title: Great earthquakes and medical information systems, with special reference to telecommunications.
abstract: The Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in January 1995 caused the greatest number of deaths and injuries in Japan since World War II. Various weaknesses of modern information systems were exposed during and after the earthquake. The authors carried out a questionnaire survey to investigate the current state of hospital information and to examine the kinds of information needed immediately after an earthquake. The survey results show that information about the ability to admit new patients and the availability of medical supplies is necessary immediately after such a disaster. These results will be useful for planning countermeasures against this kind of disaster.
authors.affiliation: Kobe University Hospital, Japan. miyamoto@med.kobe-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sako
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanno
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inada
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minato
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakazawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Irie
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003199:Computer Systems; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D007564:Japan; D008402:Mass Media; D018635:Rescue Work; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013685:Telecommunications; D013689:Telephone