NDMA asks Meghalaya hospitals to prepare disaster mgmnt plans

Hospital authorities in Meghalaya have been asked to furnish a master plan for mass casualty preparedness within eight weeks to ensure hospitals and other healthcare facilities are safe from disasters, NDMA member Muzzafar Ahmed today said.
"We have asked hospital authorities including the private hospitals to furnish a master plan on disaster management in their respective hospitals within a period of eight weeks," Ahmed said.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member conducted a three-day workshop on hospital safety, mass casualty management and hospital disaster management planning, attended by leading doctors of government hospitals, the BSF hospital, Army hospitals and private hospitals in the state.

He said hospitals were the lifeline where people would be brought in huge numbers when a disaster like flood, major fire, earthquake or landslide strikes.
Hospitals should be structurally safe to withstand a disaster such as earthquake, but more importantly, they should be able to function even after a disaster.
During the workshops, hospital officials were given hands-on training on forming a hospital safety committee, hazard analysis, having a well-thought out disaster preparedness and management plan (which included components for disaster mitigation and emergency response), protocols and regular training and mock drills for the staff.

Ahmed said the NDMA and the state government would again hold a review on the status of these hospitals with regards to disaster management planning after eight weeks.

"It is extremely important that the disaster management plan is revised periodically and the hospital staff put through regular drills to ensure that the plan is executed well," he said.
Meanwhile, the state government said it was conducting a week-long training for its master trainers in March.
The trainers would then train other engineers in the districts and sub-divisions where they would assess and help in mitigating disaster risks in lifeline buildings like schools, churches and shopping complexes.