{"id":38159,"date":"2026-05-25T13:01:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T07:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/?p=38159"},"modified":"2026-05-25T13:01:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T07:16:37","slug":"unclear-tasks-and-command-structures-increase-fatigue-in-disaster-responders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/unclear-tasks-and-command-structures-increase-fatigue-in-disaster-responders\/","title":{"rendered":"Unclear tasks and command structures increase fatigue in disaster responders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Real-time data collected during the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake response show that unclear tasks and command structures, and a lack of meal and rest breaks, increased self-reported fatigue among disaster responders.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The frequency of natural disasters is increasing, and hence, disaster responders are called on more than ever before. During disaster response, the focus of health and well-being is typically on the\u00a0residents\u00a0of the\u00a0disaster-impacted zones. The health and well-being of disaster responders have been given less importance despite the vital role they play;\u00a0however,\u00a0managing\u00a0their health and well-being\u00a0is a critical\u00a0issue to increase the success of recovery efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A research team\u00a0led\u00a0by Hiroshima University has used real-time data collected from disaster responders during the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake response.\u00a0Using this data, they\u00a0identified\u00a0key factors associated with self-reported fatigue,\u00a0identifying possibilities\u00a0to improve the\u00a0health\u00a0and well-being of\u00a0disaster\u00a0responders\u00a0while responding to disasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their findings were published in the journal Safety and Health at Work<\/a> on March 18, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake response, the Japanese Surveillance in Post-Extreme Emergencies and Disasters (J-SPEED+) app was used to\u00a0monitor\u00a0disaster responders\u2019 health\u00a0and\u00a0well-being in real time through daily surveys. This was the first time such data was collected, presenting a unique dataset for analysis; typically, such data is collected retrospectively, once the response is complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team says that their study seeks to understand what specific factors actually drive fatigue during disaster response. When responders are fatigued, their ability to think clearly, make decisions, and provide safe care can be compromised. This can affect not only their own health but also the safety and outcomes of the people they are trying to help. In this way, fatigue becomes a broader public safety and system-level concern, rather than an individual issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the\u00a02024 Noto Peninsula\u00a0earthquake\u00a0response, the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC)\u00a0of Ishikawa\u00a0collected data\u00a0from disaster responders\u00a0via J-SPEED\uff0b\u00a0from Jan 1 to Mar 31, 2024. The data consisted of 46 checkbox questions across eight sections: organization name, type of occupation, type of activity, problems in the work environment, symptoms, work performance, fatigue, and consultation requests. The occupations of disaster responders included doctors, nurses, logisticians, other health and\u00a0welfare support staff, administrative supporters, and others;\u00a0and the\u00a0types\u00a0of activities were HEOC, field work, and others.\u00a0Fatigue was measured daily using a 10-point scale (1 = minimal and 10 = extreme), adapted from the visual analog scale for assessing fatigue developed by the Japan Society of Fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team\u00a0statistically\u00a0analyzed 15,067 records\u00a0containing\u00a0complete\u00a0data. The\u00a0disaster\u00a0response was broken into two phases:\u00a0Jan 1 to Feb 6\u00a0(first phase)\u00a0and Feb 6 to Mar 31\u00a0(second phase). The relationship between\u00a0fatigue scores and\u00a0other factors was analyzed. Of the 15,067 records\u2014representing\u00a05,569 individuals \u20149,583 were collected during the first phase and 5,484 during the second phase.\u00a0Occupationally, contributions to the records were\u00a0mainly from\u00a0logisticians (32.9%), nurses (29.6%), and doctors (21.5%). Field staff contributed most of the data entries (65.8%), and HEOC staff and other responders contributed fewer entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers found that fatigue scores had greater variability in the first phase, while the second phase had less variability. 73.7% of all fatigue scores ranged from 1 to 3 during the first phase, and this percentage was 82.3% during the second phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Unsafe work environment,\u2019 \u2018inability to take meals and breaks, \u2019 are significantly associated with higher fatigue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers\u00a0determined\u00a0that responders working in administrative support and logisticians had greater fatigue,\u00a0possibly due to\u00a0demanding daily unfamiliar, and non-routine tasks. Additionally, responders working at an HEOC had greater fatigue due to their role in coordinating the support for medical personnel and supplies, which involves high cognitive demand and requires rapid decision-making about non-routine tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Higher fatigue scores were associated with unclear tasks and commands. Previous Japanese and global studies have indicated similar associations. Specifically, after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, responders performing \u2018diverse tasks unlike during peacetime\u2019 reported chronic fatigue due to ill-defined roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also showed that\u2018unsafe work environment\u2019 and \u2018inability to take meals and breaks\u2019 were significantly associated with higher fatigue. The inclement weather and lack of rest during the earthquake response likely intensified the physical and psychological burdens on responders. Finally, insecure communication can lead to responder fatigue, especially in the early phase of disasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur most striking\u00a0finding\u00a0was that problems in coordination or command systems significantly increased fatigue,\u201d explains Tatsuhiro Nagata,\u00a0researcher\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, and first author of the paper. \u201cThis means that confusion, unclear instructions, or poor management can exhaust responders\u00a0almost as\u00a0much as physical work itself. Moreover, the impact of missing breaks and meals was stronger than many individual characteristics, such as role or experience. Put simply, disaster\u00a0responders are like the engine of an emergency response \u2014\u00a0and\u00a0if the system does not provide fuel (rest, food, coordination), even the strongest engine will fail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nagata continues, \u201cResponders can remain healthier, safer, and more effective in their roles by improving planning, ensuring regular breaks, and strengthening coordination and management systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0research team\u00a0proposed policy and practical\u00a0implications to manage the health and well-being of disaster responders.\u00a0First, it is essential to\u00a0establish\u00a0structured fatigue management protocols, such as scheduled rest, meal breaks, and access to health support.\u00a0There is also a need to strengthen command clarity and role definition through regular preparedness exercises and simulation-based training. Finally, maximizing the utility of the J-SPEED + Health app is essential. Clear user guidelines and motivation strategies should be provided to encourage consistent real-time health reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their ultimate goal is to create a disaster response system where responders can work safely, sustainably, and effectively \u2014 so they can continue to care for others without compromising their own health. Rather than simply recognizing that responders become fatigued, the goal is to actively redesign the system to prevent unnecessary exhaustion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yamato Sasaki,\u00a0Odgerel Chimed-Ochir,\u00a0Inn\u00a0Kynn\u00a0Khaing, Hanako Murayama, Akihiro Taji, Noriyuki Shiroma, Ami Fukunaga, Yui\u00a0Yumiya,\u00a0and\u00a0Tatsuhiko Kubo\u00a0at Hiroshima University;\u00a0and Seiichiro Tateishi, Nahoko Enokida, Koji Mori,\u00a0and\u00a0Yoshihisa Fujino\u00a0at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health contributed to the\u00a0study.\u00a0Odgerel Chimed-Ochir was the corresponding author of the study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real-time data collected during the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake response show that unclear tasks and command structures, and a lack of meal and rest breaks, increased self-reported fatigue among disaster responders. The frequency of natural disasters is increasing, and hence, disaster responders are called on more than ever before. During disaster response, the focus of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","category-health"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6.webp",1100,824,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-200x200.webp",200,200,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-675x506.webp",675,506,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-768x575.webp",750,562,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6.webp",750,562,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6.webp",1100,824,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6.webp",1100,824,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-1100x800.webp",1100,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-870x570.webp",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-600x824.webp",600,824,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-600x600.webp",600,600,true],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-760x490.webp",760,490,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-550x360.webp",550,360,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-95x65.webp",95,65,true],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-640x824.webp",640,824,true],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-96x96.webp",96,96,true],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-6-150x112.webp",150,112,true]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"Research<\/a> Health<\/a>","tag_info":"Health","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38162,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38159\/revisions\/38162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}