”It's crushing my heart because I might be infected.”
Koyoen, a support facility for people with disabilities in the town of Engaru, Hokkaido, where 50 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live, was affected by the outbreak of a new type of coronavirus infection in 2019 that sent the world into a whirlpool of confusion. Katsuya Kudo, the director of the school, still remembers the decision made by a young staff member at the time.

Facility Staff Decisions

Five residents and staff members tested positive in the first PCR test conducted following the onset of the disease in a resident. Among them was a full-time nurse. The absence of the nurse caused the staff's anxiety to reach a peak. They might get infected themselves. But we staff members had to take care of the residents' daily needs, such as feeding and elimination. ...... At that time, a young staff member said, 'I will do it,' and built an isolation room and started living with the residents.
Because it was difficult for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be admitted to a general hospital, the positive residents who were not seriously ill had to be nursed in Koyoen. We continued to struggle in the face of infection, but by the time a week had passed since the first positive case, we had reached the end of our ability to continue nursing the patients at the center with only the staff.

The basic principles of the Red Cross live on in our activities

It was Kitami Red Cross Hospital that moved in response to the situation. Joji Arakawa, director of the hospital, recalls, “The Red Cross has a key phrase, ‘Everything is for the victims,’ and we felt that the medical activities at Koyoen were a job we should do. Arakawa's mission was to protect patients and prevent the spread of infection by turning the facility into a hospital.
The staff at Koyoen were highly motivated and had studied isolation, so I decided that containment would be possible at this facility.
During the month-long operation, a doctor and nurse made house calls to each resident, and two nurses were stationed at the facility for three days and two nights in rotation. Two nurses were stationed there for three days and two nights in shifts. If there was a fever, a PCR test could be performed immediately. However, the PCR test was also painful for those with disabilities. There was a risk that the patient might unexpectedly become violent during the test, so we had to take our own measures, such as using three people to hold the resident's body down while the test was conducted.

Trust between Koyoen and JRCS staff that prevented the spread of infection

Thanks to the dedicated nursing care of both Koyoen staff and JRCS staff, fortunately few patients became seriously ill and the mission to prevent the spread of infection was successfully accomplished.
Mr. Kudo still expresses his gratitude to the Red Cross.
I have nothing but gratitude for JRCS. Not only for the knowledge and technical support, but also for the nurses who are there 24 hours a day. I can't tell you how much that has helped me emotionally.
In contrast, Mr. Arakawa said, “The people at Koyoen did a great job of getting us through the first week. They had sufficient knowledge of infectious diseases and had devised countermeasures. They also had a strong relationship of trust with the residents,” he said, praising the efforts of Koyoen staff.
Koyoen staff and JRCS staff. Neither of them would have been able to accomplish the difficult mission of containing the infection at Koyoen.