title: Guidelines for non-medical care providers to manage the first steps of emergency triage of elderly evacuees.
abstract: On 11 March 2011, a strong earthquake occurred off of Japan's Pacific coast and hit northeastern Japan. The earthquake was followed by huge tsunamis, which destroyed many coastal cities. As a result, the Study Group on Guidelines for the First Steps and Emergency Triage to Manage Elderly Evacuees quickly established guidelines enabling non-medical care providers (e.g. volunteer, helpers, and family members taking care of elderly relatives), public health nurses, or certified social workers to rapidly detect illnesses in elderly evacuees, and 20 000 booklets were distributed to care providers in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures. The aim of this publication is to reduce susceptibility to disaster-related illnesses (i.e. infectious diseases, exacerbation of underlying illnesses, and mental stress) and deaths in elderly evacuees.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Infection Control Sciences, Kitasato University, Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iijima
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuzuya
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokono
authors.forename: Shigeto
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morimoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D004189:Disaster Planning; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D012066:Relief Work / Q000592:standards*; D014218:Triage / Q000592:standards*; D014838:Volunteers