Seismic safety of operational and functional components in hospitals

Equipment and services in a building, inclusive of the contents, are known as the operational and functional components (OFC). The OFC constitute the major part of the total cost of a hospital. In earthquakes, the damage to OFC is the major cause of economic loss in hospitals. In past earthquakes, most of the hospitals performed badly, primarily due to damage to OFC. This paper reviews the current status of seismic safety of OFC in Indian hospitals. The floor response parameters of some studied buildings are presented and compared with the FEMA provisions. Numerical examples on computation of seismic forces on OFC are also presented. It is noted that the Indian hospitals are not equipped to cope against major earthquakes as regards to functionality of their OFC. Short term and long term measures have been suggested for safeguarding the OFC in Indian hospitals against future earthquakes.