47.5 MB - The Whole Building Design Guide

mary and West Jefferson Medical Center, where crowds of peoplecongregated on the front doorsteps. Attempted break-ins andlooting were reported, which prompted hospitals to barricadedoors, post armed guards at entrances, and “lock down” so thatno one could either enter or leave. At University Hospital, thedoors were removed and the entrances sealed up.Hospitals that allowed families to come in with the staff for theduration of the storm encountered numerous problems after afew days. Many of the family members became restless becausehospitals had no appropriate accommodations for them. This becamea security problem, as it was important to keep guests awayfrom the patients and their caregivers.Figure 4-15:Drying of flooded groundfloor at Hancock MedicalCenterFire safety should be a concern during a storm since the firerisks are usually greater than at other times. Although the firealarms are normally connected to emergency power, other typesof damage made them inoperable. At Touro Infirmary, thebuild-up of humidity knocked out the electronic components ofthe fire alarm system. After the storm, 470 points needed to berepaired before the system was fully operational again. At WestJefferson Medical Center, the fire alarm system was undamaged,4-24 OBSERVATIONS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL FACILITIES