7.2. Prioritizing interventions

  • Print
  • Share

priorizacion de intervencionesMaking all facilities safe in disasters is a great challenge, both because of the number of facilities and because of the investment needed to improve safety.

Thus, action must be prioritized, both at the level of health networks and within facilities. The Hospital Safety Index can aid in this task..

The Hospital Safety Index Checklist contains a series of variables to be evaluated. Using established safety standards, the Checklist assigns weighted scores, reflecting the importance of different elements to the overall safety of the establishment.

The elements that are shown to have the greatest impact on the final result are identified in the safety index calculator, thus allowing facilities to prioritize corrective measures.

To facilitate follow-up, it is recommended that an intervention plan be created including steps to be taken. The plan, based on the information from the assessment, defines actions, timelines, priorities, assigned responsibilities within the institution, and the resources needed for implementation.

Improving the safety of health care facilities in emergencies is a collective responsibility and requires the collective participation of local authorities, intersectoral institutions, professionals from a variety of disciplines, and the community. The intervention plan can be used to bring together these actors, including health personnel, whose contributions can help to reduce risk in their workplaces.

The Hospital Safety Index makes it possible to intervene strategically by identifying health facilities that are essential to the network’s functioning in emergencies and disasters. As health networks prepare for disaster response, the Hospital Safety Index can help to distinguish ‘safe’ facilities that will continue to offer services from those whose operating capacity will be reduced, or from others that, although they are not expected to function immediately after an emergency, can recover in a reasonable time and within controlled cost parameters.

Finally, the Hospital Safety Index alone will not create safe hospitals. It is useful in establishing priorities but cannot automatically define an intervention plan. Rather, technically correct specifications of the required mitigation measures must be prepared following application of the Hospital Safety Index. As an intervention plan is being developed, it is important to strengthen preparedness in health facilities for an effective disaster response.