Decision to evacuate a hospital during an emergency: The safe way or the leader's way

Bruria Adini*, Daniel Laor, Robert Cohen, Avi Israeli

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hospitals have frequently been evacuated because of natural or man-made disasters. In this article, we identify elements to be considered when confronted with the possibility of hospital evacuation. Hospital evacuation may have a significant impact on the surrounding community and the overall population. When the patients in a hospital are placed at risk, hospital leadership often decides to evacuate the facility to safeguard the well-being of both patients and staff. Such a decision is not likely to be criticized. We present various considerations. The effect of evacuation on patients, hospital staff, family members, the community, and even the nation as a whole, as well as repercussions affecting potential patients should be integral to the decision-making process and parallel to the risk assessment.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)257-268
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Public Health Policy
Volume33
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Decision making
  • Emergency
  • Hospital evacuation
  • Resilience

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