Evaluation in Design of Taipei City Emergency Operations Center

Li-Wei Lin, MD; Tzong-Luen Wang, MD, PhD

Abstract --Taipei City Government has implemented the first emergency operation center (EOC) in Taiwan to assist disaster response. The EOC has placed its role in dual functions, that is, providing command and assistance in disaster and communicating inter-hospital cooperation at the usual time. We assessed the infrastructure of the EOC by applying the guidance of the Department of Homeland Security in the United States to understand if the EOC has fulfilled the criteria of EOC set-up. Initial evaluation discloses that two major problems exist, that is, the limited space and incomplete documents (including emergency operation plan). On the other hand, the EOC in Taipei City has dual functions. One is preparing disaster response, and another is inter-hospital communication in transfer patients into those where beds are available. It provides 24-hour inter-hospital communication and information gathering. In two months, they have collected data from 481 mass casualties. The success rate of inter-hospital transfer is reported to increase from 10% to 38% and that of intensive care units even 100%. In summary, Taipei EOC has initial achievements and may lead Taipei City to better disaster response.