Introduction: We examined the actual conditions of home ventilator patients in Sapporo and the risk factors that led to their hospitalization in the event of power outages caused by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018.

Method: This study was conducted using the email questionnaire survey results.

Result: The number of home ventilator patients in Sapporo City was 230. The duration of ventilator use was 24 hours in 81 (35.2%) patients, and tracheostomy positive pressure ventilation (TPPV) was used in 71 (30.9%) patients with ventilator settings. The prevalence ratio (PR) for hospitalization was 9.07 (95% CI: 5.10–16.10, p<.0001) for 24 hours of ventilator use. Multivariate analysis by age and time of ventilator use showed a PR of 9.21 (95% CI: 5.17–16.39, p<.0001) for time of ventilator use. A total of 147 patients were not admitted to the hospital, and 87 (59.2%) patients avoided hospitalization because they had access to power. Of the patients who had access to power, 35 (40.2%) had access to power by private vehicles.

Conclusion: In case of disaster-related power outage, patients on a home ventilator, especially those utilizing it for 24 hours, are at risk of being hospitalized. It is important to secure emergency power sources such as private cars in high-risk patients as a preparation against power outages during the acute phase of disasters.