In recent years, Japan has been hit by a number of natural disasters including the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Kumamoto Earthquake, the heavy rains in western Japan, and the heavy rains in Kumamoto to name a few. In each of these events, a number of hospitals located within the disaster areas were damaged and ceased to function, leading to difficulties in providing regional medical care. This presentation examines the effectiveness of mobile medical containers in handling such situations in the future.

This study organizes lessons learned from past disasters as well as the merits of and challenges facing current mobile medical containers while looking into the future.

When the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, assembly-and-installation type temporary health clinics were constructed, but due to the numerous Japanese laws and regulations, it took almost three months for these to be delivered. On the other hand, current mobile medical containers are already in use in countries such as Tonga and Senegal and have the following advantages: (1) High mobility and easy installation, (2) Expandability as necessary, and (3) Durability for long-term use.

Despite challenges such as clarification of legal handling, electricity, water supply and drainage, we consider mobile medical containers to be effective alternative medical facilities in the event of disasters.