When a powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto last week, Tomoko Sato found herself torn between two urgent demands: caring for a surge of incoming patients and protecting her own children.
As chief of emergency medicine at Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital, a 400-bed regional trauma center in the city¡¯s southern Minami Ward, Sato, 55, was thrust into the center of the disaster response.
The quake hit at around 4:30 p.m. on July 28, registering a strong 6 on the shindo seismic intensity scale at the ward ¡ª just one notch below the maximum of 7. By Sunday, 38 people had been confirmed killed and communities across Kumamoto were still struggling to recover.
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