Hakuba is home to a number of GP's who operate small clinics
year round. They are able to treat minor ailments (colds, flu
etc) and provide limited treatment of injuries (X-Rays, Plaster
casts). In most circumstances people with minor injuries
will be sent by taxi to a local clinic and then referred to a
larger general hospital if required. Major injuries will be
transferred directly to a major hospital by ambulance or
helicopter.
There is no 24 hour emergency hospital in Hakuba.
Ambulance services in Japan are free of charge, but they will
only respond to requests from ski patrol for ski related
injuries. Due to the limited number of ambulances in the Hakuba
area, they request all calls come through your accommodation,
rather than directly to the emergency number.
The general procedure for ambulance services is once they
respond they will assess the nature of the call and either
transport you to a local clinic, or directly to a major hospital
in more serious cases.
In serious cases and for after hours emergencies, once they have
the patient stabilized, one member of the paramedic team will
get on the phone and try and locate a specialist. While he is on
the phone the ambulance will head south towards Omachi and
Matsumoto. In general they will take you to the nearest hospital
that has a specialist on duty. Hospitals may reject income
patients if the staff are overloaded or if there is no
specialist on duty. Serious cases, such as heart attacks,
strokes etc, will probably have to go all the way to Matsumoto
to get after hours service.
Medical facilities at major hospitals are generally the
equivalent of their western counterparts, but language barriers
still remain. |
