title: 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.
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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Soma Central Hospital, Fukushima, Japan.|Department of Disaster and Comprehensive Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koshiba
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Soma Central Hospital, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Takamitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishiuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akaihata
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haga
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Soma Central Hospital, Fukushima, Japan.|Department of Disaster and Comprehensive Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.affiliation: Department of EBM Research, Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.|Iwaki Meisei University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008503:Medical Staff / Q000600:supply & distribution* / Q000639:trends; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends
keywords: Chronic kidney disease; Dialysis; Disaster; Medical staff; Radiation; Renal replacement therapy; Shortage