First Responders
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Katsutoshi Furukawa
Physician,
Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
An Alzheimer’s specialist, Furukawa, 51, was looking after patients at an Ishinomaki hospital when the quake hit on Mar. 11.
I ran up the stairs and one by one checked 100 inpatients for injuries with the other five doctors and 50 nurses. Then I went into an office, turned on a portable radio, and heard a tsunami warning.
From the window, I looked to the seashore less than 2 kilometers away and saw the black surge swallowing the town. Seawater reached to the front door of the hospital. The tsunami cut off food and water supplies, as well as telephone connections and electricity.