DISASTERS WITHIN HOSPITALS

Hospital disaster planning should encompass events that affect the saf ety of the hospital environment and address those measures that ensure the availability of necessary services. Although most of the emphasis has been placed on general disaster planning, there is little written about disasters occurring within a hospital. In recent years, several incidents at our medical center involving fire, flood, and power fail ure resulted in a reevaluation of our preparedness to handle such situ ations. These experiences prompted this discussion and literature revi ew of internal disaster planning. Every hospital should have a compreh ensive internal disaster plan because it is likely that at some time a n internal emergency may occur