TY - JOUR PY - 2023// TI - Successful Large Hospital Evacuation With 11 350 Patients Transferred in the 2021 Zhengzhou Flood JO - Disaster medicine and public health preparedness A1 - Zhou, Zichen A1 - Zhang, Yongzhong A1 - Gou, Jianjun A1 - Kan, Nan A1 - Zhao, Feida A1 - Yao, Lulu A1 - Hou, Shike SP - e434 EP - e434 VL - 17 IS - N2 - OBJECTIVES: This is a case report of a huge hospital evacuation with 11 350 inpatients in the 2021 Zhengzhou flood in China, using a mixed methods analysis.

METHODS: The qualitative part was a content analysis of semi-structured interviews of 6 key hospital staff involved in evacuation management. The evacuation experience was reviewed according to the 4 stages of disaster management: prevention, preparation, response, and recovery.

RESULTS: Because of unprecedented torrential rain, the flood exceeded expectations, and there was a lack of local preventive measures. In preparation, according to the alert, the evacuation was planned to reduce the workload on inpatients and to accept the surge of medical needs by the flood. In response, the prioritization of critically ill patients and large-scale collaboration of hospital staff, rescue teams, and accepting branch made it possible to successfully transfer all 11 350 inpatients. In recovery, restoring medical services and a series of activities to improve the hospital's vulnerability were carried out.

CONCLUSIONS: A hospital evacuation is one of the strategies of the business continuity plan of a hospital. For the evacuation, leadership and collaboration were important. Challenges such as prolonged roadway flooding and the infrastructure issues were needed to be addressed throughout the evacuation process.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1935-7893 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2023.94 ID - ref1 ER -