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「人道研究ジャーナル」Vol.2

The Journal of Humanitarian Studies Vol. 2, 2013The JRCS Hyogo Chapter Relief team No. 106, which was atomic bombed at the Mitaki Branch Hospital of theHiroshima Second Army Hospital, moved and set up a tentative hospital in Ibara City in Okayama Prefecturealong the Geibi railway on 15 August. The party released a number of hospitalised patients who were not seriouslyill, and received as many patients as the hospital could hold who had developed radioactive disease. The memoriesof Red Cross nurses also tells of A-bomb symptoms in‘The Mushroom Cloud: Memories of the Japanese RedCross Nurses Attached to the Forces’.Wounded sites of patients were infested with maggots. There was not enough medical equipment so all we could do waspick out the maggots one by one with chopsticks instead of a pair of tweezers. It was really tough work to remove allof them. Many of the patients, who became critically ill, started to develop nose bleeds, haematuria (bloody urine) andhematochezia (bloody forces) with a high fever. Furthermore, purplish subcutaneous haemorrhage appeared on all over theirbodies. Gum bleeds never stopped although we blotted their blood repeatedly. Victims did not have the physical strength togargle. Finally, they went down with a 42 degree fever, which we cold“a death fever”, and eventually died in spite of ourprompt medical treatment. The hospital rooms were filled with the appalling stench of dead bodies. It was an unforgettablesmell. We could not find any support and we felt frustration and complete despair, and then all of us were caught in absolutesilence. We worked hard but with great fear. The scene reminded us that we may suffer the same fate soon. (The QuietVillage in the Mountain Valley)Nurses cremated dead bodies in this hospital as well. They spent restless days washing clothes of patients at theriver, disinfecting gauzes and stocking food. Moreover, they felt great anxiety with their own health conditionsregarding A-bomb disease. They saw an enormous number of people, who were not injured at all by the atomicbombing, suddenly developing a high fever and showing signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy. Consequently,they suffered from purplish subcutaneous haemorrhage, bleeding and decrease in the level of white blood cells,and they eventually died. Ms Masae Yukinaga, the chief nurse of Relief Party No. 106, writes as below.We also measured our level of white blood cells often but feared our deaths would occur in two to three months just like ourpatients. (Coming Back from the Ash Land)In fact, the level of white blood cells of Ms Masae Yukinaga, a chief nurse of the party remained lower than 3,000and her weight became always less than 40 kg (88 lbs) in the post-war period. She had constantly seen a doctorand had never been released from taking medicine. In spite of this, she dedicated herself to nursing educationand studies in the history of nursing care in Japan, and wrote a number of books such as‘Dictionary of NurseBiography’. Due to her great contribution, she was honourably awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1973.A nurse, who wrote her memoire titled‘Fighting against the Atomic Bomb Disease’in‘The Mushroom Cloud:Memories of the Japanese Red Cross Nurses Attached to the Forces’, were hospitalised for a year in five yearsafter the Hiroshima Atomic Bombing. She was hospitalised at the National Osaka Hospital for radiation sickness.Furthermore, after her marriage with three daughters, she was hospitalised at the Private Atomic Bomb DiseaseHospitals repeatedly. She writes,“Half of my life was dominated by the fight against A-bomb diseases.”As Ms Yukinaga writes in a postscript to‘The Mushroom Cloud: Memories of the Japanese Red Cross NursesAttached to the Forces’,“There are many A-bomb survivors who are suffering from after-effects and hide theirexperiences as A-bomb victims in order to avoid facing discrimination in the society. They have lived in silenceas transgressors. Even some of my former colleagues have lived in the same way.”It could be argued that human76人道研究ジャーナルVol. 2, 2013