Applying the Haddon Matrix to Hospital Earthquake Preparedness and Response

• Published in: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness 2021-08, Vol.15 (4), p.491-498
• Main Authors: Cole, Gai, Rosenblum, Andrew J., Boston, Megan, Barnett, Daniel J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior; Behavioral sciences; Concepts in Disaster Medicine; Developing countries; Disasters; Earthquakes; Emergency communications systems; Emergency preparedness; Epidemics; Fault lines; Hospitals; Infectious diseases; Infrastructure; Injury prevention; Innovations; Interdisciplinary aspects; LDCs; Public health; Risk assessment; Seismic activity; Seismic engineering; Severe acute respiratory syndrome
• ISSN: 1935-7893; 1938-744X
• DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2020.30

Since its 1960s origins, the Haddon matrix has served as a tool to understand and prevent diverse mechanisms of injuries and promote safety. Potential remains for broadened application and innovation of the matrix for disaster preparedness. Hospital functionality and efficiency are particularly important components of community vulnerability in developed and developing nations alike. Given the Haddon matrixʼs user-friendly approach to integrating current engineering concepts, behavioral sciences, and policy dimensions, we seek to apply it in the context of hospital earthquake preparedness and response. The matrixʼs framework lends itself to interdisciplinary planning and collaboration between social and physical sciences, paving the way for a systems-oriented reduction in vulnerabilities. Here, using an associative approach to integrate seemingly disparate social and physical science disciplines yields innovative insights about hospital disaster preparedness for earthquakes. We illustrate detailed examples of pre-event, event, and post-event engineering, behavioral science, and policy factors that hospital planners should evaluate given the complex nature, rapid onset, and broad variation in impact and outcomes of earthquakes. This novel contextual examination of the Haddon matrix can enhance critical infrastructure disaster preparedness across the epidemiologic triad, by integrating essential principles of behavioral sciences, policy, law, and engineering to earthquake preparedness.