TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1994//
TI  - Hospital disaster operations during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
JO  - Prehospital and disaster medicine
A1  - Martchenke, J.
A1  - Pointer, J. E.
SP  - 146
EP  - 153
VL  - 9
IS  - 3
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To study hospital disaster operations following a major United States disaster. DESIGN: Researchers interviewed all 51 hospital administrators and 49 of 51 emergency department (ED) charge nurses and emergency physicians who were on duty at the study hospitals during the 13-hour period immediately following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. SETTING: The 51 acute-care hospitals in the six northern California counties most affected by the Loma Prieta earthquake. MEASUREMENTS: Questionnaires and in-person interviews. RESULTS: The most frequently noted problem was lack of communications within and among organizations. Hospitals received inadequate information about the disaster from local governmental agencies. Forty-three percent of hospitals had inadequate back-up power configurations, and five hospitals sustained total back-up generator failures. Twenty hospitals performed partial evacuations. CONCLUSIONS: The Loma Prieta earthquake did not cause total disruption of hospital services. Hospitals need to work with local governmental agencies and internal hospital departments to improve disaster communications.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1049-023X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -