Designing a Structure of Disaster Management for Iran

One of the most important challenges of our time is the need to have a system of disaster management to confront the natural and man made disasters. In order to set in place such a system in a country, there is an essential necessity to design a special organizational structure in the areas of disaster management. The main objective of this study was to design a structural model for disaster management in Iran. This is a comparative study with an applied proposed model. In planning this structure of disaster management, the study is based on institutional structures of United Stats of America, Japan, Australia, India, Turkey and Indonesia in comparison with Iran. The information used in this study has been researched both from first hand scientific and bibliographical sources; mainly from foreign sources like books, scientific magazines, official reports which have been obtained directly from databases in the related countries and domestic printed and official published documents. In planning the structural research model, the original model was based on comparative studies and situational analysis of related countries. This model was conceived using Delphi scientific technique and put for scrutiny by 30 of scientific scholars and professionals in the field of disaster management and then the final model was proposed. The results of studies in selected countries showed that: developed countries have an organizational structure for disaster management that is able to respond to natural and man made disasters in one centralized command structure with a structural pattern that enjoys a high degree of centralized complexity and formal structure. Meantime the results in most countries studied showed that the structure of disaster management is in the form of exclusive independent organization under the countries highest executive's authorities. Most countries attention to the whole system of organizing disaster management is focused on process of mitigation, forecasting, preparedness, response and recovery. The pattern designed in this study was also prepared based on the findings of this study's conclusion, like considering basic plan; a centralized unique organization for natural and man made disasters; a high level council in macro level and other levels with a need to categorize the delivery services in accordance with the conditions of Iran was proposed. Paying attention to Iran's vastness; variety of disasters and its degree of strength; necessity of existence of a prevailing plan, a need for a new organizational structure is felt as one of the countrie's essential needs in the field of disaster management. Use of a suitable and deserving structural model will lead to increase economic advantage, reduction of beurocratic barriers and speeding up disaster management related activities.