Journal of Rescue and Relief
Year:2016 | Volume:8 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:11

Background: Reducing the irreparable damages of natural crises in Iran requires proper understanding of the causes and crisis reduction solutions. In this regard, identifying the severity of vulnerability in different aspects are the major determinants of the crisis including environmental, social, economic, cultural and psychological and preparedness level of the society. However, the present paper aims to assess the environmental vulnerability of Taleqan County.Method: In this study, Delphi method and analysis hierarchical process (AHP) method were used. In the first stage, all experts and professionals (about 30) in this field were selected and studied by using purposeful sampling method in Taleqan County in Alborz province. In the AHP method, validity and reliability were investigated based on exploratory factor analysis. Since the KMO index was 0.879, the sample number was sufficient for analyzing. Also, the significance level of Bartlett test was less than 5% and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.856. The results were also analyzed by using Expert Choice software.Findings: The results show that the central, southern and western parts are located in high vulnerability zone and the northern and somewhat eastern parts are in the low vulnerability zone. Also, length of Taleqan County River and its slopes are in high-vulnerable zones.Conclusion: according to the results, identification and analysis of environmental vulnerability alone cannot entail the preservation and improvement of the quality of the environment, but should be specifically targeted to the development planners in order to carry out development projects in the area with a low level of vulnerability.

Background: People around the world usually face disasters which lead to death, injury, property damage and disruption of daily activities. These unpleasant experiences related to natural or manmade disasters. Iran is a disaster-prone country due to its geographical conditions. However, the factor which facilitates crisis management in natural disasters deals with an integrated chain including of all humanitarian services and components which prepared to help involved people. It is known as humanitarian supply chain.Method: This applied research is done in order to identify the effective factors on success of humanitarian supply chain based on three main groups including organization, environment and technology. The priority of each group is done by using hierarchical analysis and utilizing the information and experiences of 18 experienced managers working in Red Crescent society. By using paired comparison questionnaire, 18 experienced managers working in Red Crescent society were selected and studied. Then the collected data was analyzed via export choice 11.Findings: In this research which is based on TOE theory, three indicators such as organization, environment and technology considered as the main indicators and 14 subindicators were identified such as senior management, human resources, support, strategy and programming, organizational culture, quality management of the situation political rights, social-cultural conditions, geographical conditions, environmental technology, technology education, and information systems.Conclusion: According to the results, organizational factor with indicators including human resource management, logistic, strategy and planning, organizational culture, and quality management refer to first priority. And environmental factor with indicators such as political rights, economy, social culture, geography and technology is the second priority. Also Technological factor with indicators including training technology and communication systems refer to third priority.

Background: Education is the most important, the least costly, and the least timeconsuming factor in nurturing human resources for the effective and optimal management of natural and man-made disasters. This study aims to compare and contrast the curriculum for “disaster and emergency management” in the United States and “man-made and natural disasters management” in Iran.Method: This descriptive-analytic study has been done based on Bereday method. Data were collected from formal national and international databases as well as higher education documents. At first, the two curricula for a bachelor of science degree in Iran (i.e., Iran Helal Institute of Applied Science & Technology) and the US (i.e., Upper Iowa University and American Public University) were compared and contrasted. Then, suggestions and implications were offered.Findings: According to the results, the topics for curriculum development in field of basic sciences, public administration, social sciences and communication, natural sciences and disasters, disaster management sciences at both associate of science and bachelor of science levels with specializations in natural and man-made disasters are the same based on local needs. In the two US universities, the topics of the two specializations of this curriculum (i.e., a degree in arts and a degree in science) in the aforementioned areas are different, optional and highly flexible.Conclusion: The results showed that the curriculum and course contents at both levels (i.e., associate of science and bachelor of science) and in both specializations (i.e., manmade and natural disasters) are consistent with the global pattern for disaster management, emphasizing local needs for natural and man-made disaster management. It is suggested to offer various optional and flexible courses that are commensurate with the needs of learners from different institutional backgrounds, and develop new courses of study, considering the diversity of disasters in Iran.

Background: Due to the fact that relief teams play an important role in all phases of disasters management, increasing awareness of these groups leads to increased participation and reducing casualties. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the awareness of relief groups about the warning signs installed on heavy road vehicles.Method: In this descriptive-applied research, all personnel of relief groups (firefighting, emergency and Red Crescent society) who have been located in Qazvin roads were selected in 2016. According to the official reports, 115 people were studied by using census method. For data gathering, a questionnaire was used to measure the level of awareness of relief personnel in relation to warning signs. Validity and reliability were calculated based on Lawshe’s formula (0.82) and alpha cronbach’s (0.71) respectively. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression tests and SPSS-18.Findings: The results were as follows: the average percentage of exact responses was 55.1% and firefighters’ awareness was more than other groups. In addition, people with an associate degree, less than 12 years of work experience and ages 33 to 35 years had higher awareness of warning signs installed on heavy road vehicles.Conclusion: According to the significant relationship between education and awareness level of relief staff about warning signs, there are several factors that increase the level of personnel knowledge such as encouraging employees to participate in higher academic levels, holding training courses more about warning signs and dealing with emergencies in road accidents in order to improve personnel’s level of knowledge.

Background: Hospitals as the important part in providing health services to people considered as the first referral place for healthcare in crises; therefore, hospitals site selection in a wrong place leads to both irrecoverable financial losses and human casualties. However, due to the significance of these applications in crisis, the importance of paying attention to the proper principles and criteria become more and more based on passive defense approach in hospitals site selection. This study aims to determine the importance items in the site selection of hospitals using passive defense approach.Method: In this review study, the library method and internet searching from databases and specialized journals related to passive defense and site selection of hospitals and etc.have been used.Findings: According to the results, selection of a hospital location should be secure and far from incompatible uses. The most significant cases in site selection of hospitals using passive defense approach are as follows: safety of hospital site selection (avoiding of hazardous areas); access to high-speed routes and subway, proximity to densely populated areas, city scattering, proximity to green and open spaces and firefighting centers and away from faults and rivers.Conclusion: The results show that an appropriate site selection is one of the most important factors in success of a healthcare center. Thus, in order to respond affected people in times of crisis, the hospital site selection should be chosen in order to minimize damages during natural and manmade disasters and affected people should have easy access.

Background: Quality of decision making by managers always affects a wide range of people and this issue is especially important in the midst of crises. In this regard, this research aims to study the relationship between resilience with self-efficacy of disasters managers of Red Crescent society in crises and disasters Method: In this descriptive-correlational study, all managers (2000) were studied. Current, former and retired of 10-years managers (150) were selected with a minimum of management and commanding of two incidents in their work schedule. Data were collected by convenience sampling in three sections: senior, middle and junior managers in Red Crescent societies of Tehran, Gilan, Golestan, Qom, Alborz, Isfahan, West Azerbaijan, Kerman, Sistan and Baluchistan, Yazd and Ilam provinces. Data were gathered by using four questionnaires of Demographics, Barton's Psychological Hardiness, Sherer General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSES) and et al, and also Conner & Davidson Resilience (CD-RIS). Validity and reliability were measured and confirmed and data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis by using SPSS-22.Findings: According to the findings, there is a significant relation between self-efficacy and resilience components. (0.01) However, all sub-components of resilience have a significant correlation with self-efficacy except "spiritual influences" at significance level of 0.01.Meanwhile, not only the total hardiness score is correlated with self-efficacy at a significant level of 0.01, but also the correlation between all the sub-components of hardiness with selfefficacy has also been confirmed.Conclusion: The results confirm that the significant relationship between efficiency, hardiness and resiliency components, and it can be concluded that the effectiveness of a manager can be predicted with a reliable approximation based on the level of resilience and hardiness of the manager. Also, the relationship of resilience is important to shape the individual's belief, ability, knowledge, attitude, behavior, and performance for using all capacities in order to resist in difficult circumstances.

Background: Pedestrians are one of the victims of traffic accidents around the world.While few of these violations have resulted in the accidents but people are the main victims of the road accidents. This study aimed to evaluate the pattern of pedestrian accidents in the holy city of Mashhad in 2015.Method: This research is a descriptive-applied study which is done in Mashhad city in 2015. Data (about 5636 accidents) was investigated and gathered by police reports in standard form in 2012 to 2015. Content validity and reliability were calculated by Lawshe formula (0.83) and Cronbach’s alpha (0.81). Data was analyzed by using SPSS software to determine the frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and Chi-square tests and analysis of variance.Findings: According to the findings, 5636 traffic accidents have occurred in the city of Mashhad which 5568 people are injured, 46 died and 22 persons had death- injuries in 2011 to 2015. However, the highest death and injury rate occurred in east of Mashhad.Two of the main causes of the accident are the observance of the right of priority (yield) (38.9%) and not paying attention to the front (19.7%). The highest accident rate occurred in the age groups between 20 and 30 years (13%) and men were more affected than women (62%). Also, wearing dark and black clothing by pedestrians triples the risks of accidents.Conclusion: The results show that public education on how to wear cloths at night, tocross the specified places and to improve the roads can be effective in order to reduce injuries of pedestrians caused by accidents.

Background: The purpose of this study was to predict job burnout based on the selfefficacy dimensions of Red Crescent society employees in Fars province.Method: In this cross-sectional and correlation study, all employees of the Red Crescent society in Fars province was studies and about 128 ones were selected by random sampling through Morgan’s Table in 2016. Data were gathered by using questionnaires of Maslach burnout inventory and job self-efficacy by Riggs &. Knight and then analyzed by SPSS-21 software using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency and frequency) and inferential statistics.Findings: The findings indicated that self-efficacy has the predictive power for job burnout. (p<0.001) And, the individual self-efficacy is the strongest predictor of job burnout. (48.0=B) Conclusion: According to the results, there was a direct and significant relationship between occupational self-efficacy dimensions and job burnout. Due to results of multiple stepwise regressions, individual self-efficacy beliefs were stronger than other predictors of self-efficacy dimensions for job burnout. Indeed, those who have high self-efficacy are faced with difficult tasks rather than avoiding them, and have a high commitment to achieve their goals. Also, self-efficacy variable is one of the job burnout predictors among employees of Red Crescent society.