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Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Hotels as Shelters After a Landslide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2021

Shinya Tada
Affiliation:
Department of Acute Critical Care Medicine, Shizuoka Hospital, Juntendo University, Bunkyo City, Japan
Kei Jitsuiki
Affiliation:
Department of Acute Critical Care Medicine, Shizuoka Hospital, Juntendo University, Bunkyo City, Japan
Hiromichi Ohsaka
Affiliation:
Department of Acute Critical Care Medicine, Shizuoka Hospital, Juntendo University, Bunkyo City, Japan
Youichi Yanagawa*
Affiliation:
Department of Acute Critical Care Medicine, Shizuoka Hospital, Juntendo University, Bunkyo City, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Youichi Yanagawa, Email: yyanaga@juntendo.ac.jp

Abstract

Objectives:

On July 3, 2021, a landslide occurred in part of Atami City, Shizuoka, Japan.

Methods:

The government of Shizuoka Prefecture requested the dispatch of Shizuoka Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (S-DMATs).

Results:

On day 2, the evacuees were evacuated into 2 hotels (A and B). Hotel A accommodated over 570 independent and dependent evacuees. Hotel B accommodated 44 dependent aged individuals, who lived in the same long-term health-care facility, together with their 11 caregivers. The evacuees in hotel B returned to the previous facility on day 10 without any specific medical problems. The evacuees in hotel A were managed in the guest rooms as family units. Individuals requiring care in guest rooms in hotel A became isolated because they could not call for help or walk. Furthermore, hotel guest rooms were not barrier-free. The S-DMATs supported the evacuees.

Conclusions:

Independent evacuees received the maximum benefits from the use of a hotel as a shelter. In contrast, it was difficult for dependent evacuees to benefit from the hotel as it is as a shelter when living alone in the hotel. Dependent evacuees required appropriate support to eat, walk, use the toilet, and keep themselves clean when using a hotel as a shelter.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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