DISASTER PLANNING Teresa Guevara-Perez – Architect
Functional vulnerabilities in seismic zones
This article presents a description of a method for evaluating the functionality of the medical architectural programme and layouts of a hospital for medical attention during and after an earthquake occurs, hereinafter referred to as seismic functionality (SF), and offers some recommendations for the establishment of evaluation parameters for remodelling and seismically upgrading the medical- architectural programmes and layouts of existing hospitals in seismic zones and the development of their correspondent contingency plans. The author summarises the main
aspects of a seismic evaluation method, which she originally developed and applied in 1986 for the evaluation of prefabricated housing systems in seismic zones (Guevara 1986). The method has been adapted, reviewed and applied by her since 1995 for the evaluation of the SF of different hospitals of medium and high complexity in Venezuela and Colombia.
Since the 1950s, when significant earthquakes affected contemporary cities, it has been common for modern hospitals, or part of them, that have incurred no structural, or significant non-structural damage, have been unable to provide the required emergency health services for the victims, and the regular service, is often not available for several weeks following the event, due to their ‘functional collapse’ (FC). When FC occurs during or after an
earthquake, it is due, not only to structural damage and/or damage of non-structural
components, but usually also to an inappropriate or deficient distribution and location of the essential and supporting medical spaces. Hospitals are complex institutions
because of the diversity of medical activities on offer and their active use for 24 hours a day, all year round. They also house complex equipment, furniture and supplies, in a wide variety of spaces and are home to medical staff (professional physicians, surgeons, and nurses), employees and users with different characteristics, time of permanency and purposes that are constantly working in, or visiting the hospital. To get the go-ahead for any remodelling
or updating of processes of modern hospitals requires that clients, decision makers and users are convinced of the justification for making changes. A clear explanation of the evaluation method used for making decisions must accompany the proposal in order to justify investment and the socio-political effects. As the complexity of the hospital
increases, there are more aspects to be evaluated and explained. This situation is aggravated in active seismic zones, because the hospital’s community and the target population that is exposed to the probability of a disaster due to an earthquake is higher. However, it is not only clients and decision makers that bear the responsibility for the degree of the hospital’s seismic resilience, it is also down to the professionals (architects, engineers, interior designers and other consultants) in charge of advising and deciding what is an appropriate or an inappropriate project in a seismic zone. Technical advisors usually face difficulties
‘It is not only clients and decision makers that bear the responsibility for the degree of the hospital’s seismic resilience, it is also down to the professionals in charge of advising and deciding what is an appropriate or an inappropriate project in a seismic zone.
IFHE DIGEST 2013
when clients and decision makers request an explanation of the final results of an evaluation process and in the values assigned to functional aspects. To develop a method for the evaluation of hospital’s SF is a difficult task because healthcare philosophy and services change rapidly due to research and innovative conception, not only in medical science but also in disaster management. The reality of the constant emergence of new codes and ever-increasing construction costs also need to be considered. As a consequence of the disastrous
earthquake on modern hospitals during the last four decades, in February of 1996 the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) stated that “The recommendations aimed at the formulation of mitigation plans, understanding the hospital mitigation as those measures taken before a disaster occurs to reduce to a minimum the human and material losses, reducing the physical, organisational and functional vulnerability to ensure the hospital continues to function during and after a disaster,” (PAHO/WHO, 1996, p. 21). As for the effective reduction of the functional vulnerability, this commission outlined that “Functional and organisational aspects include: design of physical space (site selection, better distribution of the internal and external of space, etc.), and organisation (emergency plans, drills, multidisciplinary teams, etc.).” In 1993, PAHO published a series of guidelines for the ‘Mitigation of
Teresa Guevara-Perez
L. Teresa Guevara-Perez is a professor at Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Universidad Central de Venezuela
She is an Architect, having studied at Universidad de los Andes, Merida, Venezuela and studied Industrialised Construction Management in London. She gained a Master of Architecture and Ph.D. in Architecture, specialising in Buildings Seismic Design, at UC Berkeley.
Between 1990 and 1992 she was Head of the National Research Department in Housing, Consejo Nacional de la Vivienda, Caracas, in Venezuela.
Since 1992 she has been an independent consultant, and visiting professor in universities.
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