抄録
The eruption of Mount Unzen-Fugendake in Nagasaki Prefecture, which occurred about 10 years ago, and its ensuing volcanic activity, which then lasted approximately for five and half years, left X city with large human and physical damages, and 44 fatalities (including three missing persons). The author believes that this eruption can be a good reference case for us to particularly study measures against frequently occurring natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, storms, and floods in Japan as well as around the world, so that we may study how primary healthcare and medical service providers, namely the local administration and medical society, responded at that time and how the experience has been reflected in the local community. With such a conviction in mind, we visited the local municipality and directly conducted a hearing survey with the administrative officers (mainly those who experienced the disaster back then). The survey principally consisted of the following question items: (1) the status of healthcare and medical activities at the evacuation shelters and temporary housing at the time of the eruption; (2) the activities of public health nurses; (3) the measures taken after the disaster (e.g., disaster prevention programs and request for relief supplies; and (4) the ideal state of the medical personnel or medical system demanded by the local community.
