Kobe City in Osaka Bay, central Japan, was hit by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in 1995. Now, its emergency services use Neat devices to share information and strengthen its medical response systems for similar large-scale disasters.
As Kobe City in Osaka Bay, central Japan, is prone to natural disasters, the city has enhanced its disaster preparedness by integrating new technologies and tools, including the Neat Bar and Neat Frame video devices.
Its health bureau has significantly revised the “Emergency Medical Manual for Disasters” established in 2014 to support high-performance online information sharing and satellite communication devices for designated disaster response hospitals.
This includes the adoption of video meetings. Since most hospitals in Kobe City used Zoom for video meetings, in 2024, it signed an agreement with ZVC JAPAN, the operator of Zoom Video Communications, to collaborate on using video meetings for medical coordination during disasters.
Along with the plan to use Zoom for video communication between disaster response hospitals, Kobe City started deploying Neat devices to these hospitals.
Shota Kawamura, section chief, regional medical care division, Kobe City, commented: “As we started to recognise the need for high-performance video communication devices, beyond just budget enhancements, for expanding support to disaster response hospitals, we saw this as a tool that could be used effectively, even in emergencies.”
Kobe City currently uses the Neat Bar and Neat Frame. For example, Neat Frames have been deployed at all 11 disaster response hospitals and one municipal hospital. In large-scale meetings organised by the city, emergency crews use Neat Bar and Neat Frame together.
Kawamura concluded: “I was first impressed by the camera’s image quality and was particularly attracted to the auto-framing feature that tracks and zooms in on the speaker. Later, when we tested the Neat device during a large-scale disaster drill organised by Hyogo Prefecture for the DMAT medical team, which supports disaster-stricken areas, I recognised the camera’s high performance and the crystal-clear audio.”