Both remedial and preventive health care services may become difficult or impossible to provide. The ability of hospitals to function largely depends on lifelines and other basic services such as electrical power, water and sanitation, communications, and waste management and disposal. Hospital authorities, cognizant of the facts outlined above frequently produce emergency response plans-but such plans often fail to incorporate prevention and mitigation measures, or to strengthen the role of hospital disaster committees in risk management. Hence the need to incorporate measures for improving general safety and preserving the functionality of the key areas of the hospital which include emergency services, intensive care units, diagnostic facilities and food and drug storage. Keywords: disaster, hospital, mass causality, line of authority.