Arquitetura para emergências de saúde: soluções para o enfrentamento da COVID-19, no primeiro semestre de 2020, em Salvador, Bahia

Abstract

The theme of this research deals with the architecture for health emergencies, with the analysis of the typologies used in disaster situations, essentially of a biological nature, caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV 2, called COVID-19. In March 2020, a phase of great criticality of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic status, caused by this virus. This phenomenon affected all continents on the planet, causing countless victims. The effects of this health problem affected global health systems, as well as the socioeconomic aspects of the populations of their respective countries. The main objective of this investigation is to evaluate the planning of the care equipment network, represented by architectures for health emergencies, above all, the sizing of the units that make up the Urgency and Emergency Network (RUE), used to combat the initial phase of contagion of the virus. COVID-19, in the first half of 2020, in Salvador, Bahia. The methodology adopted is exploratory in nature, with the collection of information. Among the technical procedures used, bibliographical, documentary and experimental research was adopted, through case studies of the health units of the Urgency and Emergency Network of Salvador, which contributed to confronting the pandemic. In this form of knowledge systematization, there was a close relationship between Architecture, Urban Planning and Health Systems, interconnecting the fields of applied social sciences and health or medical sciences. The comparative method was applied to obtain the results, essentially, in the sense of checking data on the indicators collected, such as Socioeconomic, the Human Development and Housing Index (HDI), Health Infrastructure and Assistance to COVID-19 . The results indicate that Salvador concentrates, in the time frame of the research, most of the health equipment in Bahia and managed to adapt its EAS network, from the Municipal and State administrations, to face the pandemic, with the allocation of 64 copies in the total. Furthermore, this city had the best performance in facing the COVID-19 pandemic among the capitals of the Northeast, when comparing several parameters. The research was carried out among other similar samples in the region, such as Recife and Fortaleza, in 2020. Salvador, occupied the second position in the Northeast in terms of the supply of ICU beds, with 795 units (Costa; Lago, 2020, p. 7), and in relation to biomedical equipment, there were 1,954 units applied (Brazil, 2024). As a conclusion, it is attributed that the Governments of Bahia and Salvador acted together which, in turn, benefited the population of this capital, even in contradiction with the “negationist” movement of the Federal Government. Actions to combat the pandemic in this territory occurred quickly, in the time frame analyzed, the first half of 2020, contributing to the minimization of health problems, through initiatives considered appropriate. Among them, the implementation of architectural solutions for health emergencies can be mentioned.