Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:34:00.080Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster: Distribution of Hospital Damage in Miyagi Prefecture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2014

Sae Ochi ,
Atsuhiro Nakagawa ,
James Lewis ,
Susan Hodgson  and
Virginia Murray
Sae Ochi*
Affiliation:
MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom Seisa University, Kanagawa, Japan
Atsuhiro Nakagawa
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery/Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, Tohoku University Hospital, Miyagi, Japan
James Lewis
Affiliation:
Public Health England, Salisbury, United Kingdom
Susan Hodgson
Affiliation:
MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Virginia Murray
Affiliation:
MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom Extreme Events and Health Protection, Public Health England, London, United Kingdom
*
Correspondence: Sae Ochi, MD, MPH, PhD MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health Imperial College London Norfolk Place London, United Kingdom W2 1PG E-mail sae.ochi11@imperial.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction

In catastrophic events, a key to reducing health risks is to maintain functioning of local health facilities. However, little research has been conducted on what types and levels of care are the most likely to be affected by catastrophic events.

Problem

The Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster (GEJED) was one of a few “megadisasters” that have occurred in an industrialized society. This research aimed to develop an analytical framework for the holistic understanding of hospital damage due to the disaster.

Methods

Hospital damage data in Miyagi Prefecture at the time of the GEJED were collected retrospectively. Due to the low response rate of questionnaire-based surveillance (7.7%), publications of the national and local governments, medical associations, other nonprofit organizations, and home web pages of hospitals were used, as well as literature and news sources. The data included information on building damage, electricity and water supply, and functional status after the earthquake. Geographical data for hospitals, coastline, local boundaries, and the inundated areas, as well as population size and seismic intensity were collected from public databases. Logistic regression was conducted to identify the risk factors for hospitals ceasing inpatient and outpatient services. The impact was displayed on maps to show the geographical distribution of damage.

Results

Data for 143 out of 147 hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture (97%) were obtained. Building damage was significantly associated with closure of both inpatient and outpatient wards. Hospitals offering tertiary care were more resistant to damage than those offering primary care, while those with a higher proportion of psychiatric care beds were more likely to cease functioning, even after controlling for hospital size, seismic intensity, and distance from the coastline.

Conclusions

Implementation of building regulations is vital for all health care facilities, irrespective of function. Additionally, securing electricity and water supplies is vital for hospitals at risk for similar events in the future. Improved data sharing on hospital viability in a future event is essential for disaster preparedness.

OchiS, NakagawaA, LewisJ, HodgsonS, MurrayV. The Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster: Distribution of Hospital Damage in Miyagi Prefecture. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(3):1-8.

Keywords

disaster planningearthquakeengineeringhospitalmaintenancespatial analysisurban
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , June 2014 , pp. 245 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. World Health Organization, UNISDR, and World Bank. Hospitals Safe from Disasters: 2008-2009 World Disaster Reduction Campaign. Reduce Risk, Protect Health Facilities, Save Lives. http://www.unisdr.org/2009/campaign/pdf/wdrc-2008-2009-information-kit.pdf. Accessed November 2, 2012.Google Scholar
2. World Health Organization. Call to protect hospitals, schools from impact of disasters. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2009/disaster_risk_reduction_20090618/en/. Accessed July 28, 2013.Google Scholar
3. Kobe City. . (The outline of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and its recovery). http://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/safety/hanshinawaji/revival/promote/img/honbun.pdf. Accessed Aug 28, 2013.Google Scholar
4. Djalali, A, Khankeh, H, Ohlen, G, et al. Facilitators and obstacles in pre-hospital medical response to earthquakes: a qualitative study. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2011;16(19):30.Google Scholar
5. Gray, BH, Hebert, K. Hospitals in Hurricane Katrina: challenges facing custodial institutions in a disaster. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2007;18(2):283-298.Google Scholar
6. World Health Organization. Pakistan: the health impact of the floods. Monthly Highlights—September 2010. http://www.who.int/hac/crises/pak/highlights/september2010/en/. Accessed July 28, 2013.Google Scholar
7. Cabinet Office of Japan. . (White Paper on Disaster Management 2011). http://www.bousai.go.jp/hakusho/h23/index.htm. Accessed August 28, 2013.Google Scholar
8. Bureau of Statistics. (Information on the Great East Japan Earthquake: the effort of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Bureau of Statistics/Director-General for Policy Planning (Statistical Standards) around statistical surveillance). http://www.stat.go.jp/info/shinsai/index.htm. Accessed July 28, 2013.Google Scholar
9. Health Policy Bureau of Japan. (Situation Circumstances of the Great East Japan Earthquake). In: 18th Subpanels on medical affairs, Social Security Council; 2011 June 8, 2011. http://www5.cao.go.jp/npc/shiryou/goudou/pdf/3.pdf. Accessed November 13, 2012.Google Scholar
10. Nomura, S, Gilmour, S, Tsubokura, M, et al. Mortality risk amongst nursing home residents evacuated after the Fukushima nuclear accident: a retrospective cohort study. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e60192.Google Scholar
11. Ochi, S, Murray, V, Hodgson, S. The great East Japan earthquake disaster: a compilation of published literature on health needs and relief activities, March 2011-September 2012. PLoS Curr. 2013;13(5). Edition 1.Google Scholar
12. Cimellaro, GP, Reinhorn, AM, Bruneau, M. Seismic resilience of a hospital system. Struct Infrastruct Eng. 2010;6(1-2):127-144.Google Scholar
13. Yao GC, Tu LH. The generation of earthquake damage probability curves for building facilities in Taiwan. In: International Symposium on Engineering Lessons Learned from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake; 2012; Tokyo, Japan; 2012. http://www.jaee.gr.jp/event/seminar2012/eqsympo/pdf/papers/3.pdf. Published 2012. Accessed July 28, 2012.Google Scholar
14. Nuti, C, Vanzi, I. To retrofit or not to retrofit? Eng Struct. 2003;25(6):701-711.Google Scholar
15. . (List of health facilities in Miyagi). Miyagi Prefectural Government website. http://www.pref.miyagi.jp/soshiki/iryou/iryoukikanmeibo.html. Accessed June 23, 2013.Google Scholar
16. Pan American Health Organization. Hospital Safety Index: evaluation forms for safe hospitals. http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PED/SafeHospFormsEng.pdf. Published 2008. Accessed November 2, 2012.Google Scholar
17. Google Map. Google.co. website. https://maps.google.co.jp/2013. Accessed July 28, 2013.Google Scholar
18. (The areal seismic intensities of the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake 2011). Japan Meteorological Agency website. http://www.seisvol.kishou.go.jp/eq/2011_03_11_tohoku/0311_shindo.pdf. Published 2011. Accessed November 14, 2012.Google Scholar
19. . (Digital Japan). The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan website. http://portal.cyberjapan.jp/site/mapuse/index.html. Accessed November 13, 2012.Google Scholar
20. Sawada and Takeuchi Laboratory. Reaction project for the 2011 off the pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake. http://stlab.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eq_data/index_e.html. Published 2011. Accessed August 2.Google Scholar
21. Japan Reconstruction Agency. . (Report on ‘the number of the Great East Japan Earthquake-related deaths). In: Investigation of the disaster related deaths. http://www.reconstruction.go.jp/topics/240821_higashinihondaishinsainiokerushinsaikanrenshinikansuruhoukoku.pdf Google Scholar
22. BBC Motion Gallery Aftermath of March 11 earthquake and tsunami. BBC website. http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com/gallery/clip/750278_009.do Google Scholar
23. Kameda, Y. Town planning considering large scale tsunami. Macro Rev. 2011;24(1):21-26.Google Scholar
24. UNISDR. Framework for action for the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). http://www.eird.org/eng/acerca-eird/marco-accion-eng.htm. Accessed August 2, 2013.Google Scholar
25. UNIDSR. Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters: Extract from the final report of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction. http://www.unisdr.org/files/1037_hyogoframeworkforactionenglish.pdf. Accessed August 2, 2013.Google Scholar
26. World Health Organization. Assessment of health-system crisis preparedness: England 2012. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/167822/England_report.pdf. Accessed July 28, 2013.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ochi Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Ochi Supplementary Material(File)
File 36.5 KB