The Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake struck on September 6, 2018, with a magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum seismic intensity of 7. It was a major disaster causing great human and physical damage, including landslides in mountains and forested hills, as well as power outages in nearly all areas of Hokkaido.
The Hokkaido prefectural government dispatched Disaster Psychiatric Assistance Teams (DPATs) to provide disaster mental health services immediately after the disaster. As providers of mental health services for disaster victims (residents), psychiatric care facilities functioned as usual even after the disaster occurred, and the DPAT operations were concluded within a short period of time. However, DPATs have continued to provide technical support for mental healthcare as part of municipal health services to date. In addition, they have regularly been dispatched to provide mental healthcare services, such as individual interviews and health education, to public servants of disaster-stricken municipalities.
In Hokkaido, a delay in organizing DPATs caused confusion about their operation procedures and communication structure in the initial phase, and the prefectural government was forced to request other prefectural governments to dispatch DPATs. One year after the disaster, a review of the DPAT operations revealed issues unique to the large land area of Hokkaido. In the future, through cooperation with the Hokkaido prefectural government and pertinent organizations, we intend to establish a system that can cope with future disasters.
<Author's abstract>
Mental Health Care Activities in the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake
Hokkaido Prefectural Mental Health and Welfare Center
Psychiatria et Neurologia Japonica
122: 370-377, 2020
<Keywords:mental health, DPAT>