In April 2019, the team of researchers travelled to Sri Lanka's south coast as part of the 'Hospital Engineering Assessment for Resilience to Tsunami and Storm surge - Sri Lanka' (HEARTS-SL) project. The group is developing an evidence base on the vulnerability of Sri Lankan hospitals to tsunami and storm surge.
Their goal is to open discussions with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health and other key groups to improve the hazard resilience of critical hospital services. The Sri Lankan Ministry of Health is working with WH to develop a comprehensive national disaster management plan. This project will strengthen the current initiatives.
The team visited six hospitals in the Galle and Matara districts. Using a bespoke Rapid Visual Survey (RVS) form, the team reviewed the hospitals' functional and structural vulnerabilities. They focused on hospital units that have priority in the case of an emergency evacuation - intensive care units, maternity wards, premature baby units, labour rooms, paediatrics wards and operating theatres.
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