The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan have suggested local governments establish Health, Medical, and Welfare Coordination Headquarters at the time of disaster. Gathering and processing information is one of the key functions of the headquarters. The study aims to clarify the required functions of information for the headquarters.

A series of interview surveys and observations were conducted, including for local governments and experts in disaster response. The contents were analyzed and required standard functions and procedures had been extracted.

The most important aspect of information gathering is its use in decision-making in matching needs and demands with resources. Needs and demands are based on damage and situation of the casualties. Resources can be categorized into human, material, financial, and informational. Because the headquarters have to process much information, it is important to clarify the objective and strategy of disaster response. The headquarters gather various quantitative and qualitative information using information and communication technology, telephone, meeting and other methods. Qualitative information can be categorized as: expected, surprising (unexpected), and unusual (rare) contents. For expected contents, quantification or estimation of needs from information in normal time or limited information immediately after the disaster and displaying or further analyzing by geographic information systems is useful. By surprising contents or case reports, additional responses or strategies will need to be reviewed.

The procedure, including information gathering and decision-making, follows the OODA (observe, orient, decide, act) loop. According to our mail survey of all 47 prefectural local governments in 2019, 89% were planning to establish the headquarters. However, only 36% had prepared a manual. Using the results of this study, a standard strategic manual for the operations of the headquarters is being developed and brushed up.

Providing culturally sensitive disaster nursing is essential to enhance survivors’ resilience, especially in Pacific Rim island countries, which are home to 80% of the disaster victims of the world. Until now, most studies have focused on immigrant culture or language, and few have explored the idea of disaster nursing adjusted to the affected area’s culture.

The study explores public health nurses’ (PHNs) tacit knowledge regarding culturally sensitive disaster nursing focusing on the Pacific Rim island countries. This first report is the result of the study that clarified how Japanese PHNs, as relief nurses, considered the local culture to provide care to survivors in Japan.

Study participants were nine PHNs from seven prefectures, who provided care to survivors of natural disasters that occurred in 2011–2017 in Japan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with questions such as, “Which culture did you consider while providing care to survivors in each disaster phase?” Data were analyzed qualitatively and inductively and were sorted according to the four disaster phases. The study was approved by the ethical committee at the National Institution of Public Health.

In the acute phase, PHNs utilized close relationships between local residents and health care providers to collect information. They balanced local habits and the prevention of secondary health damage in the subacute phase; for example, balancing sanitation habits and prevention of contaminations. Additionally, they, as strangers to the community, played a role in alleviating tensions between residents under stress. During the recovery phase, they strengthened survivors’ attachment to the area.

PHNs dispatched from the outside of the affected areas must be culturally malleable to adjust their practice to the local context. Being strangers in an affected area can be advantageous if they utilize their position effectively.