Seismic Risk Analysis and Countermeasures for Life Saving Lifeline in Health Care Facilities

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The present study is focusing on a seismic safety of health care facilities, especially lifeline facilities of hospitals. First, damage to health care facilities during the past damaging earthquakes that have occurred in the recent yeas in the world such as the 2003 Zemuri Earthquake in Algeria, the 2003 Miyagiken-Hokubu Earthquake in Japan, the 2003 Tokachi-oki Earthquake in Japan, the 2003 Barn Earthquake in Iran, 2004 Niigata-ken Chuetsu Earthquake in Japan and so on, was clarified and the effects of the damage on functions of the health care facilities were studied. Next, the performance of hospitals in these earthquakes was examined by using the results of questionnaire survey conducted by the authors. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, it is clarified that the performance of electricity and water supply strongly affects the treatment in hospitals just after an earthquake.The lessons we can get from the cited earthquake experiences above are as follows : health care facilities, which are typically expected to receive and treat injuries, can be affected by malfunction of lifeline after earthquakes ; and closing or reducing the capacity of a hospital has remarkable impact on treatment of patients and victims alike. Therefore preparation of hospitals is an obvious step that should concern both physical and functional parts of lifelines in all hospitals. With regards to the physical part, both structural and non-structural elements have to be protected.Moreover, a method of seismic evaluation of water supply system in health care facilities was studied. This methodology considers life saving as its main goal unlike other methods that consider economical savings as more important.