熊本地震における人工内耳装用者に対する取り組み

Support for cochlear implant users during the Kumamoto earthquake

　災害時，人工内耳装用者は，停電による電池消耗や機器故障などの二次的障害により，ことばが聴取困難となる場面を多く認める．今回，熊本地震時における人工内耳装用者への対応について報告する．

　熊本大学耳鼻咽喉科・頭頸部外科で人工内耳装用術を施行した被災地在住の81名に対して，安否確認および人工内耳の状態の確認と人工内耳装用者に対する案内チラシを避難所に配布した．

　人工内耳装用者の対応を行った件数は24件で，電池消耗が17件，機器故障・紛失が3件，乾燥不能が2件，聴こえの低下が2件であった．

　人工内耳装用者に対して，災害時にこのような機器トラブルが発生する可能性を考え，迅速に対応する必要がある．

　During a disaster, it often becomes difficult for cochlear implant (CI) users to hear words due to secondary problems. This report investigated the support provided for 81 CI users living in the area affected by the Kumamoto (Japan) earthquake in 2016. These patients previously underwent CI surgery at Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Kumamoto University. After the earthquake, their safety and the condition of CI were confirmed, and information flyers detailing safety instructions for CI users during evacuation were distributed. Out of these patients, 24 reported CI problems: 17 cases of battery depletion, 3 cases of equipment failure or loss, 2 cases of inability to dry the sound processor and 2 cases of reduced hearing. Communication by CI users during disasters is affected across speaker-related, listener-related and environmental-related factors. It is particularly necessary to respond promptly to battery depletion and failure of the CI function in order to secure CI users' accessibility to critical information.