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Deadly Cold Weather Strikes Tsunami-Hit Hospital

   Henry Ridgwell | Tagajo, Japan  March 22, 2011

Photo: Henry Ridgwell

   Nurse Tomimo Goto prepares medicine in the darkened ward of the Sen-en
   Hospital in Tagajo

   For the survivors of the tsunami that struck Japan earlier this month,
   the  daily  struggle to keep warm and find enough food continues.Ā  In
   the  town  of  Tagajo  on  the  coast of Miyagi Prefecture, the Sen-en
   Hospital has been without electricity, gas or running water for nearly
   two  weeks.  There are shortages of basic medicines.Ā  Several elderly
   patients have died because of the freezing temperatures in the wards.
   A  90-year-old  patient at the Tagajo Sen-en hospital screams out that
   she  is  cold. The temperature inside is a few degrees above freezing.
   On  some nights, it drops below zero Celsius. There is no electricity,
   gas or water.
   The cold and the shortage of medicine have claimed the lives of twelve
   elderly  patients  since  the waves roared through the lower floors of
   this hospital.
   Deputy Head Doctor Yoichi Hashiguchi tucks more blankets around one of
   the  50  patients  still  under  his care. He says conditions are very
   tough.
   āMost of the patients here have had strokes or cerebral infections, so
   they  canāt  move by themselves,ā he says. āThe thing we need the most
   is  the  special milk, which we feed them through tubes. We donāt have
   any of that so they arenāt getting enough nutrition,ā he said.
   In  the  darkened wards the nurses do the best they can. They salvaged
   what medicines they could from the wreckage.
   Theyāve  begun  heating bottles of water on a makeshift propane stove,
   to use as hot water bottles.
   Thereās no laundry service and while there are enough clean bedclothes
   to last a few days, dirty sheets are starting to pile up.
   āItās  really cold and I canāt do much for my patients," she says, "So
   I  get  really depressed when I get home. Today I felt like I couldnāt
   do  anything,  it makes me so sad,ā she adds. āBut if I look miserable
   at work the patients will get more worried. So I always try to smile,ā
   said Tomomi Goto, one of the nurses working 18-hour shifts.
   The floor of the nurses' station is covered with Japanese futons, thin
   mattresses on which the nurses grab a few hours sleep.
   With  their  cars in the hospital grounds wrecked by the tsunami and a
   gasoline  shortage gripping the area, they canāt easily get home.Ā  So
   they stay here refusing to abandon their patients.
   Doctor  Satsuki  Ishigaki  says  the conditions are starting to take a
   toll  on the staff. āAll the doctors and patients also suffered in the
   tsunami.Ā   Many  lost  their houses too. So everyone is very stressed
   and itās bad for our health too,ā she said.
   A  nationwide  gasoline  shortage  has  delayed  the delivery of vital
   supplies.
   The  army  has  installed a generator, which operates for two hours in
   the  evening and is a vital window for the doctors to perform the most
   important tasks.
   Then, darkness descends on the Sen-en hospital.
   Doctor  Hashiguchi uses a solar light, designed for use in the garden,
   to  do  his  nighttime rounds. He says he and the other staff are just
   doing  their jobs. āI really want to get things back to normal as soon
   as possible and bring all the patients back here,ā he says. āI want to
   reopen the hospital again and support the people of this town.ā
   About  200  patients  were  transferred to nearby hospitals. Those who
   remain are the most serious cases.
   In  normal  times,  Japan  has  a state-of the art health service; its
   people live the longest in the world.Ā  But here in Miyagi prefecture,
   normality has gone.
   The tsunami itself took tens of thousands of lives. It has left behind
   a deadly legacy for the most vulnerable of those who survived.

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