Survey of Preventable Disaster Deaths at Medical Institutions in Areas Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake: Retrospective Survey of Medical Institutions in Miyagi Prefecture

Abstract

Preventable disaster death at medical institutions in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred mainly at coastal hospitals with insufficient medical resources, disrupted lifelines, delayed medical intervention, and deteriorated environmental conditions in homes and emergency shelters constituting the main contributing factors. Preventing PDD, in addition to strengthening organizational support and functional enhancement of DBHs, calls for the development of business continuity plans (BCPs) for medical facilities in directly affected areas, including non-DBHs. Yamanouchi S , Sasaki H , Kondo H , Mase T , Otomo Y , Koido Y , Kushimoto S . Survey of preventable disaster deaths at medical institutions in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake: retrospective survey of medical institutions in Miyagi Prefecture. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(5):515-522.

Experience of Primary Health Care Workers’ Involvement in Response to Arasbaran Twin Earthquakes in 2012

“…Also, the affected areas were divided into seven health zones and a sanitary coordinator was selected for each area to coordinate and provide health services. During the storm, 20 professional health teams were deployed to the area [18]. The primary healthcare staff were not used to respond, however, the existing team structure was applied.…”

“…A temporary health and medical aid team was launched in the first week [17] to attend to the victims of Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina, where 20 health teams were already deployed [18]. On August 11, 2011, two fairly strong earthquakes struck the East Azerbaijan Province in the Northwest of Iran.…”

Pretraining and Precredentialing Staff for Disaster: A Lesson Learned From the Experience of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes

“…I n recent decades, official guidance regarding healthcare disaster preparedness has emphasized the importance of effective hospital planning to "surge" clinical capacities and capabilities to meet the needs of disaster events when they occur. [1][2][3] In the United States (US), rules and standards from the Hospital Preparedness Program within the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, from the Joint Commission, and from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services have all spoken of this need for "surge capacity" within the healthcare system. 1,2 In Japan, the Health Care Plan within the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, and Business Continuity Plan at various levels have done the same.…”

“…1,2 In Japan, the Health Care Plan within the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, and Business Continuity Plan at various levels have done the same. 3 In both systems, however, the extreme difficulty of rapidly mobilizing sufficient numbers of staff who can effectively care for disaster victims has been recognized as among the most difficult challenges in healthcare disaster planning. While it is a common recommendation for hospitals to reallocate staff and to recall many of their off-duty personnel in response to catastrophic events, 2,4 it is also commonly recognized that many hospitals will still require supplemental, external staff to provide care for patients in the largest of disasters.…”

“…While it is a common recommendation for hospitals to reallocate staff and to recall many of their off-duty personnel in response to catastrophic events, 2,4 it is also commonly recognized that many hospitals will still require supplemental, external staff to provide care for patients in the largest of disasters. 1,3,5,6 In the United States, using locally available medical workers, such as those loaned from other less-affected facilities within a healthcare coalition or volunteers from a Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) has been recommended to supplement existing hospital staff. 1,2,7,8 However, there are significant challenges with this approach.…”