Japan to Enhance Heatstroke, Cold Protection for Disaster Evacuees

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)–Japan will enhance heatstroke and cold protection measures at disaster evacuation centers under a revision of its basic disaster management plan decided Tuesday. The revised plan, which serves as the cornerstone of disaster response measures by the central and local governments, calls for such measures after residents in many parts of Japan had to spend long hours at evacuation centers under tsunami warnings and advisories following a powerful earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in July last year. According to the Cabinet Office, it took some 32 hours for the tsunami warnings and advisories to be completely lifted. The prolonged evacuation during the summer caused some evacuees to be taken to hospital due to suspected heatstroke. The national government’s Central Disaster Management Council, chaired by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, therefore decided to revise the basic plan, urging local governments to stockpile supplies such as drinking water, cold protection gear and tents for shade at designated emergency evacuation sites to protect evacuees from heatstroke and cold. The revised plan calls for installing satellite telephones and security cameras at evacuation sites so that evacuees can be accounted for swiftly in the event of a disaster. Also requested is improved accessibility, such as creating ramps for wheelchairs, to allow elderly people and people requiring special care to evacuate smoothly. Regarding the government’s new list of “victim certification coordinators,” the revised basic plan calls on local government officials with expertise in disaster damage assessment surveys of homes and issuing disaster victims’ certificates to register with the list at ordinary times. The list will be used by the central and prefectural governments in the event of a disaster to choose officials to be sent to affected areas. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]