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MANAGEMENT: TSUNAMI EVALUATION
Experiences of a hospital in
Thailand in treating tsunami
patients
SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM
BUMRUNGRAD INTERNATIONAL HOSPITAL
Abstract
No one was prepared when the tsunami hit on that sunny Sunday morning of 26 December 2004—not the villagers,
not the hotel employees, not the tourists on holiday enjoying the clear skies and calm waters. Yet days later,
Bumrungrad International Hospital (BI), a Joint Commission International-accredited, 554-bed medical centre in
Bangkok, Thailand, quickly became prepared as it began treating patients from the tsunami. This article highlights
the efforts of Bumrungrad International Hospital in treating tsunami patients. Information for this article has been
provided by Bumrungrad International’s Senior Management team.
When the tsunami hit, logistical problems delayed
many victims from immediately leaving the
affected areas. The first group of patients – even
adults who rode on the back of a truck for 10 hours to get
to BI – arrived at approximately noon on 27 December.
Beginning Tuesday, 28 December, BI started to see more
patients and got a firsthand look at the damage inflicted by
the tsunami. BI had its ambulance waiting at the airport for
the arrival of the injured who were medically evacuated from
Phuket and Krabi. What BI did not expect were the injured
who took commercial flights out of Phuket and then took
taxis to the hospital. In total, BI treated 234 patients, mostly
Dutch, Swedish, and British nationals on holiday. BI
admitted 134 patients and had 100 outpatient visits.
Preparing for an influx of patients
BI’s Group chief executive officer (Group CEO) and Group
chief operating officer (Group COO) happened to be
vacationing on Phuket when the tsunami hit. The Group
CEO called the hospital and told staff to start preparing for
the arrival of patients. At the time, BI was not aware of how
many people were injured. However, early on, BI staff began
discussing the situation and preparing its response. BI’s
medical director took the lead and immediately started
alerting specialists to be available while organizing a medical
task force to prepare for incoming patients. Extra staff were
called in and in some cases, they cancelled or postponed
their New Year holiday plans to help.
Fortunately, BI had more time to prepare for this
emergency, unlike the hospitals in Phuket. BI activated its
disaster plan and began taking an inventory of supplies,
medicines, available rooms, food – everything that might
be needed in an emergency. Physicians were requested to
review patients, and if possible, discharge noncritical
patients to make room for the injured. A staging area in
the emergency room (ER) was set up per BI’s disaster
plan to triage patients as they arrived.
Working with other hospitals to treat patients
By 9:00 pm. on Tuesday, 28 December, BI was reaching
capacity levels in its inpatient rooms, critical care wards, and
in some of its ancillary services. As a tertiary hospital with
160 full-time and 600 part-time consultants and specialists,
BI found that there were no cases that it could not treat. As
part of its emergency response plan, however, BI
coordinated with three smaller hospitals in the vicinity to
handle patient overflow. BI activated this by having the other
hospitals’ ambulances on standby at its ER.
In addition, BI made it a point to keep families together and
to manage cases that required high-level specialty treatment.
Furthermore, its referral team continually tracked all patient
movements and maintained constant communication with
embassies and consulates.
Addressing the unique needs of the disaster
BI has highlighted the following reasons why this disaster
was very different from a “standard” disaster situation that
most hospitals would prepare for in their disaster plan:
➜ Patients were delayed in arriving at the hospital. The
usual situation is for many patients to arrive within a
few hours of a disaster. Because Phuket, Krabi, and
Khao Lak are located nearly 1000 km south of
Bangkok, the journey by land takes approximately 10
hours. Phuket is an island off the mainland, with one
24 | World Hospitals and Health Services | Vol. 41 No. 3