Transportation Electrification and Hospital Emergency Planning

Transportation Electrification and Hospital Emergency Planning by Nathaniel Winfield Skinner MA, Monterey Institute of International Studies, 2008 BA with Distinction, University of Washington, 2005 BA, University of Washington, 2005 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Public Policy and Administration Walden University November 2018 Abstract Because transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area is increasingly dependent on electricity, factors such as limited electricity storage capacity and nontransferability of batteries between vehicles need to be considered by emergency response planners (ERPs). The purpose of this study was to investigate planning for providing the power to provide emergency transportation for hospital staff/administration and those injured after earthquakes. The research questions of transportation need of emergency staff and patients after an earthquake and differences between Bay Area cities and counties in considering transportation needs were addressed in this qualitative study utilizing a collective case study to assess electric vehicle use as articulated in 48 public emergency management and health agency documents that discussed post-disaster transportation planning. Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche, and Pfefferbaum’s community resilience theory served as the theoretical lens for analyzing the impacts of electric transportation on hospitals. Some ERPs included transportation fuel in their documents, whereas ERPs specifically focused on transportation did not. The review, coding, and analysis yielded 2 primary themes: fuel for emergency planning is focused primarily on fuel for generators, with few documents discussing fuel for transportation; many documents lack currency with 28 updated before 2015 or not having an identifiable date. Community resilience from disruption is likely to lead to a state of vulnerability as well as a disconnectionBecause transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area is increasingly dependent on electricity, factors such as limited electricity storage capacity and nontransferability of batteries between vehicles need to be considered by emergency response planners (ERPs). The purpose of this study was to investigate planning for providing the power to provide emergency transportation for hospital staff/administration and those injured after earthquakes. The research questions of transportation need of emergency staff and patients after an earthquake and differences between Bay Area cities and counties in considering transportation needs were addressed in this qualitative study utilizing a collective case study to assess electric vehicle use as articulated in 48 public emergency management and health agency documents that discussed post-disaster transportation planning. Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche, and Pfefferbaum’s community resilience theory served as the theoretical lens for analyzing the impacts of electric transportation on hospitals. Some ERPs included transportation fuel in their documents, whereas ERPs specifically focused on transportation did not. The review, coding, and analysis yielded 2 primary themes: fuel for emergency planning is focused primarily on fuel for generators, with few documents discussing fuel for transportation; many documents lack currency with 28 updated before 2015 or not having an identifiable date. Community resilience from disruption is likely to lead to a state of vulnerability as well as a disconnection between community resilience theory and ERP planning. The implication for positive social change is to help Bay Area ERPs understand how to increase community resilience by including adaptation to changes in transportation fuel sources in their plans. Transportation Electrification and Hospital Emergency Planning by Nathaniel Winfield Skinner MA, Monterey Institute of International Studies, 2008 BA with Distinction, University of Washington, 2005 BA, University of Washington, 2005 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Public Policy and Administration Walden University November 2018 Acknowledgments I would like to thank and acknowledge several people who have helped me reach this stage in my academic journey. First, I thank my beloved father John for all his support over the years and for instilling in me the concept of improving myself through education and a love of books and knowledge; he is deeply missed; my mother Joanne for all that she has done for me over the years, too many things to recount; my wife Monica, for her help along the way, including the time and space as a newly married couple, and then as parents to keep moving my dissertation forward; and my committee chair, Dr. Linda Day, for her continual encouragement, positive reinforcement, and the occasional reminder that she expects I can do better (and making me strive farther).