Preparation to provide healthcare in disasters in public hospitals in the district of Lima, Peru.

Objective: To assess the safety and degree of preparation of public hospitals in the district of Lima to provide healthcare in the event of disaster by studying their structural and nonstructural safety and their compliance with the established standards for the organization of the hospital's Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs).

Design: A cross-sectional observational study of 20 out of the 38 public hospitals in the district of Lima was conducted. The hospitals were selected based on the criteria of being state-run, having complete information on open access safety indicators, and belonging to Categories II and III according to the Peruvian Ministry of Health classification, equivalent to the usual secondary and tertiary levels of specialization hospitals.