Help disabled and elderly disaster survivors

  

AAR JAPAN has been making regular visits to provide medical treatment to earthquake survivors on the Oshika Peninsula, an isolated region of Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture.

 

The Oshika Peninsula suffered tremendous damage in the earthquake. Medical teams from Tokai University and the Japanese Red Cross Society are taking care of patients in the northern part of the peninsula, while a Self-Defense Force medical team is working in the south. However, at present their support focuses only on people at evacuation centers, and does not reach survivors who have chosen to remain in their homes.

 

Some residents cannot travel to receive health care at evacuation centers due to old age or problems with their legs, while others have not been able to obtain information on where to go. Health workers from all over the country have been assigned to visit homes in different areas of Ishinomaki City, performing check-ups and inspecting damage, but the system has not yet been able to reach the Oshika Peninsula.

 

To meet this need, AAR JAPAN formed a medical team led by Dr. Toshiaki YASUDA, a long-time medical practitioner in the area. Dr. YASUDA is supported by two nurses, Moeko NAGAI and Mika SEKII, with Eijiro MURAKOSHI serving as administrative staff. The team began making regular visits to provide medical treatment in homes and evacuation centers on April 9^th.

 

Many survivors remain in their homes on the peninsula, where our team is working with about 640 people in the Makino-hama, Takeno-hama, Kitsunezaki-hama, Sudachi, Fukiura, Kozumi-hama and Kobuchi-hama areas. In coordination with the Red Cross Society and governmental agencies supervising medical support in Ishinomaki City, Dr. YASUDA has been making regular medical visits on weekends, while providing services such as care for chronic illness, prevention against infectious diseases, and mental support on weekdays.


 

  

  

When visiting homes and evacuation centers, our team first coordinates with the regional Emergency Headquarters, or visit homes that have been introduced by other survivors in the area.

 

On April 16^th, our team visited an elderly couple sheltered in their home in the Makino-hama area of the Higashihama ward. Though both were in good health, the wife was worried about her blood pressure, and they were both relieved when no problem was found.

 

In addition to performing check-ups, we listen to survivors’ concerns, ask about difficulties they are having, and inquire about any supplies they may need. In one house the toilet was connected to a septic tank, and the pump truck had not come since the earthquake. When a truck came to the evacuation center nearby, the homeowners were told that the truck could not come to individual houses. While the tank did not pose a threat to hygiene when we visited, we informed the staff in charge of the evacuation center of the situation, and asked for appropriate measures to be taken before the problem worsened.

 

We informed survivors that we would visit regularly to provide check-ups and ask about any difficulties they were having. When one survivor replied with watery eyes, “That will be really helpful. Thank you,” I realized just what kind of terrible anxiety these people are living with every day.

 

Despite of the enormous difficulties they are facing, the residents of the Oshika Peninsula have been cheerful and warm-hearted, supporting one another in their daily lives. When we visit, they prepare tea and express their thanks, and we find ourselves as much cheered by them as they are by us. We will continue to listen to their appeals, and will endeavor to understand their feelings as we work to maintain their health.

 

  

AAR JAPAN has been supporting the operation of regular bus services in the Oshika Peninsula, an isolated region of Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. AAR-supported buses are operating in Ogihama Ward, which lies at the entry to the peninsula, and Ayukawa Ward in the south.

Prefectural Road No. 2 cuts through the Oshika Peninsula, forming a thoroughfare to hospitals and shopping centers in Ishinomaki’s city center. Regular bus services once ran along the prefectural road, with mid-sized buses connecting residential areas to the main line. However, roads leading to the prefectural road have cracked or subsided due to the March 11^th earthquake, making it impossible to operate mid-sized buses. With so many cars swept away by the tsunami, it is now difficult for people in Ogihama Ward and Ayukawa Ward to go to the hospital, go shopping, or go to school.

  

  

In cooperation with Miyakou Bus Co., Ltd. and Oshika Public Service, AAR JAPAN started operating regular buses on April 10^th, using 10-seater mini-buses that are capable of navigating the narrowed roads. Services have been provided twice a day, with two buses operating in Ogihama Ward and one bus in Ayukawa Ward. All services are provided for free, with the beginning of operation announced by radio and at evacuation centers.

 

In Ogihama Ward, buses run from the peninsula’s Fukiura area to the Japanese Red Cross hospital in the city center. The trip takes one and a half hours, with two round-trips provided daily. On the way, the bus also stops at convenient locations such as elementary schools, junior high schools and shopping centers, as well as at Ishinomaki Station.

 

Speaking with watery eyes, a 75-year-old woman who used the bus told us, “I hadn’t been able to go to the city center since the earthquake. When I heard about the bus service on the radio, I was overjoyed.”

 

At the southern end of the peninsula in Ayukawa Ward, mini-buses travel in and out of the ward’s residential areas to bring people to the bus stop on Prefectural Road No. 2. As more and more people return to their homes from evacuation centers, buses accessible to individual residences are increasingly important, particularly as many elderly people live in the area.

 

In addition to normal twice-daily services, the mini-buses are also used as school buses. AAR JAPAN will continue to provide bus services to enable people in the affected areas to get back to their regular lives as quickly as possible.