Japan Calls for Makeshift Beds from When Evacuation Centers Open

   Tokyo, June 28 (Jiji Press)--Japan decided Friday to urge municipalities to set up makeshift beds and partitions at disaster evacuation centers from when they open, based on lessons learned from the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake.
   The measure, aimed at improving living conditions at evacuation centers, is featured in a revision to the government's basic disaster reduction plan adopted at a meeting of the government's Central Disaster Management Council.
   According to the government, some evacuation centers did not use cardboard beds following the 7.6-magnitude quake in central Japan mainly due to difficulties changing the facility layouts.
   The revised basic disaster reduction plan says that local governments should make active use of cardboard beds. It also calls for setting up sanitary facilities such as mobile "toilet trailers," designed with sanitary and crime prevention considerations in mind, in addition to the swift construction of temporary toilets.
   It underscores the need for disaster response preparations in regions with aging communities, such as areas struck by the Noto Peninsula quake. Local governments are asked to coordinate with public health nurses, welfare workers and nonprofit organizations before disasters so that they can learn about residents in ordinary times and to consider how much personal information to share with such actors in times of disasters.

(2024/06/28-14:16)

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