From March 23 to 27, 2011, following the Great East Japan Earthquake, we were deployed to Ohjima Island in Kesennuma City—with 24 km of shoreline, the largest island in the Tohoku region— as a medical relief team. Ohjima Island is located in Kesennuma Gulf and had a population of 3,200 people before the earthquake; the island suffered serious damage during the earthquake. The gymnasium at Ohjima Elementary School was designated as an evacuation shelter on the island. We performed medical care at the school infirmary. Each day, our first priority was to see as many patients as possible before the ferry returned to Kesennuma City at 2:00 pm. 　The operation began under chaotic circumstances due to the scattering of medical supplies, the loss of temporary medical records, and difficulty in finding alternative drugs. 　Many of the patients who visited the clinic had chronic illnesses, and about 90% required some type of medication. Due to the limited number of drugs available, it was very important and helpful for our activities when pharmacists arranged alternative drugs and clinical management. The infrastructure of the island suffered major damage, and affected people found it very difficult to begin to reconstruct their daily lives in the period immediately after the disaster. Thus, sanitation and hygiene were very important during this period for the prevention of infectious diseases. In addition, early intervention for the psychological damage suffered by people affected by major disasters such as earthquakes should be synchronized with medical care.

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　The image transmission system has been connected each island medical institution to the Hiroo Hospital which is the island basic hospital in Tokyo. This system was upgraded to new version in October 2010. In addition, the Web meeting system was newly introduced in the new system. 　 　An interactive case conference between the Hiroo hospital and each island medical institution was tried to perform using this system. Though this conference, an interactive Web meeting was useful for our mutual understanding. Regular conference should be held near future.

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[in Japanese]

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