『保健医療科学』 2026 Vol.75 No1 p.2-13(2026年2月)
Topics:Recent topics in public health in Japan 2026
< Review / 総説 >
Disaster Health Emergency Assistance Team:Overview, challenges, and prospects
TOMIO Jun1),HAYAKAWA Takahiro2),TAKAOKA Seiko3),IKEDA Kazunori4)
1) Department of Health Crisis Management, National Institute of Public Health
2) Department of Health and Welfare Services, Tochigi Prefecture Government
3) Health Emergency Assistance Department, Japan Public Health Association
4) Wakayama Prefecture Shingu Public Health Center
災害時健康危機管理支援チーム(DHEAT)の現状と課題,今後の展望
冨尾淳1),早川貴裕2),髙岡誠子3),池田和功 4)
1)国立保健医療科学院健康危機管理研究部
2) 栃木県保健福祉部
3) 日本公衆衛生協会健康危機管理支援部
4) 和歌山県新宮保健所
<Abstract>
Large-scale disasters create complex public health challenges that extend beyond medical care, including the maintenance of administrative commands, coordination, and information management. Japan established the Disaster Health Emergency Assistance Team (DHEAT) to address these challenges by supporting local health authorities’ disrupted administrative functions during disasters. Experience from major disasters, particularly the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, revealed that damage to government offices and public health centers can severely impair coordination, decision-making, and the effective use of external support. These incidents emphasized the need for a dedicated mechanism to reinforce the administrative capacity of disaster-affected areas and to serve as a basis for developing the DHEAT. The DHEAT is a nationally standardized framework through which trained personnel from prefectures and designated cities are dispatched to disaster-affected areas to support health, medical care, and welfare administration. Its core function is to reinforce administrative command-and-coordination capacity by supporting prefectural Health, Medical and Welfare Coordination Centers and public health centers. Key activities include information collection and analysis, coordination among response organizations, facilitation of meetings, and support for planning and decision-making, rather than the direct provision of services. Operational experience from multiple disaster responses, including heavy rainfall disasters and the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, demonstrated the role of DHEAT in stabilizing administrative functions during the acute and prolonged response phases. Previous deployments supported inter-organizational collaboration, continuity of coordination under conditions of infrastructure disruption, and effective allocation of limited human and material resources, as disaster situations have evolved. A multitiered training system supports DHEAT operations, emphasizing peacetime capacity building, operational readiness, and leadership development. Training programs are aligned with different levels of responsibility, ranging from basic competencies for public health center staff to advanced coordination roles at the prefectural level. Institutional arrangements, including national and regional coordination councils and mechanisms for early-phase deployment, support inter-prefectural cooperation and strengthen preparedness for future disasters. Ongoing challenges include variability in the structure and positioning of coordination centers across prefectures, constraints on sustaining experienced personnel owing to routine staff rotation, and limitations in preparedness for large-scale, long-term nationwide deployments.Strengthening systems for human resource development, clarifying functional roles within disaster health governance, and enhancing readiness for wide-area disasters remain essential to ensure the continued effectiveness of DHEAT as a core component of Japan’s disaster health response framework.
keywords : command and coordination; Disaster Health Emergency Assistance Team; Health, Medical, and Welfare Coordination Center; public health center
<抄録>
大規模災害が発生した場合,被災した地方自治体では指揮調整機能が混乱し,限られた支援資源の有効活用や被災状況に応じた適正配分が困難となり,健康危機への対応に支障を来すことが懸念される.このような課題に対応するため,被災自治体の保健医療行政における指揮調整機能等を人的に支援する枠組みとして,2018年に「災害時健康危機管理支援チーム(DHEAT)」が設置された.DHEATは,専門的な研修・訓練を受けた都道府県等の職員から構成される派遣チームであり,災害発生時には被災都道府県等の保健医療福祉調整本部や保健所等に派遣され,健康危機管理に必要な情報収集・分析,関係機関との全体調整などが円滑に実施されるよう支援を行う.派遣の基本単位は,医師,保健師等の専門職および業務調整員からなる約 5 名の「班」であり,班の全部または一部の構成員が交代しながら継続して活動する一連の単位を「チーム」と呼ぶ.DHEATの派遣は,被災都道府県,厚生労働省,DHEAT事務局,派遣元自治体との調整を経て,被災自治体が派遣元自治体に要請する形で行われる.2025年末までに 4つの災害への派遣実績を有し,令和 6年能登半島地震では 34の都道府県・指定都市から 100 を超える班が派遣され,2 か月以上にわたり活動が行われた.研修体系としては,「保健所災害対応研修(DHEAT基礎編)」,「同企画運営リーダー研修」,「DHEAT標準編研修」に加え,「統括DHEAT」に任命された職員等を対象とした「統括DHEAT研修」が実施されている.近年では,全国DHEAT協議会および地方ブロックDHEAT協議会を通じて体制整備や人材育成に関する検討が進められ,構成員の技能維持・向上に向けた訓練等も継続的に行われている.さらに 2024 年度からは,災害発生の急性期における迅速な情報収集や保健医療福祉調整本部の設置・運営支援を目的として「DHEAT先遣隊派遣事業」が開始されるなど,初動対応の強化が図られている.一方で,DHEATの役割・機能の明確化,関係組織との役割分担に関する共通理解の醸成,人事異動を考慮した人材の確保・育成・維持,巨大地震等の広域災害を想定した持続的な派遣体制の整備といった課題も残されている.今後はDHEATの機能強化を通じて,地方自治体や保健所の健康危機管理能力の一層の向上を図ることが重要である.
キーワード:災害時健康危機管理支援チーム(DHEAT),指揮調整,保健医療福祉調整本部,保健所
