Emergency Evacuation in Hospitals: A Neglected Necessity

Crucially, emergency evacuations must occur as swiftly as possible, as the speed of transporting the injured can greatly reduce mortality rates (۴). Unfortunately, despite many hospitals being built to world-class standards, compliance with safety regulations is often lacking, leaving them vulnerable to accidents. Experience shows a concerning low level of preparedness for the timely, effective, and safe evacuation of employees and patients (۱, ۵). In crises, while everyone aims for survival, hospital staff bear the additional responsibility of ensuring the safety of their patients. Therefore, preparing hospital personnel for disaster management—especially in patient evacuation and safety—should be a top priority for medical centers (۳). The decision to evacuate a hospital stands as one of the most challenging choices for an incident commander. Once the need for evacuation is confirmed, it is essential that the incident command team activates the response phase, adhering to the risk management cycle approach. Evacuation occurs in five stages: decision, warning, movement, deployment to a safe assembly area, and return(۶) (see Figure ۱).

کلیدواژه ها:

Emergency ، Evacuation ، Hospitals ، Crisis