The Role of Nurses in the Reclassification Exercise of the Japan Disaster Relief Search and Rescue Team (the JDR Rescue Team) - Analysis Based on v. Henderson’s Theory of 14 Basic Needs

Introduction: The medical unit of the Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team comprises five members, including physicians and nurses, who are responsible for providing medical care to rescued victims and managing team members’ health, including rescue dogs'. Unlike other USAR teams, JDR’s distinctive feature is nurse participation; however, the specific contributions of these nurses remain unevaluated. This study aimed to assess nurses’ contributions during USAR activities using V. Henderson’s 14 Basic Needs as an evaluation framework. Methods: Four nurse researchers with Medical Manager qualifications evaluated nursing care involvement across nine USAR team roles (leadership, rescue workers, structural assessors, handlers, rescue dogs, communication staff, coordinators, medical staff, and local staff). The evaluation used Henderson’s 14 Basic Needs, rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1: no attention; 5: very high attention). Statistical analysis employed R software for descriptive statistics and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: The ICC(3,1) demonstrated high agreement at 0.882 (95% CI: 0.849-0.911). Analysis of three domains revealed: “Basic Physiological Functions” averaged 4.95 (SD=0.224) across all roles; “Environmental Adjustment” averaged 4.56 (SD=0.63), with human roles scoring higher (mean 4.75-5.0) than rescue dogs (mean 4.0); “Social Aspects” showed lower scores (mean 3.9, SD=1.11), particularly for rescue dogs (mean 2.8). “Beliefs and values” scored highest for local staff (mean 5.0) compared to other roles (mean 1.0-2.0). Conclusion: Nurses’ contributions demonstrate a hierarchical priority system emphasizing physiological function management while maintaining environmental adjustment attention. Although social aspects scored lower, this reflects the acute phase of disaster response, with high scores for local staff in “beliefs and values,” highlighting cultural considerations in international operations. The findings demonstrate that nursing practice in USAR activities encompasses fundamental nursing elements while prioritizing life-sustaining care, enhancing overall team performance through physician collaboration.