The Japanese Red Cross Society’s efforts in response to nuclear disasters and the challenges ahead

Abstract

The accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO’s) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that accompanied the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake threw relief efforts in disarray, which has led the Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) to reflect greatly on its practices. Based on these reflections, the JRCS has been working on various efforts including: preparing and maintaining the equipment and materials necessary to respond to nuclear disasters; developing activity policies and relief-team training based on these; the appointment of Japanese Red Cross Nuclear Disaster Medical Care Advisors to support the headquarters; establishing support systems for JRCS facilities located in areas stricken by nuclear disaster; and the better dissemination of information of nuclear disaster. Currently, 26 hospitals and the local JRCS Chapters throughout Japan have been designated and registered as either Nuclear Disaster Base Hospitals or Nuclear Disaster Medical Cooperative Institutions. These facilities can now play a part in the national response to nuclear disasters. But the issues remain to be addressed. There is a need to examine the appropriateness of JRCS’s activity policies and to address the declining interest in nuclear disasters within the JRCS. In addition, it is also necessary to further systematize the role of the JRCS in the overall nuclear disaster medical care system.