Citation

Kako Y. Jpn. Med. Assn. J. JMAJ 2005; 48(7): 327-333.

Affiliation

Nishinomiya-shi, Hyogo 663-8134, Japan

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Japan Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

An earthquake of unanticipated scale occurred just beneath an urban area that included the cities of Kobe (prefectural capital with 1.5 million inhabitants), Ashiya (90,000 inhabitants), and Nishinomiya (420,000 inhabitants). It was a terrible disaster that struck the narrow strip of land containing important east-west transportation routes squeezed between mountains to the north and the sea to the south. Interruption of information severely impeded cooperation among local governments and that between them and private organizations, and local entities had to act independently for a time. Medical institutions were also isolated due to the interruption of information, experiencing difficulty in communication with other hospitals for patient transportation. At the time, the concept of triage was understood and practiced by emergency personnel, but we were still uncertain about the general public's understanding of the concept. However, triage was accepted well at the hospitals performing it and no problems were encountered. In the extreme difficulties caused by the unexpected disaster, medical association members did their best with a firm sense of mission to help victims from the initial to the subacute and chronic phases, overcoming the lack of experience and bewilderment. However, it is also a fact that our response was not sufficient. This article provides some proposals based on this experience.