Post-earthquake health care service accessibility assessment framework and its application in a medium-sized city

In the aftermath of an earthquake, damage to buildings and transportation networks severely affects postearthquake emergency rescue and medical health care services. This paper presents a quantitative framework considers seismic damage to buildings and transportation networks, post-earthquake available numbers of patient beds and medical staff to evaluate post-earthquake health care service accessibility. The modified two-step floating catchment area method and seismic fragility analysis are integrated into the proposed framework. Spatial distributions of demand point, hospital, and transportation network data are used to evaluate health care service accessibility. The accessibility results for a medium-sized city under normal conditions and postearthquake conditions are analyzed as a case study. Demand points that lack access to health care service can be clearly delineating from the findings, indicating that large earthquakes will dramatically impact people' normal health care service accessibility. The results of this work may provide a workable basis for planners and policy makers to pragmatically select health care facility sites.

Automated summary

This paper presents a framework for evaluating post-earthquake health care service accessibility, considering the damage to buildings and transportation networks. Through a case study, it is found that large earthquakes have a significant impact on people's normal health care service.