Health in Emergencies and Disasters Quarterly
Year:2018 | Volume:3 | Issue:2|Papers Count:7

Local preparedness against earthquakes has been recently highlighted in research and policies on disaster management and risk reduction promotion in Iran. To advance the understanding of public preparedness and how it can be applied in diverse localities, further information is required about the predictors of people’s adoption of mitigation activities and earthquake preparedness. A synthesis of the available published research results on earthquake preparedness and the influencing factors in Iran are presented in this literature review. It emphasizes the complexity of both the concept of preparedness and the contextual factors that mediate its adoption. The predominant roles of public awareness, trusted information resources, social capital and community collaboration as predictors are discussed.

Background: The most critical issue in providing appropriate services to the large number of patients referring to emergency wards is the proper conduct of triage, by considering the shortage of personnel and the insufficiency of facilities. The learning of the triage can only be possible through retraining of nurses. Therefore, this study attempts to compare the two educational methods, competency-based training and lecture, and to compare their impact on the knowledge and performance of nurses regarding triage.Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 75 nurses employed in the emergency wards of Fatemeh Al-Zahra, Rasul Akram, and Shahid Motahari hospitals were selected based on the inclusion criteria of the study. Nurses were placed in three groups (one control and two intervention, n=25) through a simple random method person groups of control and intervention. The researcher-made tools included "triage knowledge test" with 15 questions, and "triage performance checklist" that included 50 scores. The validity of the tests was performed through the formal and content method with the opinion of experts, and the reliability was verified through the test-retest method for which the Pearson Correlation Coefficient was 0.88. After examining the level of knowledge and performance, the intervention was carried out through two methods in the two groups. Eventually, a renewed test and the performance checklist were carried out for all the three groups and data were analyzed using SPSS software V.21.Results: There is a significant difference between the mean score for knowledge and performance in the two groups before and after intervention (P<0.05). Also, there was a significant difference between the two intervention groups and control in the mean difference of scores for knowledge and performance in conducting the triage (P<0.05). Comparison between the two intervention groups demonstrates that in the performance part, the competency-based group had a higher performance score (P<0.05).Conclusion: Education and training through the competency-based method have more effect than lecture training on the performance of nurses in the field of triage. It is suggested to use this method for retraining of nurses in the field of triage.

Background: The nature of the work in the emergency department is as if the unwilling persons are in trouble. Self-efficacy is necessary to overcome obstacles in this type of job. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between self-management strategy and self-efficacy of emergency staff, stressing on the mediating role of job stress and safety behavior.Materials and Methods: The present study is a non-experimental design and more precisely a correlation scheme of structural equation type. The study population consisted of all emergency department staff, including road and city campus in Ardabil province in 2017. To select the study sample group, 5 personnel from 40 bases in the entire province were randomly selected. A total of 200 employees were selected as the sample of the study. Harris job Stress Questionnaire (1995), General Health Questionnaire, Safety Behavior Questionnaire, and Self-management Strategy Questionnaire were used for data collection.Results: The results showed a significant negative relationship between job stress and self-efficacy (P<0.001). Also, there was a positive and significant relationship between safety behavior and self-management with self-efficacy (P<0.001). In addition, the present study showed that the job stress and safety behavior play a mediator role between self-management and self-efficacy of emergency staff.Conclusion: In general, considering that job stress, safety behavior and self-management predictive self-efficacy of emergency staff. Individuals with high self-efficacy wait for the desired outcomes of their performance. So by giving stress management training and applying their safety principles and strategies, targeting can create a sense of self-efficacy such that a person can withstand persistent efforts to overcome obstacles. Improving working conditions also plays an effective role in increasing productivity.

Background: Consumption of healthy and hygienic foods is imperative to live a healthy life. This issue is of greater importance when obtaining foodstuff is relatively tough. The countries prone to natural disasters should always be prepared for a crisis. The present study aims to investigate awareness among the students in Azad University of Medical Sciences regarding nutrition and storing foodstuff in case of crisis.Materials and Methods: A descriptive-analytical method was used in the present study. The study participants included 1350 students in Azad University of Medical Science which were selected randomly from all students in the academic year 2015-2016. Experts confirmed the validity of the questionnaire and it was distributed among the students. The collected data was analyzed through SPSS version 16.Results: Given the results of the study, only 35% of the participants had a good level of awareness, 38.5% had moderate awareness, and 26.5% had low level of awareness about nutrition and how to store food during crisis. No significant gender and age (a=0.05) difference was observed.Conclusion: Health experts and authorities should be aware of nutrition safety and sampling risky foods. This process can be helpful in case of a crisis, especially during early hours of the crisis and after the settlement of the displaced population are essential. To that end, training the experts and authorities responsible for such situations can be helpful. Therefore, holding training courses and teaching for related authorities on how to prevent waterborne and foodborne disease can prevent from food poisoning outbreaks and high mortality rate.

Background: The use of a cell phone when driving has been recognized as a type of distraction worldwide. Addictive tendency to use technology, including cell phone use while driving may be a substantial problem for drivers and increasing risk of accidents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of drivers’ addiction to use a cell phone while driving.Materials and Methods: A sample of 400 drivers with ages 18-65 years old completed a questionnaire which was designed based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized to predict drivers’ addiction to use a cell phone while driving on demographic characteristics and TPB components.Results: Drivers had mean age of 35.63 (8.72) and were 77% male, and 23% female. Tests of validity and reliability were conducted for every variable. According to findings, the hierarchical regression analysis model showed that the TPB was able to predict 59% variance in addiction toward cell phone use and attitude emerging as the strongest predictor during this analysis. All components of TPB were more independent to age than gender.Conclusion: The fundamental TPB components were directly associated with the addiction to use a cell phone when driving. The present study has identified that older drivers were considerably less probable to use a cell phone while driving. Also this study showed that males use a cell phone significantly more frequent. More practical road safety measures are required to rebuff and mitigate the effects of using cell phones while driving.

Background: Currently, hospital preparedness is an essential element for disaster management. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the attitudes, knowledge and performance of nurses with respect to crisis management.Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken among 112 nurses working in three hospitals affiliated to the Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Iran. A questionnaire designed according to previous studies was used to identify demographic information, nurses’ attitudes (11 questions), knowledge (6 questions), and performance (6 questions) regarding hospital preparedness during disasters. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 19.0.Results: The overall scores for attitude, knowledge, and performance of nurses were 27.35, 9.5, and 3.88, respectively. There was a significant correlation between educational degree and nurses’ attitude (P=0.027). Also, there was a significant relationship between work experience and nurses’ attitude regarding hospital preparedness during disasters (P=0.022).Conclusion: Although most of the nurses had a fair attitude regarding hospital preparedness during disasters, their knowledge and performance were poor.

Background: Drought can be considered as a characteristic deviation from the normal climatic conditions that manifest itself in variables like rainfall, soil moisture and level of water rivers and underground water. According to the National Drought Monitoring and Warning Center of Iran and based on the SPI index, by February 2017, around 60% of Kerman Province was involved in severe drought, and about 16% suffered from severe drought. The risk of drought is a function of the intensity and duration of drought as well as the vulnerability of the community against the drought. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the risk of drought and its mapping in Kerman Province.Materials and Methods: This is a qualitative study that besides determining the risk of drought, assess the level of vulnerability of Kerman Province against drought. In order to evaluate the risk of drought, we used the equation DRI=DHI * DVI.Using the relationship DHI=(MDr * MDw)+(VSDr * VSDw)+(SDr * SDw), the Drought Hazard Index was extracted. The data obtained from the study was mapped by using ArcGIS 9.0.Results: Based on the study results, 6.3% of Kerman Province, 11581 Km2, was involved in severe drought. This province with mean drought vulnerability index of 4.5, has low tolerance against drought and the consequences could affect dramatically the communities in this province.Conclusion: The measures to reduce the vulnerability in social, economic, ecologic, and health areas not only lower the risk in the drought-affected areas, but also prevent secondary damages like immigration, marginalization, and social, cultural problems in large and capital cities of the province.