The representative of the Pan Am Health Organization said that organization will help prepare of an evaluation of the preparedness for natural disasters of the larger hospitals of the country, if its cooperation is needed. Socorro Gross said, in an interview for the Listin Diario, that the organization can provide technical cooperation to carry out the studies. But she said the Dominican Republic has very fine seismologic engineers that can carry out the necessary evaluations. She said that it is important that drills be held at the principal hospitals to prepare these for emergency situations caused by earthquakes, fire or hurricanes. The Dominican Seismology Institute alerted recently in a news report in the Listin Diario, that the structure of the Hospital Jose Maria Cabral y Baez, the leading hospital of the central region, would not resist a major earthquake if it is not reinforced appropriately. The local experts have equated the structure of that hospital to that of the Materno Infantil in Mexico City that collapsed during an earthquake. Attention is again being focused on preparedness for earthquakes in view of the earthquakes in India and El Salvador. A major earthquake is said to affect the DR every 50 years. Since one has not occurred in 50 years time, experts alert to the need to take measures to prevent major disasters. The central part of the country is said to be the most vulnerable to a destructive earthquake as under it runs a major fault.
