Development of a Simplified Seismic Evaluation Program for Equipment in Hospitals

Development of a Simplified Seismic Evaluation Program for Equipment in Hospitals

In order to facilitate the issuing of governmental policies and practical engineering services regarding the seismic upgrading of hospitals, this study determines the seismic rehabilitation objectives of essential medical equipment and nonstructural components in hospitals responsible for emergency services. Further, it proposes seismic evaluation and strengthening guidelines. Owing to the onerous work required to improve the seismic performance of various nonstructural components, a simplified program is established using Microsoft Excel to execute a preliminary seismic evaluation and to retrofit the design of individual pieces of medical equipment. Users fill in details about the hospital information and the parameters of selected equipment; then, based on these entries, the program identifies the performance objective of each piece of equipment. It also determines whether the equipment requires retrofitting. In addition, the program can automatically check the preliminary designs of post-installation anchor bolts for seismic retrofitting against specified seismic demands.