ABSTRACT
A very basic aim of disaster planning is to reduce complexity. This is not only the case for emergency services outside of hospitals, but also for hospitals facing the pressure to manage any kind of disaster. Despite some disadvantages, hospital disaster planning is traditionally based on the distinction between internal and external scenarios. In this article, we describe for the first time a new model used to prepare a hospital emergency plan. We call it the consequence-based model. It is based on the two major consequences that any possible scenario will have on a hospital: breakdown of functionality and overrun of capacity. The consequence-based model will automatically focus the planning on restoring functionality and increasing capacity.
