National Library of Medicine Resources for Japan Disaster

[Editor's Note: This is a reprint of an announcement published on the NLM Web site on March 24, 2011. To be notified of announcements like this subscribe to NLM-Announces e-mail list.]

Three exceptional resources at the National Library of Medicine® (NLM®) are available to those who need urgent access to health information related to tsunamis, earthquakes, and radiation events affecting Japan. The NLM is part of the National Institutes of Health and is the world's largest medical library. These resources are also available to the general public interested in learning more about disaster response information.

Radiation Emergency Medical Management (REMM)

Clinicians who need to learn about assessing and managing radiation emergencies are urged to use the REMM Web site at //remm.nlm.gov/. Selected key files from REMM are also available for downloading on mobile devices from //remm.nlm.gov/downloadmremm.htm. The entire REMM Web site can be downloaded to a laptop or desktop computer for use where there is no Internet connection. REMM is produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the NLM.

Emergency Access Initiative

The NLM Emergency Access Initiative (EAI) (//eai.nlm.nih.gov) has been activated in support of medical efforts in Japan. The EAI is a collaborative partnership between NLM and participating publishers, to provide free access to full-text articles from over 230 biomedical journals and over sixty-five reference books and online databases to healthcare professionals and libraries affected by disasters. It serves as a temporary collection replacement and/or supplement for libraries affected by disasters that need to continue to serve medical staff and affiliated users. It is also intended for medical personnel responding to the specified disaster. EAI is not an open access collection. It is only intended for those affected by the disaster or assisting the affected population. If you know of a library or organization involved in relief efforts in Japan, please let them know of this service. NLM thanks the numerous participating publishers for their generous support of this initiative. EAI was activated three times last year following the earthquake and subsequent cholera epidemic in Haiti, and during devastating flooding in Pakistan.

Japan Disasters Topic Page

A new page of links to information on the Japan earthquake, tsunami, and radiation event of March 2011 is now available at //disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/japan2011.html. The resources on this page may help with understanding the health issues related to the devastating Japan earthquake, tsunami, and possible nuclear power plant disruptions. Resources from the NLM, other federal agencies, and other key resources are listed for responders, health professionals and the general public.

NLM has a long history of providing health information in preparation for and response to all types of disasters, and has developed a number of tools and advanced information services. The library has a dedicated Disaster Information Management Research Center (//disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/) responsible for health information and informatics research related to disasters and public health emergencies.

For questions regarding these resources, please contact NLM customer service. You can also email custserv@nlm.nih.gov or call 1-888-346-3656 in the United States, or 301-594-5983 internationally.

National Library of Medicine Resources for Japan Disaster. NLM Tech Bull. 2011 Mar-Apr;(379):e11.