Medical relief for the 2011 Japan earthquake: a nursing account.

In 2011 the east coast of Japan experienced a massive earthquake which triggered a devastating tsunami destroying many towns and killing over 15 000 people. The work presented in this paper is a personal account that outlines the relief efforts of the Humanitarian Medical Assistance team and describes the efforts to provide medical assistance to evacuees. The towns most affected had a large proportion of older people who were more likely to have chronic conditions and required medication to sustain their health. Since personal property was destroyed in the tsunami many older people were left without medication and also did not remember which type of medication they were taking. Some evacuees had brought a list of their medication with them, this assisted relief teams in obtaining the required medication for these people. The more successful evacuation centers had small numbers of evacuees who were given tasks to administer the center that kept them occupied and active.

Comparison of Two Evacuation Shelter Operating Policies and the Role of Public Health Nurses after the Great East Japan Earthquake: A Qualitative Study.

This study describes shelter operations by public health nurses (PHNs) in Kesennuma City, located near the epicenter of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011. The data were semi-structured interviews with 10 PHNs, 2 nutritionists, and 2 general administrators conducted from July 2013 to January 2014. All transcripts were analyzed using the constructivist grounded theory approach. We identified two operating methods for shelters: shelters stationed by PHNs in the Old City, and shelters patrolled by PHNs in the merged district. These methods were compared using four themes. In emergency situations, "operational periods," a predetermined short term for a leader to perform his/her duties responsibly, could be adopted for relatively small organizations on the frontline. PHNs must not only attempt to operate shelters on their own but also encourage residents to manage the shelters as well. Moreover, human resource allocation should be managed independently of personal factors, as strong relationships between shelter residents would sometimes disturb the flexibility of the response. Even when a situation requires PHNs to stay in shelters, frequent collecting of information and updating the plan according to response progress will help to maintain effective shelter operations.