2011 Big Thai Floods: Problems in Nuclear Medicine

Dear Editor:

The big Thai floods in 2011 cause several problems to Thailand including to the problems for medicine. Millions of Thai populations including thousands of patients have been affected by floods. The problem in nuclear medicine society in Thailand is hereby discussed. When floods occur, there are several problems to be mentioned. First, the transportation system between medical center serving nuclear medicine and the patients' homes was cut-off. This blockage causes the loss of following of several patients. Second, some medical centers were attacked by flooding water and they had to close. For sure, the services of many nuclear medicine centers were interrupted. Third, the floods also caused the problem to the national nuclear center leading to the problem of inability to transport the nuclear medicine materials to the hospitals. Hence, the system in nuclear medicine service is totally obstructed. Indeed, the preparedness for the problem due to natural disaster is needed and this should be done for all fields of medicine.[1] Focusing on the nuclear medicine, based on the lesson learned from Thai floods situation, these preparedness should be considered; (a) the record system on the patients under service of nuclear medicine units, (b) referral system and collaborating nuclear medicine centers for the urgency in flooding situation, (c) the preparedness of reservoir site for producing of necessary nuclear medicine materials in floods and other natural disasters stage, (d) the program to bringing back the patients who lost following up in the disaster period.