Oakland, CA. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $1.7 million to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the City of Los Angeles to ensure Good Samaritan Hospital’s Emergency Department can deliver life-saving services after a major earthquake.
As a first-tier hospital in the National Disaster Medical System, Good Samaritan’s emergency staff are trained to receive and treat victims of mass casualty events, such as a large-scale disaster. But violent shaking from an earthquake can damage essential medical equipment and critical support systems needed to treat survivors.
To alleviate this concern, non-structural bracing and anchoring of medical equipment, communications hardware, and supporting infrastructure is essential to ensure post-earthquake operations.
Project funds will go to the installation of bolts, straps, anchors, hangers, and similar reinforcements to guarantee Good Samaritan continues to provide critical services to surrounding communities in their greatest time of need.
The $2.3 million project will be funded by a $1.7 million Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) award from FEMA, with non-federal sources covering the remaining $600,000.
FEMA’s HMGP helps states, territories, federally-recognized tribes, local communities and certain private, non-profit organizations become more resilient to potential infrastructure damage and reduce future disaster costs. In the past 30 years, FEMA has invested more than $1.3 billion to reduce disaster risk in California.
Find this news release at: https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2020/01/17/fema-funds-earthquake-safety-los-angeles-hospital
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