Abstract
On the basis of the teachings of the critical radiation accident in Tokai village, the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan completed a report of recommendations for our nation's medical system for radiation emergencies. The main point of this report is to prepare a radiation emergency medicine system that works according to the degree of each patient's injury, such as early stage (slight injury), secondary stage or tertiary stage (serious injury), in order to create a network in which effective medical treatment can be done with coordinated efforts during an emergency. The recommendation which was regarded as the most important in the plan was to prepare tertiary radiation emergency hospitals which have the ability to provide advanced medical care. Based on this report, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology designated Hiroshima University and the National Institute of Radiological Sciences as a regional tertiary radiation emergency hospital for Western and Eastern Japan, respectively in 2004. Hiroshima University has the achievements of long years of atomic bomb medicine and a good staff of specialists in various fields of medical treatment of radiation-induced disorders. In addition, Hiroshima University's program titled "The Radiation Casualty Medical Research Center" was recently chosen as the 21st Century COE Program by the governments. The research and treatment of radiation-induced disorders has become a modern academic field. To promote such science and nurture younger doctors are two essential characteristics and role of Hiroshima University. From now on, we intend to play the role of a tertiary radiation emergency hospital and to contribute to society in this regard. We have established a Radiation Emergency Medicine Promotion Center and are currently proceeding with the preparation necessary for the development of our project.
