Document Type : Letter to the Editor
Authors
1 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Noncommunicable disease research center, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran
2 Physician, Iranian Research Center on Healthy Aging, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran
Abstract
Dear Editor in Chief,
A crisis is defined as a sudden, tense, and unstable situation that requires immediate action to resolve. This situation can affect the individual and society and is usually accompanied by consequences such as damage, threats, and the creation of new needs. According to the head of the Crisis Management Organization, Iran is among the ten most disaster-prone countries in the world.
According to the National Guidelines for the Classification of Accidents and Disasters in the Health System, the classification of accidents is based on 5 indicators: number of deaths, number of injuries, geographical area by city and province, estimated economic damage, and number of people in need of assistance. It includes white, yellow, orange, and red levels, which, based on different levels, sometimes require the dispatch of forces from specific centers of the crisis area for crisis management. According to the criteria of the National Disaster and Emergency Management Center, the standard time for emergency personnel to reach a patient’s bedside in cities is set at 8 minutes and on the road at 15 minutes. It has been determined that increasing the speed of emergency personnel reaching a patient’s bedside is one of the most important factors in increasing the chances of survival for patients.
Given the delays in intervention during the golden time until the arrival of specialized forces and official rescuers, as well as the mismatch between available resources and the forces needed at different levels of various crises, including war, it is essential to form and deploy trained local forces as immediate responders to reduce the response time, increase the chances of survival, and reduce the risks to life. In other countries, attention has been paid to the training and differentiation of the roles of immediate responders and first responders, and the need for public education programs for citizens in training immediate responders to reduce the effects and increase resilience in major crises. The results of the research analysis conducted by identifying the most vulnerable areas in the earthquake crisis scenario of Tehran Region 6 also indicate that advanced training and education of as many local forces in these areas and neighboring areas as possible, who can be dispatched to the place of demand in the shortest possible time, can play a significant role in the success of the operation.
One of the challenges in achieving an effective crisis management system and its successful implementation is the use of social participation to reduce crises, which is recognized as a new and growing approach, which minimizes people’s vulnerability to disasters. The indicators of the importance of the role of the people, the participation of non-governmental organizations, public education, empathy, cooperation and intimacy, mass media in education, reflection of the real needs of the people by the mass media during the crisis, the use of indigenous people in the rescue and reconstruction process, the role of mass media in following up after the crisis, raising public awareness, encouraging people to participate, honesty and transparency of the media, commitment and social network have the highest coefficient of importance, respectively. Therefore, developing a spirit of cooperation and creating a motivation for participation among people is considered one of the clear ways to reduce vulnerability caused by natural disasters.
In Iran, which is a country prone to crises in the world, the use of social participation and non-governmental organizations in training local and indigenous immediate responders will lead to a reduction in the time of presence of efficient forces within the golden time limit and, as a result, a reduction in life-threatening risks in the injured resulting from various crises, including war. In addition, this method will lead to an increase in social resilience and capacity building in maintaining health and reducing risks and mortality in the injured, given the limitations of purely governmental facilities. International experience in crisis-prone countries also confirms this point. Therefore, it is recommended that the necessary planning in this regard be made in the national crisis management plan.
Highlights
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kMPUUlMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=roghayeh+javan
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kMPUUlMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=roghayeh+javan
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