A Japanese Way of Mental Support of Disaster Victims’ Families: Development of Japan DMORT (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team) Association

Summary: In 2005, a major train crash with 107 victims occurred in the Hyogo Prefecture. The victims’ families reported not having been attended to by the medical community. In 2006, various medical professionals formed the Japanese Research Society for DMORT to discuss this problem. Victim family care was exclusively done by the police. DMORT approached the police to collaborate and develop a methodology for mental health support for the victims’ families. Various activities were pursued: 11 closed seminars with victim families of various disasters, 30 training courses for disaster responders, frequent workshops in medical or nursing conferences, participation in local disaster drills, and mental health care manuals for relief workers. Since 2009, DMORT has developed a relationship with the Hyogo prefectural police, but in several disasters in other prefectures in the early 2010s, the local police rejected DMORT’s assistance. Furthermore, the ‘research society’ status confused disaster-affected people. In the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, upon the advice of the Hyogo police department, the Kumamoto police allowed DMORT to provide relief work for the families of 17 victims. This experience made the police recognize their limited care without medical knowledge, while DMORT recognized the necessity of legal qualification. In 2017, the Japan DMORT Association was established as a general incorporated association. After the reorganization, DMORT made official agreements with ten prefectural police departments and became official members of crime/disaster victims support liaison councils in several prefectures. Regarding disaster relief activities with police, DMORT conducted a 10-day operation to attend to three families in the Atami mudflow disaster in 2021 and an 11-day operation to attend to 126 families in the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in 2024. DMORT aims to provide mental support to disaster victims’ families, in collaboration with the police, and to promote a DMORT mindset among disaster responders.