From Risk to Resilience: Hospital Strategies for Emergency Events

Hospital Governance plays a critical role in ensuring fire safety and emergency preparedness.

Four key considerations include:

1. Protection of Life

Hospitals house vulnerable populations including patients who may be immobile, unconscious, or dependent on life-support systems. Effective emergency planning ensures rapid, safe evacuation and minimises harm.

2. Legal and Ethical Accountability

Executives and boards are personally accountable under legislation for maintaining a safe environment. Failure to comply can result in legal action, fines, and reputational damage.

3. Operational Continuity

Fires or emergency evacuations can disrupt critical services, delay surgeries, and compromise patient care. Planning ensures continuity and rapid recovery.

4. Accreditation and Funding

Compliance with fire safety standards is often tied to hospital accreditation and Government subsidies. Non-compliance can jeopardise both. 

Consequences of Poor Fire Safety Compliance

Neglecting fire safety and emergency planning can lead to:

• Loss of life or serious injury to patients, staff, and visitors.
• Legal liability for executives and facility managers.
• Closure of hospital services, leading to patient transfers and delays.
• Financial penalties and loss of insurance coverage.
• Damage to reputation, eroding public trust and stakeholder confidence.
• Increased risk during natural disasters, especially in bushfire-prone regions.

From Insight to Action: How Hospitals Can Evolve Emergency Planning Through Lessons Learned

One effective approach is to conduct regular fire drills and systematically document any anomalies observed during these simulations to inform continuous improvement. Another valuable strategy is to study and learn from the real-time responses of other hospitals that have faced actual emergency events.

To help, we have researched 5 extraordinary emergency events and their key learnings for you to consider:

1. Sunshine Hospital, Melbourne (November 2023)
   An electrical fire at Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s at Sunshine Hospital led to the evacuation of 22 women and 12 babies. Firefighters extinguished the blaze within five minutes, and no injuries were reported 
2. Calvary Public Hospital, Canberra (December 2022)
   A fire in the Xavier Building triggered the internal sprinkler system and a partial evacuation. Emergency services conducted air quality assessments and placed the hospital on emergency and maternity bypass 
3. Canberra Hospital (April 2017)
   A blaze forced the evacuation of 60 people, cancellation of outpatient services, and elective surgeries. The hospital later reopened after safety checks 
4. Gatton Hospital, Queensland (March 2023)
   A small electrical fire in an admin building led to the evacuation of nine inpatients and 24 staff. The emergency department was closed, and patients were redirected to nearby hospital

5. Ballina Hospital, NSW (March 2022)
   During a “one-in-500-year” flood, the entire hospital was evacuated to a nearby high school. Staff relocated 55 patients, equipment, and medications with just a few hours’ notice.

Key lessons learned accross incidents

1. Preparedness Must Be Comprehensive

• Include fire, flood, and other natural or man-made disasters.
 
• Plans should be site-specific and regularly rehearsed.

Is your training site specific?  Are you certain that every staff member is well rehearsed and aware of how they need to respond if an emergency was to occur in their designated workspace? Have processes from Fire Engineered solutions been included in their training? If they work in more than one ward, are they trained in procedures for each location

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2. Staff Training Is Essential

 
• All staff must understand evacuation procedures and emergency roles.
 
• Training should include reverse triage and alternative transport logistics.

Role Specific Training is critical, make sure your staff are familiar with necessary processes unique to their work environment.  Make sure any unique processes including fire engineered solutions are explained in detail and provide access to training so that staff can easily familiarize themselves with what is expected of them.  

3. Communication Is Critical

 
• Internal and external communication channels must be reliable
 
• Clear messaging to families and emergency services reduces confusion.
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Be clear on all your communication channels and ensure that they are tested regularly.

4. Leadership and Governance Matter

 
• Executives must be accountable for safety compliance and emergency readiness.
 
• Post-event evaluations should be timely and transparent.

Regular reporting on compliance must be reliable, readily available and accurate.  Have processes in place to audit and review emergency response and use it to continually improve your response.

5. Infrastructure and Systems Must  be Maintained

 
• Fire detection, suppression, and evacuation systems must be regularly tested.
 
• Facilities should be assessed for environmental risks like bushfires and floods.

Maintain a good relationship with your Fire Services Contractor, ensuring they are prioritizing your facility to maintain system compliance. Conduct your own internal audits for best practice.  

Work with Emergency Responders and invite them to attend your drills, make sure they are always kept up to date with your hospital’s infrastructure changes and floor and site plans.

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