Hospital fire evacuation and emergency response: a case study from the university-affiliated tertiary hospital in Thailand

Abstract This study outlines the emergency response to a fire incident at university-affiliated hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 11, 2025. It represents the timeline of event, evacuation strategies, crisis command structure, and operational coordination. The incident prompted the horizontal and vertical evacuation of 191 inpatients without requiring interhospital transfer. The incident highlights critical challenges in evacuation planning, communication, and hospital infrastructure resilience. Lessons learned emphasize the need for building-wide simulation drills, refined triage strategies, an adaptive Incident Command System, especially command structures. This study contributes practical insight into hospital disaster readiness in complex healthcare environments.