Many dentists who are responsible for “medical care that protects and supports people’s lives” in normal times belong to local dental associations and play a role in comprehensive community care in collaboration with multiple professions from normal times. If a disaster occurs, they work with local governments and dental schools to dispatch Japan Dental Alliance Team (JDAT) to provide assistance in cooperation with multiple professions. The Iwate Dental Association’s response to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 was to work together with related professions that had been cooperating with each other since normal times to provide emergency dental treatment, denture fabrication in cooperation with dental technicians, and oral hygiene management guidance in cooperation with dental hygienists to victims at evacuation centers, elderly care facilities, etc., as well as to confirm their identity through dental findings and other dental health care services were provided over a long period of time. In this way, dental professionals have been involved not only in the prevention of oral infections but also in the prevention of respiratory infections and oral frailty through oral health management on a daily basis, and disaster dental support activities are an extension of these activities. It will continue to be important to inform young dental association members in conjunction with human resource development at training schools.

【Background】 No detailed data regarding the duties performed by administrative staff at disaster-based hospitals during a disaster was found. 【Purpose】 The purpose of this study was to identify the duties performed by administrative staff at disaster-based hospitals during the Great East Japan Earthquake. 【Method】 A cross-sectional study using questionnaires and interviews was conducted. 【Target】 The target population was administrative staff at disaster-based hospitals in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures. 【Result】 The study found that administrative staff were involved in 65 disaster operations that they would not normally perform. Normal operations were reduced to approximately 30% of their total capacity and were restored gradually. 【Consideration】 These 65 tasks included those that could be handled with external resources, those that required planning, and those that required training. Additionally, the study identified some normal operations that cannot be interrupted, such as management and labor management, highlighting the importance of planning. 【Conclusion】 To prepare for future disasters, it is necessary to develop educational programs and provide opportunities for administrative staff to learn how to perform their normal duties during disasters and to handle new tasks that may arise. In addition to using the results of this survey as the basic data for a realistic and effective revision of the BCP, the study emphasizes the need for disaster-based hospitals to have trained administrative staff who can perform a wide range of tasks during a disaster.