Large-scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters: lessons from COVID-19 and the use of Fangcang shelter hospitals in Wuhan, China

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Wuhan has adopted three methods of admitting patients for treatment: designated hospitals, newly built temporary hospitals and Fangcang shelter hospitals. It has been proven that converting large-scale public venues such as stadiums and exhibition centres into Fangcang s...

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Main Authors: Jing Han, Dongping Fang, Shengjie Pan, Zaishang Li, Ting Yuan, Benran Jiang, Di Gan, Bai Sheng, Zhongmin Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-06-01
Series:BMJ Global Health
Online Access:https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/6/e002815.full
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author Jing Han
Dongping Fang
Shengjie Pan
Zaishang Li
Ting Yuan
Benran Jiang
Di Gan
Bai Sheng
Zhongmin Liu
author_facet Jing Han
Dongping Fang
Shengjie Pan
Zaishang Li
Ting Yuan
Benran Jiang
Di Gan
Bai Sheng
Zhongmin Liu
author_sort Jing Han
collection DOAJ
description Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Wuhan has adopted three methods of admitting patients for treatment: designated hospitals, newly built temporary hospitals and Fangcang shelter hospitals. It has been proven that converting large-scale public venues such as stadiums and exhibition centres into Fangcang shelter hospitals, which serve as hospitals for isolation, treatment and disease monitoring of patients with mild symptoms, is the most effective way to control virus transmission and reduce mortality. This paper presents some experiences learnt from treating COVID-19 in Wuhan, the first city to report the outbreak and which suffered from a shortage of emergency supplies, heavy workload among staff and a shortage of hospital beds during the early stages of the pandemic. The experiences include location, accessibility, spacious outdoor area, spacious indoor space, power supply, architectural layout design and partition isolation, ventilation, sewage, and problems in the construction and management of Fangcang shelter hospitals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional approaches to disaster preparedness have demonstrated intrinsic problems, such as poor economic performance, inefficiency and lack of flexibility. Converting large-scale public venues into Fangcang shelter hospitals is an important means to rapidly improve the function of the city’s healthcare system during a pandemic. This valuable experience in Wuhan will help other countries in their battle against the current COVID-19 pandemic and will also contribute to disaster preparedness and mitigation in the future.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-55a5e9c0c8274d73a0cdbdb4862c313f2024-12-07T20:55:13ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082020-06-015610.1136/bmjgh-2020-002815Large-scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters: lessons from COVID-19 and the use of Fangcang shelter hospitals in Wuhan, ChinaJing Han0Dongping Fang1Shengjie Pan2Zaishang Li3Ting Yuan4Benran Jiang5Di Gan6Bai Sheng7Zhongmin Liu83 Xi`an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi`an, Shaanxi, ChinaDepartment of Construction Management, School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Construction Management, School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Construction Management, School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China2 Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing, School of Nursing, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, ChinaSpecialty & Inpatient Center, ParkwayHealth Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaDepartment of Emergency, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine / National Emergency Medical Team (Shanghai), Shanghai, ChinaSchool of Arts and Media, Tongji University, Shanghai, ChinaDepartment of Internal Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200120, ChinaSince the COVID-19 outbreak, Wuhan has adopted three methods of admitting patients for treatment: designated hospitals, newly built temporary hospitals and Fangcang shelter hospitals. It has been proven that converting large-scale public venues such as stadiums and exhibition centres into Fangcang shelter hospitals, which serve as hospitals for isolation, treatment and disease monitoring of patients with mild symptoms, is the most effective way to control virus transmission and reduce mortality. This paper presents some experiences learnt from treating COVID-19 in Wuhan, the first city to report the outbreak and which suffered from a shortage of emergency supplies, heavy workload among staff and a shortage of hospital beds during the early stages of the pandemic. The experiences include location, accessibility, spacious outdoor area, spacious indoor space, power supply, architectural layout design and partition isolation, ventilation, sewage, and problems in the construction and management of Fangcang shelter hospitals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional approaches to disaster preparedness have demonstrated intrinsic problems, such as poor economic performance, inefficiency and lack of flexibility. Converting large-scale public venues into Fangcang shelter hospitals is an important means to rapidly improve the function of the city’s healthcare system during a pandemic. This valuable experience in Wuhan will help other countries in their battle against the current COVID-19 pandemic and will also contribute to disaster preparedness and mitigation in the future.https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/6/e002815.full
spellingShingle Jing Han
Dongping Fang
Shengjie Pan
Zaishang Li
Ting Yuan
Benran Jiang
Di Gan
Bai Sheng
Zhongmin Liu
Large-scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters: lessons from COVID-19 and the use of Fangcang shelter hospitals in Wuhan, China
BMJ Global Health
title Large-scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters: lessons from COVID-19 and the use of Fangcang shelter hospitals in Wuhan, China
title_full Large-scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters: lessons from COVID-19 and the use of Fangcang shelter hospitals in Wuhan, China
title_fullStr Large-scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters: lessons from COVID-19 and the use of Fangcang shelter hospitals in Wuhan, China
title_full_unstemmed Large-scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters: lessons from COVID-19 and the use of Fangcang shelter hospitals in Wuhan, China
title_short Large-scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters: lessons from COVID-19 and the use of Fangcang shelter hospitals in Wuhan, China
title_sort large scale public venues as medical emergency sites in disasters lessons from covid 19 and the use of fangcang shelter hospitals in wuhan china
url https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/6/e002815.full
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