渡部副院長による約一か月間の福島赤十字病院の活動の検証と、今後の活動に活かすための教訓。
(1) 入院患者数・空床数・人・設備の被害状況などを迅速かつ的確に把握することが重要。
(2) 毎年の災害医療の訓練が役に立ち、職員全員が何をすべきか理解していた。
(3) 停電でもX線機器やエレベータが使用可能な非常電源の整備が必要。
(4) 入院患者と職員の食事確保は重要であり、厨房機能は内部運営が望ましい。
(5) 衛星電話や日赤無線も機能せず、災害時の通信手段の再検討が必要。
(6) 原発事故のため、県支部の命令で浜通りから撤収した。他県の救護班は全て帰還し後続の班は来なかった。避難所の被災者が除染が必要なほど被ばくしている可能性は少なく、防護服や線量計などの必要な準備をすれば活動は継続できた。
(7) 今回は放射線被ばくに対する対応に問題があった。当然ながら、職員の安全を確保することは何より重要。
(8) 原発立地県の医療機関や日赤本社は放射線被ばくに関する研修や、緊急被ばく医療に関する訓練を行い、有事の際にも適切な医療活動が行えるように準備することが必要。
Dr. Watanabe, Deputy Director General of the Fukushima Red Cross Hospital, reviewed the activities for about 1 month after the earthquake, and summarized lessons learned to be utilized for future activities.
(1) It is important to quickly and accurately grasp the number of inpatients and empty beds, and the status of the damages to the staff at the facility.
(2) The annual training for disaster medical response was useful and our entire staff had a clear understanding of what to do.
(3) Need to upgrade the emergency back-up power generator to support X-ray instruments and elevators during a power failure period.
(4) Food for the inpatients and the staff are essential and therefore having an in-house kitchen staff and a kitchen facility is desirable.
(5) Since both the satellite phones and the Red Cross Radio Communication System were not functioning, a reliable communication method in a disaster situation needs to be reconsidered.
(6) Per ordered from the Fukushima Chapter, we withdrew from Hamadori. All the relief teams from other prefectures had gone home, and no replacements were coming. The possibility of the evacuees being exposed to radiation to the point that decontamination was necessary was small. Therefore, the activities could have been continued with necessary preparation such as the protective suits and dosimeters.
(7) There were issues on the responses to the radiation exposure. By all means, securing the staff’s safety is most important.
(8) The medical institutions having nuclear power plants in their residing prefecture, and the Japanese Red Cross Society National Headquarters need to hold workshops on radiation exposure and the training for radiation emergency medical care, so that we can prepare and properly perform the medical activities in these kind of emergencies.