Nearly 30 percent of hospitals in Japan, including specially designated hospitals for emergencies, are located in areas at risk of flooding by rivers, a government panel survey showed Sunday, underscoring the need to fully grasp all the hazards in order to continue operating during disasters.
The research panel of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare found the risk in 221 facilities out of 765 so-called disaster base hospitals as of late August 2022. These hospitals are equipped to provide medical care to patients around the clock in natural disasters and also have helipads and specially trained medical staff.
The panel found as well that among the 7,406 other hospitals not designated as disaster base hospitals, 2,044 are situated in flood-risk areas.
It analyzed the data of hospitals' locations and all the areas designated by the government as at risk of flooding.
By prefecture, Tottori Prefecture found that all its four disaster base hospitals are in the flood-risk areas, while Toyama Prefecture saw six out of eight.
The ministry said all the disaster base hospitals have already drawn up manuals that detail measures on operations in the event of a disaster. The manuals are required by the government.
But Hiroyuki Sasaki, an associate professor of Tohoku University's International Research Institute of Disaster Science, who was involved in the survey, said the disaster preparedness of hospitals in Japan is focused instead on earthquake mitigation measures.
"Steps are urgently needed to address flooding, which has been on the rise in recent years," said Sasaki.
