A paper published by Mumbai-based Doctors For You and Belgium’s Centre for Research in Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) highlights the importance of building earthquake-resilient hospital structures in places with high seismic risks. Focusing on the 2015 Nepal earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 and injured over 20,000 people, the paper talks about how only one quake-resilient hospital in Kathmandu escaped damage and thus handled a high influx of victims.
Published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One in July, the paper states, “To strengthen resilience, tertiary hospitals in countries with seismic risks should have preparedness plans to cope with large numbers of injured patients after earthquakes, anticipating that they will need considerable resources. In particular, there should be a strong focus on the initial days following the disaster, since there is a sustained influx of patients, but limited external aid.”
Dr. Ravikant Singh, founder of Doctors For You and one of the authors of the paper, said three hospitals in Kathmandu were damaged due to the impact of the earthquake.
“The Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) was the only functioning hospital when disaster struck,” said Dr. Singh. Built with a grant from Japan, TUTH was an earthquake-resistant structure. Additionally, in 2014, the hospital also became part of the Hospital Preparedness for Emergencies (HOPE) project, under which its staff received training and had a well-designed disaster management plan in place. “The hospital has a separate water connection in case the main line gets damaged. They also had a shipping container with a stock of medicines for back up. Because of the HOPE training, the hospital staff provided quick medical attention and opened up the operation theatre,” said Dr. Singh. The other hospitals, meanwhile, had to set up tents outside their damaged buildings, he said.
The paper also highlights how the influx of patients continued for several days but the peak was on the fifth day. “Road connectivity was affected, many victims were stuck in the debris and the relief teams reached in stages, due to which the patient inflow continued for a long time,” he said.
The paper says there were 501 admitted victims, with the peak of admissions occurring on the fifth day after the earthquake. “About 89% had an injury as main diagnosis, mostly in lower limbs, and 66% of all injuries were fractures. Nearly 69% of all patients underwent surgery. The median length of hospital stay was 10 days,” it said.
