30 Years Since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: Where Is Hyogo Prefecture’s Disaster Medical System Now?

Introduction: Eight years after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995, Hyogo Prefecture established the Hyogo Emergency Medical Center(HEMC) with the Hyogo Prefectural Emergency Medical Operations Center, which serves as a leading facility for disaster and emergency medical care. We would like to take a look at the current state of Hyogo Prefecture’s disaster medical care system in 2025, 30 years after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Methods: We will check the official records to confirm the role played by the HEMC, which is the prefecture’s record and core facility. Results: In Hyogo prefecture, at present, 20 disaster base hospitals have been designated in 10 disaster medical regions. The disaster medical system is operated around two councils: the Hyogo Prefecture Disaster and Emergency Medical System Management Council and the Hyogo Prefecture Disaster Base Hospital Liaison Council. At present, both of these councils have their secretariats at the HEMC, and they are working not only on medical care but also on strengthening cooperation with health, welfare, and other related organizations. In fiscal 2023, they are working to strengthen the exercise system centered on the Exercise Planning and Management Subcommittee established in the Liaison Council of Disaster Base Hospitals, etc., and are working to build a business continuity management system (BCMS). This subcommittee and local health and medical authorities have begun to assess the earthquake resistance of individual hospitals’ inpatient facilities, the risk of power loss and countermeasures, and the status of water use and countermeasures for water outages, and are working to compile a list of these vulnerabilities in normal times. Conclusion: Starting with the establishment of each disaster base hospital BCP, they are now working towards the development of BCMS at the regional and community level in the fields of health, medical care, and welfare.