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

With the help of a local dialysis clinic in Pohang, we share the experience of hemodialysis units in South Korea; an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 occurred on 15 November 2017 at 02:30 pm. Pohang D dialysis clinic was located 4 km from the epicenter. The earthquake induced a power outage but fortunately did not damage the building. At the time of the earthquake, 15 dialysis patients were receiving treatment and the center contained nurses, nephrologists, and five other staff members. Due to the power failure, a reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment machine and the pump for the RO storage tank stopped. The dialysis water supply interruption message appeared on the hemodialysis machines, and the blood circulation mode was automatically changed. D clinic had a backup generator that supplies power to only the blood dialyzer, in addition to the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) installed separately from the hospital. Hemodialysis was stopped by reinfusion with saline solution. The D clinic was located on the fourth floor. Patients in the first building with the ability to move were evacuated independently, and patients who could not move were evacuated with assistance. After confirming that all patients had been evacuated, the staff also evacuated. The total evacuation time was 02:55 pm. There were no aftershocks, and the staff returned to the hospital for cleaning. The dialysis staff rescheduled patients and finally left the clinic at 03:30 pm.