First aid stations and patient demand in tsunami-affected areas of Iwate Prefecture following the Great East Japan Earthquake

We report the number of first aid stations established in tsunami-affected areas following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and the number of patient consultations, and discuss the demand and supply of medical services in a tsunami disaster. A total of 76,952 medical records from 188 first aid stations in coastal areas of Iwate Prefecture were analyzed and the numbers of daily consultations were calculated. There were only 25 consultations on the day of the disaster, the number rapidly increased to 1603 consultations seven days after the disaster, and reached a peak of 2090 consultations twelve days after the disaster. Request of prescribed drugs for daily use accounted for approximately 30-50% of all consultations during first four weeks after the disaster. We noted the number of first aid stations in each municipality and analyzed the number of consultations during the first four weeks after the disaster, calculated per 1000 residents in each municipality. In municipalities where hospitals and clinics were damaged, the number of first aid stations per 1000 residents and number of consultations during the first four weeks correlated well with the proportion of the resident population in the flooding area. The municipalities with extensive damage needed three first aid stations and 700 consultations per 1000 flooding population during the first four weeks after the disaster.