Disaster preparedness for earthquakes in hemodialysis units in Gyeongju and Pohang, South Korea

Yoo, Kyung Don; Kim, Hyo Jin; Kim, Yunmi; Park, Jae Yoon; Shin, Sung Joon; Han, Seung Hyeok; Kim, Dong Ki; Lim, Chun Soo; Kim, Yon Su

Hemodialysis water treatment can experience two major problems in disaster situations: first, there may be a disruption in the supply of raw water; second, water quality control problems may arise. During the Kobe earthquake in 1995, more than 20% of dialysis hospitals experienced cursive destruction. The average time to recover the water treatment system was 12.8 days, and it took up to 37 days. A total of 43 hospitals received water wagon service [7, 13] . Dr. Ikegaya, at Yaizu City Hospital Shizuoka Japan, introduced the double water piping circuit for hemodialysis using a well-water system [13] . Importantly, immediate contact with the appropriate technical engineer is critical to manage the water treatment system. If more time is needed to repair or calibrate the water supply, dialysis staff should have a schedule change plan with the option of temporarily transferring patients to a nearby cooperative dialysis center where dialysis maintenance is possible.