Disasters within hospitals

Hospital disaster planning should encompass events that affect the safety 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 failure resulted in a reevaluation of our preparedness to handle such situations. These experiences prompted this discussion and literature review of internal disaster plan because it is likely that at some time an internal emergency may occur.