Abstract
As an enterostomal therapist in practice, as well as the Director of our Society, I became involved in support activities for ostomates following the Great East Japan Earthquake. Specifically, I established a consultation service counter, and mapped out locations in the Tohoku region for ostomy supply shops as well as areas where ostomy appliances were supplied by the Japan Association of Ostomy Appliance lndustries.
Our Society also drafted a list of hospitals nationwide which would serve as “facilities accepting ostomates designated by the Japanese Society of Stoma and Continence Rehabilitation (JSSCR), ” such that o stomates affected by the earthquake could receive treatment. Nine months after the earthquake, we conducted a postal questionnaire survey among certified nurses in all six prefectures in the Tohoku region to investigate the actual damage suffered by ostomates due to the earthquake. ln this report, we present the survey results and propose ways to prepare for future disasters.
