Japanese Red Cross Hospital
Three students from the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing discuss their experiences of visiting a Red Cross Hospital in Kobe, Japan.
In June 2017 we visited Konan Women's University, in Kobe, Japan for 7 days. The purpose of the trip was to experience healthcare in a different culture and think about how we could use this in our own practice. One of the highlights of our stay was visiting one of the 92 Japanese Red Cross Hospitals. The Kobe Red Cross Hospital is independently funded by the Red Cross organisation. This is different to healthcare in the rest of Japan which is funded by an insurance contribution to the Government with 30% of the cost of treatment being paid following treatment.
The main purpose of the Kobe Japanese Red Cross Hospital is to provide disaster management services. Earthquakes and tsunamis are common in Japan. In 1995 The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of Kobe City claimed 6 434 lives. At this time, the Red Cross hospital in Kobe had 100 beds, with many volunteers giving aid. However as this aid was not coordinated management of healthcare services was ineffective. Lessons learned from this event saw the establishment of Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) across Japan. These teams are prepared for natural disasters and emergency situations and work alongside the main emergency hospital in the affected area. The DMAT consists of one doctor, two nurses and one logistician who are dispatched within forty-eight hours.
We were privileged to see a video live stream of a Red Cross Hospital in collaboration with the DMAT responding to the 2011 earthquake. Within forty-eight minutes healthcare staff had organised three triage areas based on the red, yellow and green levels of severity. In addition three hundred beds were placed in outpatient department where there were built in oxygen and suction access points in the walls of these areas.
Whilst at the Red Cross Hospital we visited the emergency information centre. This area provides a live feed to a central information hub. This central information hub coordinates all the emergency services and monitors the availability of hospital beds throughout the local area. This means the most appropriate patient-centred service are identified allowing patients to be transferred and treated within the correct speciality in a timely way.
As well as providing disaster relief, the Red Cross Hospital in Kobe provides acute hospital services within six wards, an ICU and operating theatres. Whilst at the hospital, we visited a serene and highly efficient, well planned A+E department. We noticed the CT scanner and theatre was attached to the main A+E. This is beneficial for patients requiring Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI) and other emergency procedures as they spent less time in transit and more time receiving patient-centred care. Patient care is assisted by a unique live video feed from cameras inside the ambulance allowing hospital staff to view real time footage of all care given This allows them to prepare equipment and specialised services before the patient arrives.
Our visit to the Japanese Red Cross hospital can be summed up by their mission statement which aims to, support people who are suffering, protect human life, and maintain health and dignity under any circumstances. This is emphasised by the aftercare the Red Cross provides in relation to the ‘Build Back Better’ programme for disaster survivors. This includes temporary accommodation, food and water delivery, provision of education and play spaces for the children in the local community. In addition, holistic care is provided such bathing, which is an important part of the Japanese culture. This contributes to an interesting concept of Post-Traumatic Growth by supporting people, who have been affected by disasters to grow in positive ways. These include becoming more understanding and sympathetic to others who are coping with traumatic events and supporting people to contribute to their community in the future.
The experience has let us to reflect on how some of the practices and the philosophy of the Red Cross Hospital could be utilised in the UK following recent events, such as the Grenfell Tower fire and the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester.
Elizabeth Appleton (Second Year Occupational Therapy Student)
Eva Kralova (Second Year Adult Nursing Student
Eilidh Mount (Third Year Adult Nursing Student)
Supported by Andrew Southgate (Senior Lecturer, Adult Nursing)