The strengthening of hospital preparedness to respond to any risk or event should consider all scenarios and establish protocols and procedures to facilitate an efficient response.

The Mexican Social Security Institute’s experience with emergencies and disasters was the basis for a protocol to coordinate evacuation needs in advance, thereby ensuring the continuity of operations and safeguarding the lives of patients and personnel. This requires a proven and well-publicized protocol that includes all the procedures necessary to allow entire areas of the hospital to be evacuated quickly and safely.

Risk is greater during an evacuation when it involves patients who, due to the severity of their medical conditions, have greater needs for staff and biomedical equipment or a given therapeutic procedure. Because of their characteristics and complex level of care, these areas of the hospital are defined as critical areas.
Evacuation of these areas is truly challenging. A lack of preparation and adequate training can set off a crisis in the organization, increasing the risk of injuries and even avoidable deaths.

Evacuación de Hospitales con Énfasis en Áreas Críticas, (Hospital Evacuation with Emphasis on Critical Areas), a book recently published by the Mexican Academy of Surgery, gives guidance for planning hospital evacuation with emphasis on critical areas—and how to do so in a safe, orderly, and rapid manner that centers on patient safety. It provides tools for systematizing procedures and for managing the most common adverse events.

The book also offers readers the opportunity to deepen and strengthen their knowledge in a virtual training environment, through an on-line course at https://edumer.mx/e-learning.