Health in Emergencies and Disasters Quarterly
Volume:5 Issue: 2, Winter 2020

Occurring natural crises and lack of meticulous planning for confronting their damages and casualties can result in losing human and material resources. Moreover, it should be considered that crisis management is a kind of management in which prevention, intervention, and confrontation with the crisis are very important because these measures can decrease the detrimental impact of crises, especially at schools by saving students’ lives. Therefore, regarding the importance of the subject, this study aimed to review studies on crisis management at Iranian schools.

The study took place by a systematic search using Persian and English keywords on databases like Google Scholar, SID, and Magiran to find relevant research studies conducted in Iran until October 2018. Furthermore, the lists of references were checked to find more relevant studies. Out of 575 articles, the full texts of 12 studies were considered and the results of the searching were examined independently based on inclusion and exclusion criteria by two researchers after dismissing duplicates. Finally, 4 studies were qualified to be included in this review.

All studies used some questionnaires for assessing the outcomes. The target population consisted of students, teachers, principals, and experts of crisis management. Among the examined articles, two studies were about earthquake crisis management, and the other two discussed crisis management at schools. The level of preparedness for confrontation with the crisis, the effectiveness of crisis management course, dimensions and components of crisis management, and the priority of effective factors for readiness to confront crises were reported in the studies.

Findings showed that students, teachers, and principals should receive necessary training about crisis management for preventing any probable injuries to children while confronting the crisis at schools. Consequently, it is suggested that the officials take crisis management at schools into serious consideration.

Road traffic accidents are currently among the most essential public health issues. According to the World Health Organization, given the rapid growth of road transport globally, road traffic accidents could be the third leading cause of death and disability in the world by 2020. This article examined the role of the human factor in road accidents during the Nowruz holidays, as a major cultural event in Iran.

We explored the data of road accidents that occurred in Nowruz in 2016 and 2017 in Iran. Traffic accident data concerning the Nowruz holidays of 2016 and 2017 were collected by census method of sampling and based on the report of highway police. Additionally, the frequency of these accidents was analyzed according to travel time, accident type, gender, age, education, and vehicle type in different provinces.

The present study findings suggested that among human factors affecting Nowruz accidents in 2016 and 2017, the highest frequency belonged to unnecessary speeding. As in 2016 and 2017, it was the main responsible characteristic for 56.42% and 55.01% of accidents, respectively. In Nowruz 2016, the provinces of Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, Fars, and Khuzestan; in Nowruz 2017, the provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Khorasan Razavi, Fars, and Gilan encountered the highest rates of accidents leading to injuries and deaths.

To control unnecessary speeding and regulations disregard, planning for culturizing and the community-level education are suggested. Besides, increasing the quality and intelligence of vehicles and the construction of sliders, vertical lines on the road, warning signs, and billboards could help reduce the rate of accidents. Creating a working group of experts in psychology, traffic, etc., to study the pathology of dangerous behaviors, useless haste, and disregard for regulations and providing solutions could also be effective.

One of the most important concerns after disasters is managing their health consequences. This study examines the experiences of Primary Healthcare Workers (PHCWs) who involved in managing the health effects of the Arasbaran twin earthquakes of August 2012. 

This study was conducted using a qualitative approach. Data were collected through semi-structured deep interviews. The collected data were analyzed by content analysis using the code extraction of subthemes and themes. Study participants included health managers, healthcare workers, and individuals who received the health services in response to the health effects of the Arasbaran twin earthquakes. A total number of 16 participants were interviewed. The study sample was selected purposefully.

Interview analysis provided 14 subthemes and five main themes, including the lack of preparedness, the challenges of the PHCWs’ contributions in providing healthcare, the inessentiality of the PHCWs’ involvement in health response, the continuity of healthcare by the PHCWs, and the facilitation of coordination. 

The involvement of the PHCWs in managing the health effects of the earthquakes was a successful experience that could prevent health problems. Challenges faced during this experience were mainly caused by the lack of preparedness.

Paying attention to physical, health and safety issues in educational environments is the most effective and fundamental factor for physical, mental and psychological development of students. Therefore, one of the most important and effective health issues of the school is to observe environmental health and safety. This study was conducted with the aim of surveying the environmental health and safety of schools in Khalkhal city with a crisis management approach.

This is a descriptive study with cross sectional design. The study population consists of all primary, middle and high schools in Khalkhal city (n=28). For sampling, census method was used. Data collection tool was an 87-item checklist that surveys the health status of schools and its classrooms in terms of health and safety facilities. It was completed by visiting schools and observing, interviews and measurements. Collected data were analyzed in SPSS and Excel software.

10% of schools had newly constructed buildings and 90% had old buildings. The minimum required area per student was observed in all schools. The green space area required for each student is 0.5 square meters, which was not observed in 73.83% of schools. Only 87.5% of schools had one toilet for every 40 students. Sewage disposal in 98% of schools was hygienic, and 100% of schools had sanitary trash cans. In 60% of the schools, the toilets did not meet the hygiene standards. In 84% of the schools, the number of washbasins was proportional to the number of students (1 per 60). All the classrooms had maximum use of natural light. Moreover, in most schools, health policies, safety policies and emergency and personal hygiene standards were met.

Most schools in Khalkhal city were at moderate level in terms of environmental health and safety and compliance with national school environmental health regulations as well as being prepared to deal with emergencies and crises which indicates a need for more attention and support from the relevant authorities for improving their status.

Pre-hospital emergency is usually the first phase of treatment. The most serious emergency cases before any action in health care unit is to know what services are the cause of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the patients with the overall emergency care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction of recipients of pre-hospital emergency care in Qom City.

In this descriptive study 400 patients who transported to the hospitals by Qom EMS were selected by using simple random sampling. Data were collected by using of satisfaction questionnaire. The data gathered through telephone interviews. Data were collected by using a demographic questionnaire and a Consumer Emergency Care Satisfaction Scale (CECSS) and then analyzed by SPSS v. 16 software using descriptive and Chi-square tests.

The results showed that the satisfaction rate from emergency ambulances and the efficiency of the emergency staff was moderate, and the satisfaction from technicians, the rate of acting professionally, performance of technicians, and the general opinion of patients were high. Also, the highest level of satisfaction (70%) belonged to technicians and the least satisfaction (26%) belonged to ambulance.

Although the satisfaction rate of Qom pre-hospital emergency staff related to the performance of ambulance was low due to some shortcomings and deficiencies;however the overall rate of satisfaction from pre-hospital emergency care in Qom City was at a good and acceptable level.

Road accidents are one of the most important causes of death and severe bodily injuries and financial damages, and its social, cultural, and economic consequences have severely threatened human societies. The purpose of this study was to use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure the efficiency of provincial traffic police in reducing accidents in 2018 and determining the amount of optimal input resources of each provincial unit.

The model used in this research had three inputs, including the level of equipment at the disposal, the level of the approved provincial budget, and the level of manpower at the disposal. It also had two outputs, including the score of reduction of casualties and the score of reduction of deaths in traffic accidents. The “returns to scale” was considered as a variable model, and the input model was an axial-type model. The DEAP software was used for data analysis.

The highest decrease in deaths in traffic accidents (in 2018) was related to Fars Province with 119 people, and the highest decrease in the number of injured cases was related to Khorasan Razavi Province with 1495 people. The RAHVAR Police (Traffic Police of Iran) in Tehran Province had the highest level of input resources, including manpower, equipment, and approved budget. Performance measurement for 2018 showed that out of 31 provinces studied, 10 provinces had a good performance and 21 provinces had acted inefficiently. The research results showed that the proper allocation of resources could push all units to the brink of efficiency.

The trend of accidents in Iran is declining. Most of the RAHVAR Police units operate at an inefficient level, which by increasing their efficiency, the number of accidents can be reduced with a greater slope.

Volunteering has great economic and social benefits, but it is neglected due to the nature of the work. This study aimed to assess the monetary aspect of the voluntary activities in the National Plan of Safety and Health of Nowruz Passengers and analyze the cost of the implementation of this plan, regarding youth volunteers.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 1574 volunteers outlined in the plan were analyzed with the wage replacement and replacement cost approach for the monetary evaluation of voluntary activities. Also, the cost-benefit analysis of the Red Crescent voluntary plan was calculated by the volunteer investment and value audit technique.

In the mentioned road safety plan, the sum of the economic values of volunteering work was multiplied by the number of working hours of youth volunteers per day. Thus, the number of young people was determined, considering the average wage per hour for these people, the monetary value of $69 885.6 was obtained for the voluntary activities. Also, the volunteer investment and value audit rate was $10.6; it means that every dollar spent by Red Crescent would cost more than $10 if it were not voluntary. 

According to the present findings, it seems that the National Plan of Safety and Health of Nowruz Passengers had been economically profitable for the Red Crescent population and the government because of its high revenue, compared with its cost.