Changes in doctor helicopter activities and air medical transport in large-scale disasters in Japan

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Disaster Medicine Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 32 - 38
• Main Authors: Motomura Tomokazu, Kujo Masanori, 平林 篤志, Nakamura Mitsunobu, Fujitsuka Kenji, Machida Hiroshi, 小谷 聡司
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: 一般社団法人 日本災害医学会 29.02.2024; Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine
• Subjects: aviation operation coordination department; doctor helicopter coordination department; Great East Japan Earthquake; Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake; Kumamoto Earthquake; ドクターヘリ調整部; 東日本大震災; 熊本地震; 航空運用調整班; 阪神淡路大震災
• ISSN: 2189-4035; 2434-4214
• DOI: 10.51028/jjdisatmed.29.1_32

Japan’s Doctor Heli (DH) project was introduced in 2001, and disaster medical assistance teams (DMAT) were introduced in 2005. Both initiatives were inspired by the lessons learned from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. Since then, the use of DH and Self-Defense Force aircraft for air medical transport in response to disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and the Kumamoto Earthquake in 2016 has been shown to be effective but many problems have become apparent. Given the expected Nankai Trough and Tokyo inland earthquakes, it would be beneficial for society to review and share the progress of air medical transport, including DH, during previous disasters. When the number of DH deployments in Japan was still small, plans were formulated to transport patients outside of disaster areas using Self-Defense Force aircraft. However, by April 2022, DH had expanded to include 56 aircraft deployed across all 47 prefectures. Furthermore, the strategy for disaster medical care in Japan has been shifting from “transporting patients from the disaster area to outside” to “injecting resources into the disaster area to respond within the disaster area.” The findings indicate that air medical transport is changing to focus more on DH. 我が国のドクターヘリ（以下DH）事業は2001年、日本DMATは2005年より導入されたが、いずれも阪神淡路大震災（1995年）の教訓がその大きな要因の1つとなった。以降、東日本大震災（2011年）、熊本地震（2016年）などの災害対応においてDHや自衛隊機などを使用した空路搬送は大きな効果を示したが同時に多くの課題が明らかとなった。来る南海トラフ地震、首都直下型地震を前にこれまでの災害時のDHを含む空路医療搬送の変遷について小括し進捗を共有することは社会の利になるだろう。まだ国内のDH配備数が少なかった時期には自衛隊機を使用した被災地外への広域医療搬送計画を軸に戦術が組まれていた。しかし2022年4月DHは全都道府県に56機の配備をするまで拡大した。さらに国内の災害医療の戦略として「被災地内から外への患者搬送」から「被災地内へ資源を投入して現地で戦う」への重心のシフトも相まって、空路医療搬送のあり方はDHを軸に遂行する方針へ変化を続けている。