Abstract
A questionnaire survey was used to investigate the status of hemodialysis clinics and hospitals in Hyogo prefecture one year after the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake. After one year, repairs were still not complete in 18 (35.3%) of the 51 clinics and hospitals where facilities had been destroyed by the earthquake. With regard to hemodialysis equipment, pipes in water-purification systems were destroyed in many clinics and hospitals, along with large equipment such as RO and dialysate-supplying units. It was noteworthy that the pipes had been destroyed with a remarkably high incidence at parts connecting large pieces of equipment. Piping had been earthquake-proofed in only 12 clinics and hospitals (14.6%). Twenty-two clinics and hospitals (30.1%) had not yet returned to their pre-earthquake number of hemodialysis patients. Patients who had moved clinics after the disaster continued to stay because their homes had been largely destroyed. Many other patients had moved to and were staying in hemodialysis clinics close to their homes because of transportation problems. These changes represent a major rearrangement of hemodialysis patients as a result of the earthquake.
