Advancing NZ hospital seismic readiness: creating a post-earthquake functionality dashboard

Abstract

Continued functionality of critical infrastructure systems, such as hospitals, shortly after an earthquake is expected. However, experience indicates that there may be some disruption due to damage, outages, or access that vary in size and duration. While damage to structural components can have significant life safety and economic implications, damage to non-structural components or failures of the interconnected and interdependent supporting infrastructure systems can also have a substantial impact on the operability. A functionality dashboard to rapidly identify drops in functional performance is needed. The dashboard must be based on real and possible disruptions, including data from previous disruptive events. The dashboard utilises a functionality database and risk analysis tools to holistically predict a level of post-disaster functionality. Creating a functionality database from past earthquake events provides the necessary information to create a representative event tree of hospital performance. Drops in functionality are governed by fault trees that are created based on the data gathered in the functionality database. These tools provide the engine for a hospital functionality dashboard for estimating hospital functionality to scenario events. Use of the dashboard will help determine critical links between hospital components impacting functionality and provide needed information for improving facility design. It will also be useful for testing the implementation of emergency procedures linking the physical environment with human and organisation requirements.