Message from the Head of the Emergency Operation Center

I was appointed to the Head of the Emergency Operation Center in the Okayama University Hospital in August 2018. Our hospital plays roles as a university hospital as a research institute and as a disaster base hospital that acts as a local headquarters during and after disasters. Our staff includes members of the Japan DMAT and a collection of resources for their activities. We also have experience with organizing and dispatching a post-acute phase relief party.
We take the importance of disaster risk management in times of peace seriously, considering our experience of the West Japan Heavy Rain Disaster in July in Okayama Prefecture, which had not been affected by a major disaster for many years.
The Disaster Risk Management Office plans to cooperate with disaster base hospitals in Okayama Prefecture and to construct the management system with hospital departments. For that purpose, we contribute to the construction of a regional medical system in disasters via the training of our staff on disaster medicine, cooperative training with relevant external facilities, etc. in times of peace.
Our hospital, which is a disaster base hospital charged with such a mission, must play the role. Our hospitalized patients, outpatients, and related persons might be asked for cooperation in cases of large-scale disasters. We must also cope with the expected Nankai megathrust earthquakes as the central part of national universities in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions. We sincerely appreciate your cooperation.
 
 
Hiroyuki Nakao
Head of the Emergency Operation Center, Okayama University Hospital
Professor, Department of Disaster Medicine and Management, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University