HOSPITAL ENGINEERS
Level of Requirement Highest
Measures by whole hospital n Limit use of elevators
n Raise room temperature n Limit lighting
n Shift time of lighting
High
Low
n Install emergency outlets n Completely stop n Limit air-conditioning n Limit use of elevators n Use of LED lights
air-conditioning
n Limit blood tests n Limit outpatients
Measures by Departments n Raise temperature of refrigerators n Turn off monitors
n Raise temperature of water Table 4. Approach to energy saving.
On the other hand, the indirect impact was associated with universal issues. These included damage to utilities such as stopping electricity and water supply, which led to long-term disruption to healthcare services.1 The overall impact of the disaster was
more serious problems to utilities than to medical devices and instruments. Patient safety involves various types of risk related to hospital facilities. These may all occur at any time, in particular during a disaster. A range of different actions is needed to mitigate disasters in hospitals, and special knowledge and detailed information on hospital facilities and technology are required. In all these approaches, the healthcare engineer is a key staff member in clinical settings because he/she is familiar with the hospital facilities related to healthcare technology2
(see Fig 2). According to the relevant Japanese
regulations, the Japanese clinical engineer (CE) manages life-support medical equipment, such as ventilators, hemodialysis equipment, heart-lung machines, pacemakers, and defibrillators. One of the most important considerations is that all these require electricity. CEs care for patients through medical equipment, but not hospital facilities. This brings us to a new type of
professional other than the CE, i.e. the healthcare engineer. In my view, this individual focuses more on hospital equipment or facilities than the current CE, who is more in charge of medical instruments rather than hospital facilities. Although the healthcare engineer is
registered by a public association, he/ she fits this position, and should play an all the more important role in the mitigation of natural disasters, as well as their management. Such staff may also be important members of the Infection Control team, because hospital utilities are more important in pandemic circumstances to maintain air-conditioning and sterilisation of medical devices.
Conclusion We have reviewed many practices
28 Health Estate Journal February 2022
to mitigate the impact in a hospital in recent disasters. Our experience is that healthcare engineers play a key role in preventing damage, using their knowledge of healthcare technology, and in particular, utilities, in the hospital. Clinical engineers are also important staff members, but their knowledge may not extend to all the issues related to the hospital building or structure. Healthcare engineers manage a broad range of hospital utilities, and play an important role in ensuring the safety of equipment, patients, and staff, in a disaster.
References 1 Bavis A. Teamwork triumphs after second ‘quake. Health Estate Journal 2012; 66 (5): 20-4.
2 Chyu M, Austin T, Calisir F et al. Healthcare engineering defined: A white paper. J Healthc Eng 2015; 6 (4): 635-48.
n This article, titled ‘Hospitals engineers’ role in disaster mitigation’, was originally published in the digital edition of the IFHE Digest 2022. HEJ thanks the IFHE, the authors, and the Digest’s editor, for allowing its reproduction here.
in outpatient areas
Lowest
n Shift working time to weekend
n Stop surgical procedures n Limit number of working staff n Turn off refrigerators n Stop research
Hiroshi Yasuhara
Hiroshi Yasuhara is the 12th President of the Healthcare Engineering Association of Japan (HEAJ), and takes a wide-ranging view of the whole healthcare system. Before starting a career as a healthcare professional, he spent over 25 years as a surgeon and a professor at the Teikyo University and the University of Tokyo in Japan. As an operating room (OR) medical director, he also managed the Department of OR suite at the University of Tokyo Hospital. After a successful career treating many surgical patients, he has been in his current position as a director of Tokyo Teishin (Telecommunications) Hospital since April 2019.
Hidenao Atarashi
Hidenao Atarashi, CE, MPH, PhD, is a lecturer in the Department of Healthcare Information Management at the University of Tokyo Hospital. He has a Clinical Engineering degree from the Kitasato University, a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Tokyo, and a doctorate in medicine from the Kitasato University. His research interests include clinical engineering, medical equipment safety management, and medical facility management. He was involved in the power management and energy saving plan at the University of Tokyo Hospital in preparation for the power supply shortage after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
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