Citation

Jacques CC, McIntosh J, Giovinazzi S, Kirsch TD, Wilson T, Mitrani-Reiser J. Earthq. Spectra 2014; 30(1): 533-554.

Affiliation

Department of Civil Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, U. of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; Department of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Publisher Scitation)

DOI

10.1193/032013EQS074M

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The paper analyzes the performance of a hospital system using a holistic and multidisciplinary approach. Data on impacts to the hospital system were collected using a standardized survey tool. A fault-tree analysis method is adopted to assess the functionality of critical hospital services based on three main contributing factors: staff, structure, and stuff. Damage to utility networks and to nonstructural components was found to have the most significant effect on hospital functionality. The functional curve is integrated over time to estimate the resilience of the regional acute-care hospital with and without the redistribution of its major services. The ability of the hospital network to offer redundancies in services after the earthquake increased the resilience of the Christchurch Hospital by 12%. The resilience method can be used to assess future performance of hospitals, and to quantify the effectiveness of seismic retrofits, hospital safety legislation, and new seismic preparedness strategies.