Tohoku University Hospital’s Response

Initial Response Training and Reception of Patients during the CBRNE Disaster Drill at the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

■Drill date: February 16 (Mon), 19 (Thu), 24 (Tue), 27 (Fri)
■Event date: March 14 (Sat) – March 18 (Wed)
■Location: Tohoku University Hospital
■Members from our university: Hospital Director, Deputy Director, Medicine department, Nursing department, Radiology department, Tohoku University Hospital Emergency Center, Tohoku University Hospital Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Administration department

Report

This hospital is Sendai City’s designated disaster hospital and secondary exposure treatment facility. To prepare for a CBRNE* disaster during the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, we assembled a decontamination tent several times on February 16, 19 and 27, and checked our initial response and reception during a disaster.

Our board members, including the hospital director, joined the theoretical training on February 19. On February 24, a collaborative training with the city’s other DMAT teams and the Sendai City fire department was held at the International Center, where we conducted a mock emergency drill. The drill involved the spread of suspicious gas at the Sendai International Center’s exhibition building, causing confusion and the injury of about 50 people.

On February 27, we sealed the emergency center with duct tape and conducted a drill. The drill included transporting patients, setting up gate control and decontamination areas, examining patients at the emergency center and collecting samples. We continued our preparation until the day before the conference.

After carefully communicating and collaborating with the related organizations including Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai City and Sendai City Fire Bureau, we decided to provide a decontamination tent for the entire duration of the conference. Our hospital’s DMAT was standing by at the conference venue, and the admin staff who were in charge of initial response prepared for emergency around the clock.

* CBRNE is an acronym that stands for “Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive.”