Journal of Rescue and Relief
Year:2018 | Volume:9 | Issue:4 (36) |Papers Count:10

Background: Earthquake as one of the most important natural disasters always in short time entails irreparable damage to human settlements. In the aftermath of the earthquake, different types of crises are created which one of them are the life detecting and rescue and relief to the affected areas. In the initial moments after the earthquake, allocating relief forces and facilities to the affected areas is very important. According to the researches, time is a critical factor in reducing casualties and victims after an earthquake, so that the first 24 hours after the earthquake is the golden opportunity to help the injured, because at these times the victims are most likely to survive. Therefore, the optimal allocation of relief and rescue teams to the affected areas is of great importance. Method: In this research, the nearest relief base to the affected area were selected firstly in order to determine the relief routing to the affected area then with the help of the relevant experts four paths selected with the highest desirability. In the next step, the routes should be prioritize and optimize based on the desired parameters. The study of the desirability of the routes based on the parameters such as width, length, type and traffic of streets, the use of parcels, the number of floors as well as the type of skeleton of existing buildings in each street were investigated. Each of the criteria and sub-criteria was weighed using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) process, GIS and available software. Eventually, the final weight of the routes was determined based on the values of their parameters and their sub-criteria, and priority was given to the paths according to these values. Findings: The results show that the building skeleton (materials) with the weight of 0/325 is the most important factor and the parameters such as number of floors, traffic, route width, route type, route length and existing use in the route with weight 0/320, 0/175, 0/071, 0/045, 0/041, 0/023 are ranked after this parameter in terms of priority and value respectively. Conclusion: Considering the values obtained for each of the parameters, it is necessary to use resistant materials such as concrete and metal in construction in order to prevent further damage after an earthquake. Also all safety and construction standards should be observed.

Background: This study aims to investigate the effects of outpatient education based on the Khadem plan on the level of preparedness and awareness of the families against the natural disasters in North Khorasan province. Method: In this semi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test, 2185 families were participated in Khorasan province (Bojnord and Esfarayen). About 60 families were selected based on multistage cluster sampling. The families responded the questionnaire about knowledge and disaster preparedness (Dodgson, 2010) before and after outpatient education (Khadem plan). Data analyzed using paired t-test, Chisquare, mean comparison and McNemar's test. Findings The paired t-test results showed that there was a significant relationship between both pretest and posttest in the components of knowledge recognition and disaster preparedness scale (t=1/26); timely activity (t=2/14); education (t=0. 93); and cooperation (t=2/07). It means that the families who participated in Khadem plan courses got a higher average for these four components. However, there was no significant difference between the scale of knowledge and preparedness about natural disasters (t=0. 79) in the components of media importance. In addition, there was a significant difference in family preparedness assessment form after training courses (sig=0. 02) according to McNemar's test. The Chi-squared test showed that outpatient education increases television watching and reading books related to natural disasters. Conclusion: The results show that the group outpatient education is effective in increasing the preparedness and awareness of the household against natural disasters and decreases damage and crisis caused by disasters along with other training courses (according to Khadem plan).

Background: Flooding and floodwater is one of the most important environmental hazards that can lead to severe damage such as mortality and have long-term economic and social impacts. It may even damage the property, disrupt the communication system, and wash agricultural land. Tabriz city placement in Lake Urmia basin, its plain position, and passage of two main rivers of Aji Chay and Quri Chay from the city has caused many destructive floods to take place and left great deal of ruin. Method: This research aims to explain the geographical situation of Tabriz city and analyze its action against urban floods with a descriptive-analytical approach. ARCGIS 10. 5 and Topsis-fuzzy model is used to evaluate the research criteria. Findings: After reviewing the research literature and the related studies, five criteria were selected as the main criteria of the research. Then, the distance between positive and negative ideals for the criteria was determined by using Topsis-fuzzy model; finally, the spatial classification of criteria was extracted by mapping each of the criteria. Conclusion: According to the final map, that shows the vulnerable areas of Tabriz city against flood risk, 6% of the city's area with a population of about 91277 people is in very high-risk zone. Considering very high to medium risk areas, 33 percent of the city's urban area, about 46 percent of the city's population are at risk of flood. This indicates that flood-prone areas are crowded and populated areas of the city.

Background: Red Crescent Society and Emergencies in the country are facing serious problems in providing services for road accidents. The main goal of the present study was to analyze the quality of relief services of Red Crescent Society and Emergency 115 bases in Kerman province from the viewpoint of their managers. Method: In this descriptive survey, 44 senior managers of Red Crescent Society and Emergency 115 bases were selected using a convenience sampling approach to be investigated. The data were collected via a self-report questionnaire and checklists. The questionnaire validity was established through experts’ opinion, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was estimated to be (0/76) for the questionnaire. The checklists were completed by direct observation from both Red Crescent Society and Emergencies bases and the questionnaire were distributed among the subjects by the researcher. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical indices and SPSS-18. Findings: The findings indicated that about 95% of managers under rated the ability of relief personnel in Red Crescent Society to respond to the medical emergency cares during road accidents. About 54. 5% agreed with the assignment of road accidents relief to another organization, about 84% of managers believed that the nature of the bases should change from volunteering services through community contribution to actual emergency services, and employing relief personnel with the opportunity to upgrade their professional knowledge, and skills through the time. About 63% of the managers from both organizations believed that public education is effective for preventing most road accidents. Conclusion: The relief personnel in Red Crescent Society bases are not specialized in the field of pre-hospital measures. Moreover, Red Crescent Society ambulances do not have enough medical equipment and Emergency 115 has no rescue equipment. Therefore, it is recommended to change the nature of the bases from volunteering to emergency services and employing relief personnel with the opportunity to upgrade their professional knowledge, and skills through the time as improvement strategies.

Background: The relief workers civil liability for animals has been a subject of human society. The responsibility that is under the Liability for Objects and has been mentioned in Islamic Republic of Iran's civil law nevertheless has not been separately investigated. Regarding the fact of using animals in some relief operations, this article aims to investigate this liability in Sharia, jurisprudence and Islamic law through a comparative study. Method: This research was carried out by using library and documentary methods. Therefore, all related books and articles were collected and analyzed. Conclusion: The result showed that in some cases, this responsibility is not based on relief worker's fault. Several manifestation of liability arising from animals that have not been considered or mentioned in Iran's civil law is discussed referring to the applicable sharia. It is explained that in some specific cases (situations) there will be no liability to the owner or the protector (relief worker) of the object (animal in these case) and other liabilities. All the general rules of tortious liability apply to animals in much the same way as they apply to other chattels.

Background: Today organizational wisdom can affect the knowledge management process in organizations because the wisdom of the organization is based on knowledge and experience. In addition, this phenomenon is tied to different cultural forms in organizations and is influenced by organizational cultures. This research aims to investigate the effect of organizational culture on organizational wisdom considering the mediating role of knowledge management in Iranian Red Crescent Society. Method: This quantitative study is practical according to the purpose and descriptivecorrelation in terms of data gathering. All employees of Red Crescent Society (714 people) were studied; about 256 people were selected by using Morgan table and stratified random sampling. Data were collected by three standard questionnaires including Denison organizational culture (2000), Lawson Knowledge Management (2003), and organizational wisdom by Brown and Green (2006). Then the collected data described through mean, standard deviation, etc. using SPSS-21. In addition, data statistical inference was carried out through structural equation modeling with use of LISREL-v8. 80. However, the reliability, convergent validity, and divergent validity were investigated. Path coefficient and significant coefficients were used to examine the research hypotheses. Findings: The results showed that the proportionality of the proposed model was appropriate with regard to the components of the research and organizational culture had an impact both on organizational wisdom (0. 41) and on knowledge management (0. 38). Moreover, knowledge management had an impact on organizational wisdom (0. 42) and finally, organizational culture had an impact on organizational wisdom with the mediating role of knowledge management (0. 57). Conclusion: The organizational culture of employees should be strengthened and knowledge should be shared among them in order to achieve the appropriate organizational wisdom among the employees of Red Crescent Society because the causes of organizational wisdom rooted in factors such as participation, creativity, and flexibility.

Background: Managers and planners should have a special approach to provide the hygienic-therapeutic facilities and infrastructures due to the importance of hygienictherapeutic resources to increase the resiliency of settlements against natural disasters. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the cities of Semnan province based on effective hygienic-therapeutic indicators in urban resiliency. Method: This descriptive-analytical study aims to evaluate the cities of Semnan province based on effective hygienic-therapeutic indicators in urban resiliency. The indexes of this study were evaluated using Vikor model. Findings: The results indicated that the cities of Shahroud, Damghan, Garmsar, Aradan, and Sorkheh have efficient performance in providing services due to appropriate therapeutic facilities and infrastructure at the time of natural disasters. However, the cities of Mehdishahr, Miami, and Semnan with desirable mismatch between the population, health facilities, and infrastructure have lower resilience than other parts of Semnan province facing natural disasters. Conclusion: The results of this study show that managers and planners can lead the cities of province to enhance resilience to natural hazards by evaluating and analyzing this process in Semnan province and resilience strategies considering the available capacities and competitive advantages.

Background: Prehospital care plays an important role in emergency patients’ management. More correct, proper, and faster management of the patients will reduce the mortality and morbidity. Methods: In this cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical research, all five EMS stations of Shahrekord city were studied in 2016. Data were collected from staff and equipment in Shahrekord EMS stations by using checklists. In addition, about 742 recorded mission reports of central station studies. The status of manpower, equipment status and response time compared with the standards & regulations of Ministry of Health, the standards provided by Institute of Standards & Industrial Research of Iran, reference standards of Iran and North America respectively using excel software and descriptive statistics (percent, cumulative distribution, and standard deviation). Findings: The results of the study in Shahrekord EMS system are as follows: none of the stations has enough human resources; none of the emergency ambulances was equipped with the necessary equipment; the greatest shortage is related to criticaltherapeutic management equipment that only 57. 4% of the ambulances used this equipment. The best condition was that about 95. 9% of ambulances have respiratory ventilation equipment. Another point was that 81. 5% of the requests were answered in less than 6 minutes. Conclusion: The results indicated that response time is a very important factor in reducing the incidence of illnesses and emergencies, but shortcomings in manpower and ambulance equipment can reduce the effectiveness of missions. Therefore, eliminating the shortage of manpower and equipment seems necessary.