Due to the earthquake, 43 hospitals in Kumamoto Prefecture are facing problems such as power outages, water shortages, and interruption of medical gas supplies. Patients must be urgently transferred to other hospitals, with medical staff stating frankly, "It feels like a field hospital here right now."
Hospitals in places such as Yatsushiro City, Uki City, and Kumamoto City suffered damage during the earthquake, resulting in power outages and other disruptions. Some hospitals have called on the public to avoid visiting for non-emergency reasons on the 29th, and have suspended all scheduled admissions in order to maintain the hospital's normal medical system operations.
A large number of people were sent to the hospital for fractures and other injuries caused by falling furniture during the earthquake. A hospital in Minami Ward, Kumamoto City, has 400 beds, but is already near capacity and must coordinate with nearby hospitals to see if they can take additional patients.
Kumamoto South Hospital in Matsuhashi Town, Uki City also lost power due to the earthquake and stopped operating from midnight on the 29th. All inpatients need to be urgently transferred to other hospitals. To prevent greater damage from aftershocks, beds are temporarily moved outdoors, where mats are laid for patients to wait.
According to the hospital director, the facility now feels like a field hospital. The hospital is currently searching for hospitals that can take in patients. Some patients require ventilators, but at present they can only barely rely on two emergency generators to power the ventilators and other life-support equipment.