From Campus to Crisis Shelter: A Reflective Case Analysis of Shelter-Based Healthcare and Enacted Disaster Preparedness during the 2025 Hat Yai Flood
Abstract
Disaster preparedness is commonly framed around advance planning and formal protocols, yet major emergencies often require institutions to adapt under rapidly changing conditions. This reflective case analysis examines the transformation of Prince of Songkla University Hat Yai Campus into an evacuation shelter during the 2025 Hat Yai flood, when widespread disruption left Songklanagarind Hospital as the principal functioning major hospital in the city. Established through situational necessity rather than prior designation, the shelter expanded rapidly from approximately 2,000 evacuees to a peak occupancy of approximately 7,000 and operated through flexible multidisciplinary staffing, public donations, volunteer mobilization, and cross-sector collaboration. Shelter-based healthcare functioned as an extension of the disrupted health system, integrating triage, medication continuity, referral, transport, and differentiated care for acute, chronic, high-dependency, and psychosocial needs. Social cohesion and adaptive governance enabled resources and personnel to be mobilized despite the absence of predefined shelter governance, while frontline experience generated practical knowledge subsequently translated through an After-Action Review. Viewed through the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management framework, the experience illustrates preparedness as an enacted capacity spanning preparedness, response, and recovery. The case highlights the potential role of hospitals, universities, and community institutions as complementary operational nodes during health-system disruption and underscores the value of combining formal preparedness with flexible governance, cross-sector coordination, and institutional learning.
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