| Theme |
The Great East Japan (Tohoku) Earthquake and Dialysis Therapy |
| Title |
Report on hemodialysis treatment in the Great East Japan Earthquake at Japanese Red Cross Ishinomaki Hospital |
| Author |
Yasumichi Kinoshita |
Japanese Red Cross Ishinomaki Hospital |
| Author |
Satoshi Kasai |
Japanese Red Cross Ishinomaki Hospital |
| Author |
Hideaki Hashimoto |
Japanese Red Cross Ishinomaki Hospital |
| Author |
Shigeki Andou |
Japanese Red Cross Ishinomaki Hospital |
| Author |
Kazuto Satou |
Japanese Red Cross Ishinomaki Hospital |
| [ Summary ] |
During the Great East Japan Earthquake, there was great deal of damage in the Ishinomaki area, caused by both the earthquake and the tsunami. Three out of four hemodialysis facilities could not continue hemodialysis treatment. On the other hand, our facility, Japan Red Cross Ishinomaki Hospital (J.R.C. Ishinomaki Hospital) was able to do so. Immediately after the disaster, all hemodialysis therapy for patients living in this area had to be performed at our hospital. Several days later, we were able to receive help from other hemodialysis facilities outside the Ishinomaki area. Many more problems including power failure, suspension of the water supply, communication outages, and lack of materials for dialysis therapy were encountered. Eighteen days after the initial disaster, hemodialysis treatment at our hospital returned to normal. We were able to survive the disaster, because our hospital was a disaster base hospital and we received cooperation from neighboring facilities to deliver hemodialysis treatment. This report examines the performance of the Hemodialysis Center at the J.R.C. Ishinomaki Hospital during the period of that disaster. |