The Establishment of a Crisis Management System in Tokyo and the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT)
The experiences of the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 and the sarin gas
attacks on the Tokyo subway system of the same year prompted the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government (TMG) to undertake a range of disaster prevention
and management measures. These measures include suppositions of and relevant
responses to the occurrence of a major earthquake directly beneath the
Tokyo area, measures to combat nuclear, chemical and biological (NBC) attacks,
the launching of the Simple Triage and Rapid Transport (START) system based
on the very latest available information, and a major revision of its Manual
for Disaster Countermeasures.
In November 2003, the Bureau of Social Welfare of the Tokyo Metropolitan
Government announced the formation of Disaster Medical Assistance Teams
(the Tokyo DMAT) as a priority project for FY2004. In December 2003, the
Tokyo Disaster Medical System Council (TDMS), consisting of members from
the TMG, TMG Association of Medical Doctors, TMG Disaster Medical Facilities,
the Tokyo Fire Department and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department,
was also set up to examine a host of disaster-related issues from organizational
composition to reparation for disaster victims. The DMAT teams specialize
in on-site rapid response medical assistance to victims and include medical
doctors and facilities that can provide on-the-spot emergency medical treatment,
negating the necessity of transporting victims to hospitals before they
are able to receive treatment. Each team consists of one medical doctor,
two nurses and one support staff whose main collective role is to provide
emergency medical aid to victims and rescue team workers. DMAT team members
are required to undergo training and attend lectures, and there are currently
90 registered team members in the Tokyo area.
The TMG is presently exerting the utmost efforts to consolidate and enhance
its crisis management system and personnel by providing a range of disaster-related
work experience and training programs.
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