Summary: To devise a means of reducing the burden of transportation of medical team members from unaffected areas to the vicinity of disaster-stricken areas in the event of a disaster. In the 2024 training exercise for medical activities during a major earthquake, we planned to transport the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT), four teams from Hyogo Prefecture and two from other prefectures, from freight stations in Kobe and Osaka outside the disaster area to Sagami freight station in the assumed disaster area using freight trains. In this case, high-height vehicles, such as ambulances, were placed in open-top containers, while low-height vehicles, such as DMAT cars, were placed in 20-ft general-purpose containers. The team members were to meet at Sagami Freight Station by the Shinkansen bullet train the day after the vehicles were dispatched, to receive them in anticipation of their arrival. After the training, the return trip was also conducted in the same manner. The vehicles were placed in containers at the departure terminal station and shipped two days before the training. The team members entered the affected area by bullet train the day before the training exercise. Half of them received their vehicles as scheduled, but the other half had to change the receiving station due to freight train delays. All the vehicles participated in the large-scale earthquake medical operation training on time without any problems. There were no delays or other problems on the return trip. Emergency vehicle transport by freight train was feasible and showed the potential to help reduce the workload of the crews. Although there were delays on the outbound route, the arrival time was more predictable than self-driving on the expressway, and could be handled by changing the receiving station.
Shimadzu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.