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Western Australia (WA) currently is undergoing a major rebuild of its key metropolitan and regional hospitals, with the planned construction of a major tertiary hospital, pediatric hospital, and several large general hospitals in the metropolitan area, and a range of small and medium size hospitals in WA over the next five years. Protecting these hospitals from major internal failure and external assault, while preparing them to cope with mass casualties, has been a major focus of the WA Department of Health over the last five years. This program has involved capital investment in current infrastructure, including critical asset protection, and detailed planning to ensure that the new health infrastructure will have both the redundant systems, to allow for continued operations in a range of infrastructure failure and disaster scenarios, and the facilities to deal with a mass-casualty incident. This presentation will review the implementation of this critical infrastructure program, the evolving issues facing hospitals working to ensure their continued operations in a range of scenarios, the security and infrastructure threats facing major hospitals, and the planning required to ensure that these threats are addressed at an early stage of hospital development. Issues as diverse as the placement of underground garages to minimize bomb threats, the location of helicopter landing pads, and the consideration of how to lock down hospitals to prevent the uncontrolled access of contaminated patients, are some of the challenges that need measured consideration and a planned response. The preparations and planning for such contingencies, and the infrastructure to facilitate continued operations and an appropriate disaster response, are key elements in protecting critical health infrastructure.
