"The sight of them holding the patient close brought tears to my eyes" ... CCTV footage from a Japanese operating room during the Kumamoto earthquake [Heartwarming]

[Financial News] During the earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, cameras captured medical staff wrapping their bodies around a patient to protect them while surgery was underway at a hospital.
According to Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) on the 6th, footage showing the operating room at Kumamoto General Hospital, a core hospital in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture, at the time of the earthquake was released.
The video was filmed on the 28th of last month. At the time, four surgeries were in progress at the hospital. In the operating room where abdominal surgery was being performed, the camera showed medical equipment shaking violently as doctors bent over the patient to shield them, while a nurse opened the door to secure an evacuation route.
The hospital later said that all four surgeries were completed safely.
The hospital suspended general outpatient services after the earthquake cut off its water supply and made some medical equipment unusable. However, it resumed treatment on the 5th after confirming that the water quality of a well reserved for emergency use was safe, according to reports.
Shinya Shimada, director of Kumamoto General Hospital, said, "There are some inconveniences for patients, such as some elevators being out of service and hospital meals not being provided sufficiently, but I believe resuming treatment will help local residents feel reassured." He added, "We will continue to fulfill the hospital's mission."
Praise for the medical staff poured in after the video was released. Japanese social media users reacted with comments such as, "I cannot help but admire the doctors who desperately shielded the patient despite the severe shaking," "A heartfelt salute to the staff in this operating room," and "I was moved by the way they held the patient tightly so they would never be dropped."
There were also reactions highlighting the anesthesiologist, who was hard to see in the video. One user wrote, "People tend to focus on the surgeon and the nurse, but the anesthesiologist in navy at the far right moved under the surgical drape near the patient's head as soon as the shaking started." Another user said, "The anesthesiologist is holding on to the endotracheal tube needed for general anesthesia so it does not come out," adding, "Please do not forget the anesthesiologist, too."
One user, who said they were a friend of a nurse at the hospital, wrote, "My friend says she is so exhausted from working every day that she has barely been able to clean up the mess at home." The user added, "Please understand that there are people on the front lines who must put their work before themselves and their families, and please support them."

[email protected] Seong Min-seo Reporter