Summary: • Event type: earthquake • Event onset date: January 1, 2024 • Location of event: Ishikawa, Japan • Response type: medical relief at an evacuation center During the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, from January 3 to 24, Nippon Medical School Hospital dispatched eight medical teams in a row, with 39 medical staff (15 doctors, seven nurses, 10 paramedics, five pharmacists, and two radiographers). These teams provided 24-hour medical services at a first-aid station in a designated evacuation center with a capacity of approximately 700 evacuees. Over the three weeks, 204 patients received medical care, including 57 patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease, which posed significant challenges for infection control. Additionally, these teams served as medical liaisons, collaborating with other support organizations to enhance sanitary conditions and reinforce health management practices. These teams implemented phase-specific interventions, such as conducting evacuation center assessments, screening the health status of individuals requiring assistance, supporting the reopening of the school used as an evacuation center, and coordinating with local healthcare systems during the chronic phase of disaster response. The number of evacuees gradually decreased, with only 92 remaining by January 24, when the first-aid station was decommissioned. These coordinated efforts supported evacuation center operations led by the local authorities and residents. Each team played a role in preventing fatalities and improving the quality of life within the evacuation center, while adapting to the evolving needs of each phase. Ultimately, the absence of fatalities during the operational period underscored the effectiveness of these collaborative health interventions.

Aim: Foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO) dueto food can occur wherever people eat, including in hospitals. We characterized in-hospital FBAO incidents and their outcomes.Methods: We searched the Japan Council for Quality Health Care nationwide in-hospital adverse events database for relevant events from 1,549 institutions. We included all patients with FBAO incidents dueto food in the hospital from January 2010 to June 2021 and collected data on the char-acteristics, interventions, and outcomes. FBAO from non-food materials were excluded. Our primary outcomes were mortality and morbidity from FBAO incidents.Results: We identified 300 patients who had a FBAO incident from food. The most common age group was 80-89 years old (32.3%, n = 97/300). One-half (50.0%, n = 150/300) were witnessed events. Suction was the most common first intervention (31.3%, n = 94/300) and resulted in success-ful removal of foreign body in 17.0% of cases (n = 16/94). Back blows (16.0%, n = 48/300) and abdominal thrusts (8.1%, n = 24/300) were less frequently performed as the first intervention and the success rates were 10.4% (n = 5/48) and 20.8% (n = 5/24), respectively. About one-third of the patients (31%, n = 93/300) died and 26.7% (n = 80/300) had a high potential of residual disability from these incidents.Conclusion: FBAO from food in the hospital is an uncommon but life-threatening event. The majority of patients who suffered from in-hospital FBAO incidents did not receive effective interventions initially and many of them died or suffered residual disability.

INTRODUCTION:Foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO) is a life-threatening emergency, and the prognosis of patients with FBAO is greatly affected by the prehospital process. There are only a few large-scale studies analyzing prehospital process databases of the fire department.STUDY OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to investigate whether characteristics of patients with FBAO were associated with prehospital factors and outcomes.METHODS:In this retrospective observational study, patients transferred to the hospital by the Tokyo, Japan Fire Department for FBAO from 2017 through 2019 were included. The association between neurologically favorable survival among the characteristics of patients with FBAO and prehospital factors affecting the outcomes was evaluated.RESULTS:Of the 2,429,175 patients, 3,807 (0.2%) patients had FBAO. The highest number of FBAO cases was 99 (2.6%), which occurred on January 1 (New Year's Day), followed by 40 cases (1.1%) on January 2, and 28 cases (0.7%) on January 3. The number of patients who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) caused by FBAO was 1,644 (43.2%). Comparing the OHCA and non-OHCA groups, there were significant differences in age, sex, time spent at the site, and distance between the site and hospital. Cardiac arrest was significantly lower in infants after FBAO (P < .001). In total, 98.2% of patients who did not have return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) before hospital arrival died within 30 days, a significantly higher mortality rate than that in patients who had ROSC (98.2% versus 65.8%; P < .001).CONCLUSIONS:Among patients who did not have ROSC following FBAO upon arrival at the hospital, 98.2% died within 30 days. Thus, it is important to remove foreign bodies promptly and provide sufficient ventilation to the patient at the scene to increase the potential for ROSC. Further, more precautions should be exercised to prevent FBAO at the beginning of the year.

Introduction: In Tohoku, the northeastern part of the main island of Japan, students entered medical school following the Great East Japan earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011. Such students wished to volunteer at the time of disaster, however, the undergraduate medical curriculum was inadequate to enable the practice of disaster medicine. Thus, the Tohoku Disaster Medical Assistance Student (DMAS) holds workshops for undergraduate students to acquire disaster medicine knowledge. Method: Tohoku DMAS offers Peer Learning Education. In the DMAS course, students learned disaster medicine through lectures and simulations under the supervision of disaster medicine experts. The workshops vary in length between 3–8 hours. Tohoku DMAS’s goal is to support disaster management headquarters and shelters. Students are expected to provide logistical support that includes recounting the chronology of events at disaster management headquarters and helping with managing evacuation shelters. Results: According to the activity reports and roster of the course, there were only three students initially when the course was formed in 2018, however, the group continued to grow, and 165 students currently belong to the Tohoku DMAS. Those students include medical students, nursing students, and paramedics students at various universities and colleges. The DMAS has held 30 training sessions since 2018. The total number of training participants was 1,308. The DMAS has held tabletop simulation exercises and lectures on various topics such as shelter management, disaster triage, and nuclear disasters. Furthermore, some members have participated in emergency drills for each prefecture. The current challenge of the program was obtaining adequate insurance coverage for students and financial support during the activity at the disaster scene. Conclusion: The DMAS plays a role in disaster medicine education for undergraduate medical students in the Tohoku region. The program continues to grow and faces opportunities and challenges.