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Using a Cloud-based Electronic Health Record During Disaster Response: A Case Study in Fukushima, March 2011

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2013

Takashi Nagata ,
John Halamka ,
Shinkichi Himeno ,
Akihiro Himeno ,
Hajime Kennochi  and
Makoto Hashizume
Takashi Nagata*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medical Sciences, Department of Advanced Medical Initiatives, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
John Halamka
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts USA
Shinkichi Himeno
Affiliation:
Himeno Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
Akihiro Himeno
Affiliation:
Himeno Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
Hajime Kennochi
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Medical Innovation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Makoto Hashizume
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medical Sciences, Department of Advanced Medical Initiatives, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan Center for Advanced Medical Innovation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
*
Correspondence: Takashi Nagata, MD Department of Advanced Medical Initiatives Faculty of Medical Sciences Kyushu University 3-1-1, Maidashi, Higashi-ku Fukuoka-city, 812-8582, Japan E-mail nagata.takashi@gmail.com
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Abstract

Following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the Japan Medical Association deployed medical disaster teams to Shinchi-town (population: approximately 8,000), which is located 50 km north of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The mission of the medical disaster teams sent from Fukuoka, 1,400 km south of Fukushima, was to provide medical services and staff a temporary clinic for six weeks. Fear of radiation exposure restricted the use of large medical teams and local infrastructure. Therefore, small volunteer groups and a cloud-hosted, web-based electronic health record were implemented. The mission was successfully completed by the end of May 2011. Cloud-based electronic health records deployed using a “software as a service” model worked well during the response to the large-scale disaster.

NagataT, HalamkaJ, KennochiH, HimenoS, HimenoA, HashizumeM. Using a Cloud-based Electronic Health Record During Disaster Response: A Case Study in Fukushima, March 2011. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(4):1-5.

Keywords

cloud-basedelectronic health recordFukushimaradiation
Type
Case Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 383 - 387
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2013 

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