By Healthcare Facilities Today

Thailand's Public Health Ministry is eyeing the operations of a model hospital in Japan with the intention of incorporating its disaster-management procedures into the Thai healthcare system, according to an article on The Nation website.

The initiative follows the ministry's September visit to Ishinomaki Red Cross Hospital - the only designated disaster hospital within the Ishinomaki Medical Zone that was undamaged by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the article said. 

Imamura Masatoshi, the hospital's division head, said the hospital's management had learned a great deal from the 2011 tsunami and had now set up a disaster-emergency unit staffed by a team of five permanent medical team. 

The team, who work alongside university experts and related agencies are not at the hospital to treat patients, but to research and gather information that will help formulate and streamline the hospital's disaster-management procedures, the article quoted Masatoshi as saying. 

The hospital also annually arranges two major drills, each of which serves as a full rehearsal for disaster mitigation and patient evacuation, said Masatoshi, adding that some divisions of the hospital also held their own weekly drills to check their disaster readiness. 

According to the article, Thai officials cited the Emergency Management "72-hour-kit" that Japan created to educate the public about how to survive for 72 hour after a disaster. The kit explains how to prepare for a disaster, the best escape routes, the safest places in an emergency, and medical considerations, among others. 

Read the article.