47.5 MB - The Whole Building Design Guide

West Jefferson Medical Center lost a number of cowlings andother covers causing water damage to equipment in the roomsbelow the roof. Some motors were sealed and continued to workduring the storm.All rooftop equipment should be safely secured to the curband stay in place during a high-wind event. Equipment thathas a high failure rate in high-wind events includes air-conditioningcondensers, HVAC units, exhaust fans and air intakeand exhausts.4.2.7 Utility Plumbing SystemsHospitals depend heavily on municipal services and other utilities.While it is possible to go into a minimal function mode and stillmaintain patient safety, certain utility systems must be operable.In many cases, Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent floodingpushed hospitals beyond the limits of even a minimal functionmode. Many had to be shut down, and the patients and staff hadto be evacuated. In addition to the loss of electrical power, themost common problem in maintaining the operations proved tobe the failure of water supply and sewer systems.Most hospitals lost water within a day or two following HurricaneKatrina’s landfall. Even when the water service was restored,it was suspected of contamination. Drinking water was in shortsupply in many hospitals. West Jefferson Medical Center receivedthree truck loads of bottled water from a local retailer in the aftermathof the storm, but other hospitals suffered from seriousshortages. A running water supply is critical for boilers to producesteam for sterilizing; for the chillers for the air-conditioningsystem; and for sanitary uses like toilets, washing dishes andlinens, bathing patients, etc. The most successful hospitals hadtheir own wells from which they pumped water using an emergencypower supply. The hospitals that stayed without water andan emergency power supply had to evacuate patients as quicklyas possible. As a consequence of this experience, West JeffersonMedical Center is planning to install two wells to provide bothsufficient capacity and redundancy. One well will service the centralplant boilers and chillers, and the other will be dedicated tohospital operations.4-16 OBSERVATIONS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL FACILITIES