Application of a Telemedical Tool in an Isolated Island and a Disaster Area of the Great East Japan Earthquake
Makoto Yoshizawa, Tomoyuki Yambe, Norihiro Sugita, Satoshi KONNO, Makoto ABE, Noriyasu Homma, Futoshi TAKEI, Katsuhiko YOKOTA, Yoshifumi Saijo, Shin‐ichi Nitta · IEICE Transactions on Communications · 2012
The present paper has reported a case study of the “Electronic Doctor's Bag” which is a telemedical tool for home-visit medical services using the mobile communications environment in an isolated island and a disaster area hit by the tsunami. Clinical trials performed for 20 patients around a clinic in Miyako Island indicated that the communication functions of the proposed system were highly evaluated by patients as well as medical staffs. However, the system still has room for further improvement in operability, portability and mobile communication environment. The experience at the shelter in Kesennuma City suggested that mobile healthcare tools such as the proposed system will be strongly required when there are no or only paramedical staffs after leaving of emergency medical staffs.