File
C. Nishiyama1
1Meinan Hospital, Administration Office, Nagoya, Japan
Background: On March 11, 2011, a large earthquake occurred in eastern Japan, causing extensive damage. Many physical therapists supported its victims by various ways.
I conducted a questionnaire survey of physical therapists in Japan. Then it had just started to create an organizational structure to support disaster victims. Many of members thought that we needed to create a system for disaster relief and training and so on.
However, natural disasters have continued in Japan since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and especially disasters caused by heavy rain occur in various places every year. Some physical therapists went to the disaster area every time a disaster occurs. We hold disaster response training sessions in various regions and cooperate with local communities and other occupations. There are more opportunities for physical therapists to play an active role in the field of disasters than before.
I conducted a questionnaire survey of physical therapists in Japan. Then it had just started to create an organizational structure to support disaster victims. Many of members thought that we needed to create a system for disaster relief and training and so on.
However, natural disasters have continued in Japan since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and especially disasters caused by heavy rain occur in various places every year. Some physical therapists went to the disaster area every time a disaster occurs. We hold disaster response training sessions in various regions and cooperate with local communities and other occupations. There are more opportunities for physical therapists to play an active role in the field of disasters than before.
Purpose: The purpose of the study is to grasp what physical therapists think about supporting of disaster victims and disaster management. In addition, it is to confirm how it has changed compared with the response at the time of the previous survey.
Methods: I randomly selected 500 facilities where a member of JPTA(Japanese Physical Therapy Association) belonged to and asked by mail. Each participant accessed the questionnaire site and replied it on the Web. The answer was anonymous. Asked them mainly using multiple choice questions. At the same time, we asked for free opinions on supporting of disaster victims and disaster management. All answers were checked and categorized.
Results: The number of questionnaires that could be recovered was 340. The person with the damaged experience was 114. The person who had participated in a disaster volunteer was 82. In addition, the number of questionnaires that were free listed was 39. The opinions about supporting for disaster-affected areas were:
(1) JRAT (Japan disaster Rehabilitation Assistance Team) and other disaster relief systems need to be established (n=9),
(2) It’s necessary advance preparation (n=5),
(3) Act not only as a physical therapist but also as a single person, and have a variety of forms of support (n=5),
(4) Giving information about the disaster immediately (n=3).
The opinions about disaster management were:
(1) Information provision and training sessions are required to work as physical therapists (n=7),
(2) Peacetime preparation is necessary (n =5),
(3) It is necessary to establish a system as a professional organization (n=4).
(1) JRAT (Japan disaster Rehabilitation Assistance Team) and other disaster relief systems need to be established (n=9),
(2) It’s necessary advance preparation (n=5),
(3) Act not only as a physical therapist but also as a single person, and have a variety of forms of support (n=5),
(4) Giving information about the disaster immediately (n=3).
The opinions about disaster management were:
(1) Information provision and training sessions are required to work as physical therapists (n=7),
(2) Peacetime preparation is necessary (n =5),
(3) It is necessary to establish a system as a professional organization (n=4).
Conclusion(s): A few years have passed since the previous survey, but they thought that the support system for the disaster victims is still insufficient, and necessary to improve in the future. It seems to have seen and heard several disaster situations, some of them were aware of the importance of peacetime preparation compared to before.
Implications: Physical therapists in Japan have accumulated achievements in activities such as preventive care and improvement of the living environment for vulnerable people. It is important to build as a new field for physical therapists.
Funding, acknowledgements: I didn’t get financing for this study.
Keywords: disaster management, establishing some support systems, peacetime preparation
Topic: Disaster management
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: Meinan Hospital
Committee: the Ethics Committee of Meinan Hospital
Ethics number: no number
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
