The Japanese Red Cross Society has expressed concern over possible health issues of evacuees nearly a month after a powerful earthquake hit Kumamoto Prefecture. In a news conference held at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Tuesday, JRCS officials said that future issues include evacuees’ health deterioration due to prolonged life at shelters and support for afflicted people who continue to stay in their cars for evacuation. Following the July 28 earthquake, which measured up to 7, the highest level, on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, the JRCS has sent rescue and medical teams to Kumamoto from its facilities around the country.
The teams are engaging in activities such as setting up cardboard beds, providing medical care at evacuation centers and supporting affected local medical institutions. After the quake struck, water, food and other relief supplies were delivered to affected areas under the “push-type” support system, in which goods are sent before donors receive requests for help from disaster-stricken areas. In addition, local medical institutions were able to offer necessary support early, according to the JRCS.
During the April 2016 earthquake disaster in Kumamoto, it took about a month for Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, located in the city of Kumamoto, the prefecture’s capital, to start sending medical teams to affected areas because the hospital itself was damaged by the disaster. This time, the hospital was able to begin dispatching medical teams only about a week after the earthquake as damage was limited. Meanwhile, prolonged life at evacuation centers may cause elderly people to see their muscle strength weaken due to a lack of physical exercise and poor nutrition, possibly raising the risk of aspiration pneumonia and other health issues.
It is also necessary to pay attention to higher risks of heart failure because of the stress and lack of sleep associated with life at shelters. Ueda advised elderly as well as other evacuees to move their bodies and eat well to reduce risks of health issues.
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