Hospital Disaster Operations During the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake

OBJECTIVE: To study hospital disaster operations following a major United States disaster. DESIGN: Researchers interviewed all 51 hospital administrators and 49 of 51 emergency department (ED) charge nurses and emergency physicians who were on duty at the study hospitals during the 13-hour period immediately following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. SETTING: The 51 acute-care hospitals in the six northern California counties most affected by the Loma Prieta earthquake. MEASUREMENTS: Questionnaires and in-person interviews. RESULTS: The most frequently noted problem was lack of communications within and among organizations. Hospitals received inadequate information about the disaster from local governmental agencies. Forty-three percent of hospitals had inadequate back-up power configurations, and five hospitals sustained total back-up generator failures. Twenty hospitals performed partial evacuations. CONCLUSIONS: The Loma Prieta earthquake did not cause total disruption of hospital services. Hospitals need to work with local governmental agencies and internal hospital departments to improve disaster communications.