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Impact of Lightning Strikes on Hospital Functions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Luc J.M. Mortelmans ,
Gert L.J. Van Springel ,
Sam Van Boxstael ,
Jan Herrijgers  and
Stefaan Hoflack
Luc J.M. Mortelmans*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine and Security Consultant, AZ Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium
Gert L.J. Van Springel
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, AZ St. Jozef, Malle, Belgium
Sam Van Boxstael
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine and Security Consultant, AZ Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium
Jan Herrijgers
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine and Security Consultant, AZ Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium
Stefaan Hoflack
Affiliation:
ICT Manager, AZ St. Jozef, Malle, Belgium
*
Department of Emergency Medicine, AZ KLINA, Augustijnslei 100, B2930 BrasschaatBelgium, E-mail: luc.mortelmans@klina.be
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Abstract

Two regional hospitals were struck by lightning during a one-month period. The first hospital, which had 236 beds, suffered a direct strike to the building. This resulted in a direct spread of the power peak and temporary failure of the standard power supply.The principle problems, after restoring standard power supply, were with the fire alarm system and peripheral network connections in the digital radiology systems. No direct impact on the hardware could be found. Restarting the servers resolved all problems. The second hospital, which had 436 beds, had a lightning strike on the premises and mainly experienced problems due to induction. All affected installations had a cable connection from outside in one way or another. The power supplies never were endangered. The main problem was the failure of different communication systems (telephone, radio, intercom, fire alarm system). Also, the electronic entrance control went out. During the days after the lightening strike, multiple software problems became apparent, as well as failures of the network connections controlling the technical support systems. There are very few ways to prepare for induction problems. The use of fiberoptic networks can limit damage. To the knowledge of the authors, these are the first cases of lightning striking hospitals in medical literature.

Keywords

communication technologyhospitalhospital functioninformation technologylightning strike
Type
Case Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 5 , October 2009 , pp. 430 - 432
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2009

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