capability of Hospitals in Lima, Peru
Date Issued
01 April 2019
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Cambridge University Press
Abstract
Objective: The objective of the study was to research the basic seismic response capability (BSRC) of hospitals in Lima Metropolitana. A large number of wounded could be registered in case of an earthquake; therefore, operational hospitals are necessary to cure the injured. The study focused on the operational performance of the hospitals, autonomies of essential resources such as power, water, medical gases, and medicine, in addition to the availability of emergency communication system and ambulances. Methods: Data by a probabilistic seismic risk analysis have been used to assess the operational level of the hospitals. Subsequently, availability of an essential resource has been combined with the immediately operational hospitals to evaluate the BSRC of the health facilities. Results: Forty-one of Lima's hospitals have been analyzed for a seismic event with 72-100 years of a return period. Three hospitals (7.3%) were capable to work in a self-sufficient manner for 72 hours, another three (7.3%) for 24 hours, and one (2.4%) for 12 hours. Conclusion Results showed a low performance of the hospitals in case of an earthquake. The issue is due to the high seismic vulnerability of the existing structures. Given the importance of Lima city in Peru, structural and nonstructural retrofitting plans should be implemented to improve the preparedness of the health system in case of an emergency.
Start page
138
End page
143
Volume
13
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Geoquímica, Geofísica Ingeniería civil Ciencias del cuidado de la salud y servicios (administración de hospitales, financiamiento)
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85051059051
PubMed ID
Source
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
ISSN of the container
19357893
Sponsor(s)
This study herein presented is granted by the ELARCH scholarship and mobility, a project funded under the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Partnership (EMA2) by the European Commission and coordinated by the University of Basilicata (www.elarch.org). ELARCH project: Reference number 552129- EM-1-2014-1-IT-ERA MUNDUS-EMA21 is funded with support of the European Commission. This document reflects the viewpoint of the author only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus