[FINAL v6] PDF 2014- 2015 Malaysia Floods

HOSPITAL AS A DISASTER RELIEF CENTRE FOR STAFF AND COMMUNITY IN A
FLOOD DISASTER
Hospital Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Experience (2014-2015)
Ngah, B.A; NyakAbdullah, N; Lim, F; Ahmad, A.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
To all the staffs of Hospital Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah who works through the flood and
collect the data for this paper.
ABSTRACT
From the 25 th of December 2014 to the 4 th of January 2015, the District of Temerloh was
hit by a major flood which resulted in more than 20,000 flood evacuees. Hospital Sultan
Haji Ahmad Shah is located in the region. Although not directly flooded, its surrounding
area was submerged resulting in more than 6,450 people displaced. Hospital staffs were
also affected. Of the 730 staff involved, 383 had their houses flooded while 347 had their
houses surrounded by water. 128 staff used the hospital as their place of relocation
bringing with them 124 family members.
While the hospital services were stretched to it limit, the presence of these staff helped to
alleviate the shortage of healthcare personnel. In fact the hospital was able to function at
full resource capacity. Thus the hospital acted as a disaster relief centre for staff. The
hospital acted on 2 basic principles that is taking care of their basic needs and reducing
their stress level. By doing so, these staffs were able to perform.
Due to congestion of the designated relief centres, the public also used the hospital as well
as its facilities as a relief centre. This paper hence shows the need for a hospital to be
prepared for such an event and to not only focus on services deliveries.
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