Current Status of and Issues concerning Medical Relief for Huge Disasters

Abstract

  In response to the Hanshin-Awaji Great Earthquake, disaster base hospitals, disaster medical assistance teams (DMATs) and the Emergency Medical Information System (EMIS) were established. As a staging care unit built and managed by the DMATs, victims were evacuated by Self-Defense Force airplanes or physician-staffed helicopters to unaffected areas. Although this system ran smoothly after this particular disaster, several associated problems remain unresolved. Several medical relief teams have been dispatched to manage disasters in recent years, thus underscoring the importance of organizing these teams properly and providing appropriate medical support for victims from the acute to the chronic phase.