How to Relay Information on Hospitals and Pharmacies in Disasters Using Personal (ham) Radio Operators

Hiroshi Moriuchi, Takako Ishiguro, Satoshi Tsuruta, Yoichi Ishitsuka, Mitsuru Irikura, Tetsumi Irie
2013 Iryo Yakugaku (Japanese Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences)  
In large earthquakes such as the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, victims who would otherwise have been saved, did not survive due to a delays in transferring them to hospitals. Some vic-tims died because they were not transferred to appropriate hospitals. These unfortunate results occurred mainly because rescue teams (ambulance drivers) could not receive adequate information regarding which hospital the victim should be sent. Within 12 hours of the
more » ... eginning of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the first Disaster Medical Assistance Team from Tokyo arrived in the affected area, however, the team could not begin medical relief activities because the communication infrastructure had been destroyed and no specific information had yet reached the local headquarters. 2) * 22-1, Ikeda 4-chome, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan Jpn.
doi:10.5649/jjphcs.39.635 fatcat:5pjpf4zhubadhetvqk22uy6bqm