ABSTRACT

Underground hospitals are sheltered health structures which built under the surface of ground or obtained by transforming existing underground areas to ensure that hospitals continue to provide health care even though they are threatened in terms of security when situations that can have devastating effects on human health such as wars, epidemics and disasters. Many classic examples of underground hospitals built in the twentieth century due to wars have survived to the these day. Today, some underground hospitals, which were created with the synthesis of classical and modern technology, continue to serve for various purposes. Today's underground hospitals are mostly organized to protect against possible conventional, chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear attacks and to provide specialized care for these situations. The importance and necessity of having safe hospitals for our society is increasing due to the strategic location of our country, the ongoing hot war in neighboring geographies, the alarming increase in global armament and the fact that terrorist groups can easily access and use weapons of mass destruction. For this reason, it is important to check the security levels frequently with the necessary analyzes for the hospitals in our country. In addition, underground hospitals should be available to meet the needs of our society in strategically important locations in cases when existing hospital structures may be insufficient or can not provide health services. This article is planned to explain the importance and examples of underground hospitals that do not have active samples in our country.