The Great East Japan Earthquake: Tohoku University Hospital’s efforts and lessons learned

As you may know, the 111th Annual Congress of the Japan Surgical Society was held in the form of the publication of the accepted abstracts in our journal. Following discussion, the Board of Directors of the Japan Surgical Society concluded that the Society should organize some means of representing the Congress. In this regard, it was decided that I would deliver a lecture. After considering what I should speak about, I decided that I would offer a lecture under the title “The Great East Japan Earthquake: Tohoku University Hospital’s Efforts and Lessons Learned,” as I was in the middle of the affected area for approximately 2 months. The Great East Japan Earthquake infl icted different types of damage over a vast area. In the Tohoku region, for example, individual prefectures such as Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima all have suffered in different ways. I understand that Ibaraki, in the Kanto region, also suffered serious damage (Figs. 1, 2). My own hands-on information during and after the earthquake is related to Miyagi. Although the information regarding such a limited area may not be applicable to the other affected prefectures, I would like to report on what I experienced during those 2 months and my feelings from the experience. First, I would like to take a look at the history of the Society’s general assemblies, or congresses (Fig. 3). A wide variety of events have occurred in its long history from the fi rst general assembly to the present day. For example, the fi fth general assembly was cancelled owing to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. The format of the 25th general assembly was similar to what we have now. The Great Kanto Earthquake happened in September of the previous year, but the 25th assembly was held despite it, after much effort. The 44th general assembly was cancelled because of the impact of the Pacifi c War. This was the second time that the Society’s general assembly was cancelled. The next general assembly was held in the form of a paper presentation, as we have done for the 111th Annual Congress, owing to the intensity of the war. This is the second time that we have held this event in the form of a paper presentation. The Great East Japan Earthquake was not just an earthquake; it also triggered a tsunami, which was followed by a nuclear power station accident and then planned blackouts. This forced the Society to decide that the 111th Annual Congress should be held in the form of the publication of the accepted abstracts in our journal. I think that this must have been a tough decision for Professor Nagawa, who had worked very hard to make the Congress possible.