2025 Volume 30 Issue 1 Pages 1-6
In Japan, evacuations resulting from hospital fires have never involved Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT). In this case, a hospital fire necessitated the evacuation of approximately 260 people, including inpatients and staff, from the hospital because of the fire. The fire broke out in the operating room of Hospital A, which is in the same medical district as our hospital. We were requested to dispatch DMAT. When the DMAT arrived on the Hospital A, the inpatients had already been evacuated to public facilities near the hospital. We were instructed to coordinate their transportation of inpatients at the facilities. We could not contact the fire department’s on-site command headquarters, and the situation of the damage was unclear. There were no injuries from the fire on the evacuation. The fire was only a minor incident, the damage to the hospital was less severe than expected. In consideration of the need to reduce the hospital’s operational burden and the remaining oxygen supply, nine critically ill patients were transported to hospitals within the city. The other patients were returned to the hospital, and our operation was concluded. In this case, the evacuation of inpatients was completed approximately an hour after the fire was detected, and patient transportation began approximately two hours. The brief period between the fire’s start and the evacuation emphasizes the cooperation with the fire departments, overall situational awareness, and sharing information.
