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Characteristics of Patients Transported by Doctor-Requested Helicopters After Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Incident

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2022

Kotaro Sorimachi Open the ORCID record for Kotaro Sorimachi [Opens in a new window] ,
Kazuya Muto ,
Kazuki Sugaya ,
Satoshi Ueno ,
Makoto Onodera ,
Tetsuya Ohira ,
Masaharu Tsubokura  and
Ken Iseki
Kotaro Sorimachi*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Kazuya Muto
Affiliation:
Department of Regional Emergency Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Kazuki Sugaya
Affiliation:
Department of Regional Emergency Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Satoshi Ueno
Affiliation:
Department of Regional Emergency Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Makoto Onodera
Affiliation:
Department of Regional Emergency Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Tetsuya Ohira
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Masaharu Tsubokura
Affiliation:
Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Ken Iseki
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Kotaro Sorimachi, Email: sorisori@fmu.ac.jp.
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Abstract

Objectives:

This study examined the characteristics of severe patients after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

Methods:

Cases in the Futaba area were extracted using the dispatch database of the doctor helicopter and flight-nurse records from March 11, 2008, till March 10, 2014. The period before March 11, 2011, was defined as ‘pre-earthquake’ and the period after March 11, 2011, as ‘post-earthquake’ to compare the recorded data.

Results:

Of the 128 total recorded cases, 78 were dispatched during the pre-earthquake period and 50 during the post-earthquake period. The number of patients with physical trauma following the earthquake included 4 patients (33.3%) in 2011, 7 patients (43.7%) in 2012, and 13 patients (59.1%) in 2013. However, the increase in number of requests was not statistically significant (P = 0.33). All 4 incidents of physical trauma in 2011, and 3 out of 7 incidents in 2012, occurred at the power plants. A total of 4 incidents occurred at decontamination worksites in 2013.

Conclusions:

It is of primary importance for hospitals to anticipate physical trauma cases during the reconstruction phase following a disaster, and develop a system for patients with physical trauma in the short- and long-term.

Keywords

decontaminationtraumanuclear power plantshelicopter
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e161
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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