A hazard vulnerability analysis is a process for identifying the hospital’s highest vulnerabilities to natural and man-made hazards and the direct and indirect effect these hazards may have on the hospital and community. An HVA provides the hospital with a basis for determining the most likely standards and potential demands on emergency services and other resources that could occur during a crisis so that effective preventive measures can be taken and a coordinated disaster response plan can be developed.

Hospitals should develop specific mitigation and event specific response plans for the top 3 to 5 hazards they have identified, and should emphasize training and exercises around responding to those hazards.

While there are a number of ways to conduct an HVA, Kaiser Permanente has developed a widely used tool that can help identify and assess the most common hazards. The Kaiser model is available here.

It is important to note that cities and counties are also required to prepare HVAs; the hospital HVA should consider hazards identified in the community plans that may impact the hospital. In some communities the hospital and community HVAs are developed together. Hospitals should document a review of their HVA every year and share it with the community.