Research for Community Oriented Approach for Comprehensive Healthcare in Emergency Situations (COACHES)

Japan has a high prevalence of natural disasters and it is essential that local and national governments and other organisations develop effective means of handling the impacts of disasters and the resulting emergencies. A research team led by Professor Mari Kinoshita based within the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Kochi in Japan has helped propose a system called the Community Oriented Approach for Comprehensive Healthcare in Emergency Situations (COACHES) that has the potential to be implemented across Japan and lead to more effective and efficient responses to the impacts of disasters and emergencies. Kinoshita has identified shortfalls with current methods of accumulating information about a disaster affected population and, through COACHES, wants to detect hidden or missed data and provide a whole picture of the situation to be able to provide more optimised relief. COACHES provides information to relief personnel that is vital in an emergency situation, including data on where the affected people are located and how they are doing at the present time, which enables rescue and relief teams to prioritise according to the most urgent need. Data is recorded so that it can be reviewed and analysed later, enabling continuous improvements.