Need for intensive care? A socio-technical systems perspective on water supply failure preparedness in German health care facilities

Health care facilities play a crucial role in the well-being of society. They are heavily dependent on other critical infrastructures including water supply for their daily operations and failure of water supply can have severe consequences. However, health care facilities are often underprepared for this scenario. The study investigates the emergency preparedness of German health care facilities to water supply failures, utilizing a socio-technical system approach. Data from interviews with experts and a survey among German hospitals were evaluated to determine the social and technical preparedness measures, in order to identify barriers and potential approaches for solutions. The findings show that there are still many gaps and needs for improvement. In particular, the social components of emergency preparedness are often given insufficient attention, with a lack of awareness about vulnerabilities to water failures being a shortcoming. The results were used to develop a framework linking social and technical components of critical infrastructure systems. The framework demonstrates that although the technical infrastructure components form the basis of preparedness, preparedness levels depend on the functioning of social infrastructure. The results underline the necessity of understanding the interlinkages between social and technical components, which can help identify potential vulnerabilities to infrastructure failures and risks. The study highlights the urgent need to comprehend health care facilities as socio-technical systems.