Security Survey for Health Facilities

Strengthening the security and preparedness of health-care facilities to withstand violence and attacks is key to ensuring people continue to have access to health care in conflict, or other emergency situations. Staff responsible for managing health facilities will need to carry out an assessment of existing risks and needs in order to identify and prioritize the most relevant measures to implement, especially in cases where resources are scarce and the situation is volatile. This manual explains how to use the Security Survey for Health Facilities, a tool designed by the ICRC Water and Habitat Unit to assess the risk exposure, security and preparedness level of any health facility operating in the context of an armed conflict. The tool includes a dashboard, which analyses the results of the survey, translates them into concrete measures and presents them in a clear format. The security survey is an open resource for anyone involved in the security of health-care facilities and has been successfully tested in the field.