On the 10th anniversary of the massive earthquake that struck the nation at 1:47am on Sept. 21, 1999, employees at the Chu Shan Show Chwan Hospital, which was badly damaged in one of the worst affected areas, recalled the difficulties they faced during the aftermath and reflected on the lessons learned.
The head nurse on duty, Su Chen-hua and the nursing staff rushed about trying to evacuate the 147 patients and salvage what they could of life-support equipment. The only things they could see, however, were warped doors and corridors, gaping ceilings, rubble, broken fire hydrants spouting water and collapsed walls.
The two-year-old private hospital, located just 65m from the Chelungpu Fault (車籠埔斷層) in central Taiwan — the epicenter of the magnitude 7.3 quake — was heavily damaged. Some thought it was beyond salvage.
Initial estimates showed that repairing or rebuilding the 13-story hospital would cost NT$150 million (US$4.62 million). None of the shareholders was willing to invest any more than they already had.
Chuang Pi-kun (莊碧焜), the hospital’s vice president, said that when senior government officials visited the hospital during post-quake inspection tours, they promised government aid — offers that never materialized.
“Gradually, we came to understand that we would have to rely on ourselves,” he said.
The main task was to make the hospital functional again so it could provide care for earthquake survivors, while charting a path for its survival.
A week after the earthquake, the hospital managed to set up a field unit in nearby Putou (埔頭), near Jhushan (竹山), but this was not enough to put the hospital back online. Hsieh Hui-lung (謝輝龍), president of Show Chwan, said he was tempted to give up his goal of restoring the hospital, but his resolve to rebuild the hospital grew firmer when a surprising donation came weeks after the earthquake from a patient who handed Hsieh a check for NT$200,000. The patient, surnamed Wu (吳), had obtained the money from a government compensation program for his house.
Other offers of help came from hospitals in Changhua, Taoyuan, Yunlin, Tainan and other parts of the country that donated medical equipment and other items to help Show Chwan Hospital resume operations.
Hwang Ming-ho (黃明和), founder and chairman of the Show Chwan Hospitals Group, donated a 130-ping (430m³) prefabricated building, while Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) rented 58 containers to be used by the hospital as makeshift facilities.
On Nov. 1, 1999, the “container hospital” — likely the first of its kind in the world — opened to the public.
However, Show Chwan could not continue indefinitely to operate from a cluster of containers. After inspections and assessments by structural and civil engineers and geologists, it was determined that the main structure of the hospital could be repaired. The restoration project was completed in 2000 and the hospital reopened the same year.
Years later, Hsieh said the 921 Earthquake underscored the need to make hospitals disaster proof.
“Major emergencies and disasters can be compounded if health facilities fail,” he said.
For reconstruction, high-end materials that can absorb seismic shocks were used to reduce the risk of sudden collapse, he said.
The hospital now has backup power and water systems and special designs and devices to ensure that critical medical facilities remain functional after a major earthquake, Hsieh said, adding that the hospital has prioritized disaster emergency training with its medical and paramedical staff because a community-based hospital must be able to offer first-aid treatment after major disasters.
A communication network with other healthcare providers in the area has also been developed so that a strong support system is in place in the event of a disaster, Hsieh said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS