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Evaluating the Imbalance Between Increasing Hemodialysis Patients and Medical Staff Shortage After the Great East Japan Earthquake: Report From a Hemodialysis Center Near the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants
Author(s) -
Koshiba Takaaki,
Nishiuchi Takamitsu,
Akaihata Hidenori,
Haga Nobuhiro,
Kojima Yoshiyuki,
Kubo Hajime,
Kasahara Masato,
Hayashi Masayuki
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
therapeutic apheresis and dialysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.415
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 1744-9987
pISSN - 1744-9979
DOI - 10.1111/1744-9987.12393
Subject(s) - medicine , economic shortage , hemodialysis , dialysis , fukushima nuclear accident , medical emergency , value (mathematics) , emergency medicine , nuclear power plant , surgery , statistics , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , government (linguistics) , physics , nuclear physics
Abstract The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 caused an unprecedented imbalance between an increasing number of hemodialysis patients and medical staff shortage in the Sousou area, the site of the Fukushima nuclear power plants. In 2014, capacity of our hemodialysis center reached a critical limit due to such an imbalance. We attempted to evaluate the effort of medical staff to clarify to what extent their burden had increased post‐disaster. The ratio of total dialysis sessions over total working days of medical staff was determined as an approximate indicator of effort per month. The mean value of each year was compared. Despite fluctuations of the ratio, the mean value did not differ from 2010 to 2013. However, the ratio steadily increased in 2014, and there was a significant increase in the mean value. This proposed indicator of the effort of medical staff appears to reflect what we experienced, although its validity must be carefully examined in future studies.