Hypothermia in Victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake: A Survey in Miyagi Prefecture

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 379-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajime Furukawa ◽  
Daisuke Kudo ◽  
Atsuhiro Nakagawa ◽  
Takashi Matsumura ◽  
Yoshiko Abe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Social Infrastructure ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
Heating Systems ◽  
Water Exposure ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Miyagi Prefecture ◽  
Time Required

AbstractObjectiveA survey was conducted to describe the characteristics of patients treated for hypothermia after the Great East Japan Earthquake.MethodsWritten questionnaires were distributed to 72 emergency medical hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture. Data were requested regarding inpatients with a temperature less than 36ºC admitted within 72 hours after the earthquake. The availability of functional heating systems and the time required to restore heating after the earthquake were also documented.ResultsA total of 91 inpatients from 13 hospitals were identified. Tsunami victims comprised 73% of the patients with hypothermia. Within 24 hours of the earthquake, 66 patients were admitted. Most patients with a temperature of 32ºC or higher were treated with passive external rewarming with blankets. Discharge without sequelae was reported for 83.3% of patients admitted within 24 hours of the earthquake and 44.0% of those admitted from 24 to 72 hours after the earthquake. Heating systems were restored within 3 days of the earthquake at 43% of the hospitals.ConclusionsHypothermia in patients hospitalized within 72 hours of the earthquake was primarily due to cold-water exposure during the tsunami. Many patients were successfully treated in spite of the post-earthquake disruption of regional social infrastructure.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-11)

Resources for Business Continuity in Disaster-Based Hospitals in the Great East Japan Earthquake: Survey of Miyagi Prefecture Disaster Base Hospitals and the Prefectural Disaster Medicine Headquarters

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 461-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Kudo ◽  
Hajime Furukawa ◽  
Atsuhiro Nakagawa ◽  
Satoshi Yamanouchi ◽  
Yuichi Koido ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disaster Medicine ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Business Continuity ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
Miyagi Prefecture ◽  
Water Restoration ◽  
Current Business

AbstractObjectiveTo clarify advance measures for business continuity taken by disaster base hospitals involved in the Great East Japan Earthquake.MethodsThe predisaster situation regarding stockpiles was abstracted from a 2010 survey. Timing of electricity and water restoration and sufficiency of supplies to continue operations were investigated through materials from Miyagi Prefecture disaster medicine headquarters (prefectural medical headquarters) and disaster base hospitals (14 hospitals) in Miyagi Prefecture after the East Japan earthquake.ResultsThe number of hospitals with less than 1 day of stockpiles in reserve before the disaster was 7 (50%) for electricity supplies, 8 (57.1%) for water, 6 (42.9%) for medical goods, and 6 (42.9%) for food. After the disaster, restoration of electricity and water did not occur until the second day or later at 8 of 13 (61.5%) hospitals, respectively. By the fourth postdisaster day, 14 hospitals had requested supplies from the prefectural medical headquarters: 9 (64.3%) for electricity supplies, 2 (14.3%) for water trucks, 9 (64.3%) for medical goods, and 6 (42.9%) for food.ConclusionsThe lack of supplies needed to continue operations in disaster base hospitals following the disaster clearly indicated that current business continuity plans require revision. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;0:1-6)

Implications of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) During Public Health Emergencies and on Alternate Sites of Care

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (S2) ◽  
pp. S172-S175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Roszak ◽  
Frances R. Jensen ◽  
Richard E. Wild ◽  
Kevin Yeskey ◽  
Michael T. Handrigan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Medical Treatment ◽  
H1n1 Virus ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Community Centers ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
Innovative Strategies ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Alternative Sites

ABSTRACTHospitals throughout the country are using innovative strategies to accommodate the surge of patients brought on by the novel H1N1 virus. One strategy has been to help decompress the amount of patients seeking care within emergency departments by using alternate sites of care, such as tents, parking lots, and community centers as triage, staging, and screening areas. As at any other time an individual presents on hospital property, hospitals and providers must be mindful of the requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. In this article we review the act and its implications during public health emergencies, with a particular focus on its implications on alternative sites of care. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2009;3(Suppl 2):S172–S175)

Effects of Disaster Damage and Working Conditions on Mental Health Among Public Servants 16 Months After the Great East Japan Earthquake

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 622-630
Author(s):  
Maiko Fukasawa ◽  
Yuriko Suzuki ◽  
Akiko Obara ◽  
Yoshiharu Kim
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Mental Distress ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Miyagi Prefecture ◽  
Long Time

AbstractObjectiveTo explore whether stressors after a disaster have later effects on the mental health of public servants who engage in disaster response and to estimate the proportion of those experiencing persistent mental distress.MethodsWe analyzed the data of health surveys conducted in Miyagi Prefecture for all prefectural public servants at 2, 7, and 16 months after the Great East Japan Earthquake (n=3174). We investigated relationships between mental distress (defined as K6≥10) at 16 months after the earthquake and earthquake damage and working conditions at 2 months. We also calculated the proportion of participants who scored K6≥10 on all 3 surveys.ResultsThe experience of living someplace other than one’s own home was significantly related with mental distress at 16 months after the earthquake. Few participants consistently scored K6≥10 throughout all 3 surveys.ConclusionsThe effects of stressors in the aftermath of a disaster could remain for a long time. Few public servants experienced persistent mental distress.Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:622–630

Radiology Diagnostic Devices Under Emergency Electric Power at Disaster Base Hospitals During the Acute Phase of the Great East Japan Earthquake: Results of a Survey of All Disaster Base Hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 548-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shota Maezawa ◽  
Daisuke Kudo ◽  
Hajime Furukawa ◽  
Atsuhiro Nakagawa ◽  
Satoshi Yamanouchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Power Generation ◽  
Electric Power ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Electricity Supply ◽  
Electric Power Generation ◽  
Disaster Plan ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Miyagi Prefecture ◽  
Ct Scanners

AbstractObjectiveThis study aimed to clarify the management of emergency electric power and the operation of radiology diagnostic devices after the Great East Japan Earthquake.MethodsTiming of electricity restoration, actual emergency electric power generation, and whether radiology diagnostic devices were operational and the reason if not were investigated through a questionnaire submitted to all 14 disaster base hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture in February and March 2013.ResultsCommercial electricity supply resumed within 3 days after the earthquake at 13 of 14 hospitals. Actual emergency electric power generation was lower than pre-disaster estimates at most of the hospitals. Only 4 of 11 hospitals were able to generate 60% of the power normally consumed. Under emergency electric power, conventional X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scanners worked in 9 of 14 (64%) and 8 of 14 (57%) hospitals, respectively. The main reason conventional X-ray and CT scanners did not operate was that hospitals had not planned to use these devices under emergency electric power. Only 2 of the 14 hospitals had a pre-disaster plan to allocate emergency electric power, and all devices operated at these 2 hospitals.ConclusionsPre-disaster plans to allocate emergency electric power are required for disaster base hospitals to effectively operate radiology diagnostic devices after a disaster. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;8:548-552)

Developing a Consensus Framework for an Effective and Efficient Disaster Response Health System: A National Call to Action

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. S51-S54 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Lyznicki ◽  
Italo Subbarao ◽  
Georges C. Benjamin ◽  
James J. James
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
National Medical ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Hospital Systems

ABSTRACTEighteen national organizations, representing medicine, dentistry, nursing, hospital systems, public health, and emergency medical services, have worked together to create a framework for a national and regional disaster response health system that is scalable, multidisciplinary, and seamless, and based on an all-hazards approach. In July 2005 and June 2006 the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Public Health Association (APHA) convened the AMA/APHA Linkages Leadership Summit, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Terrorism Injuries: Information Dissemination and Exchange (TIIDE) program. As cofacilitators, James J. James, MD, DrPH, MHA, director of the AMA Center for Public Health Preparedness and Disaster Response, and Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP(E), APHA executive director, met with leaders from 16 national medical, dental, hospital, nursing, hospital systems, public health, and emergency medical services organizations in Chicago (2005) and New Orleans (2006) to deliberate the deficiencies in the medical and public health disaster response system and the lack of necessary linkages between key components of this system: the health care, emergency medical services, and public health sectors. The goal was to reach consensus on a set of overarching recommendations to improve and sustain health system preparedness and to combine each organization's advocacy expertise and experience to promote a shared policy agenda. The full summit report contains 53 consensus-based recommendations, which will serve as the framework for a coordinated national agenda for strengthening health system preparedness for terrorism and other disasters. The 9 most overarching critical recommendations from the report are highlighted here. Although the summit report presents important perspectives on the subject of preparedness for public health emergencies, we must understand that preparedness is a process and that these recommendations must be reviewed and refined continually over time. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2007;1(Suppl 1):S51–S54)

scholarly journals Infection Control Campaign at Evacuation Centers in Miyagi Prefecture after the Great East Japan Earthquake

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 824-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajime Kanamori ◽  
Hiroyuki Kunishima ◽  
Koichi Tokuda ◽  
Mitsuo Kaku
Keyword(s):  
Infection Control ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Miyagi Prefecture ◽  
Control Campaign

Postexposure Interventions to Prevent Infection With HBV, HCV, or HIV, and Tetanus in People Wounded During Bombings and Other Mass Casualty Events—United States, 2008: Recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louisa E. Chapman ◽  
Ernest E. Sullivent ◽  
Lisa A. Grohskopf ◽  
Elise M. Beltrami ◽  
Joseph F. Perz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Acute Injury ◽  
Mass Casualties ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
Mass Casualty Event ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Centers For Disease Control

ABSTRACTPeople wounded during bombings or other events resulting in mass casualties or in conjunction with the resulting emergency response may be exposed to blood, body fluids, or tissue from other injured people and thus be at risk for bloodborne infections such as hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, or tetanus. This report adapts existing general recommendations on the use of immunization and postexposure prophylaxis for tetanus and for occupational and nonoccupational exposures to bloodborne pathogens to the specific situation of a mass casualty event. Decisions regarding the implementation of prophylaxis are complex, and drawing parallels from existing guidelines is difficult. For any prophylactic intervention to be implemented effectively, guidance must be simple, straightforward, and logistically undemanding. Critical review during development of this guidance was provided by representatives of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and representatives of the acute injury care, trauma, and emergency response medical communities participating in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Terrorism Injuries: Information, Dissemination and Exchange project. The recommendations contained in this report represent the consensus of US federal public health officials and reflect the experience and input of public health officials at all levels of government and the acute injury response community. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2008;2:150–165)

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