Natural Disaster and Blood Purification

Abstract

The basics of the earthquake disaster medical management consist of (1) recognition of specific injuries, (2) limited primary treatment in the affected area, (3) importance of immediate evacuation, and (4) urgent dispatch of medical teams from the non-affected area. Crush syndrome at the Hanshin Awaji great earthquake disaster (January, 1995) and economy-class syndrome at the Chuetsu earthquake (October, 2004) are widely recognized as the earthquake disaster specific concerns of the patient. Usefulness of the acute blood purification therapy in the large-scale natural disaster has been widely recognized. The medical cooperation in the neighbor of the chronic dialysis patient was carried out at the Chuetsu offing earthquake (July, 2007), thereafter the large-area mass evacuation and the cooperation to continue the dialysis medical care in the remote place for the evacuation, were carried out at the East Japan great earthquake disaster (March 11, 2011) more afterwards. The possible primary care including acute blood purification in the affected area must be limited. On the other hand, the early advance system to the affected area of DMAT has been already established in Japan, and it’s activity is expected. However, the stable chronic dialysis patient is unlikely to become a target of DMAT. From this reason, it is necessary to prepare for downsizing of the dialysis medical care in the affected area from the early days of the disaster.