Investigating the Readiness of Red Crescent Society Staff Against Risks in Khorasan Razavi Province

Introduction: Recent experiences with disasters have shown that warnings must be taken seriously and people in different groups should have necessary preparations to deal with the hazards in Iran as a natural disaster waiting country. The readiness of the relief agencies as one of the first responding organizations involved in crises as well as the readiness of their families as an effective parameter in the response of the relief agencies should be addressed. The purpose of this study was to determine the state of readiness for hazards among the staff of the Red Crescent Society of Khorasan Razavi, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in 2018. The study population consisted of all personnel of the Red Crescent Society of Khorasan Razavi province (n: 146). Sampling was done by census. The level of preparedness was assessed and evaluated by the indicators determined by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education for assessment of the level of household readiness (HDPI) using descriptive statistics. Results: The results showed that the lowest readiness index (2.75) was observed among the staff of the Relief and Rescue Deputy. The most qualified staff of the society were in the Education Deputy who attained the highest score (5.25). Conclusion: Although relief the staff are expected to be present at crises immediately and conveniently, the low score in this index, that is, the lack of readiness of staff’s families, might be very effective on staff performance and could even reduce their attending the department at crisis. Therefore, special attention should be paid to promoting their readines

Analyzing the performance of Red Crescent Society of Khorasan Razavi Province in Kermanshah Earthquake

Introduction: Kermanshah earthquake with magnitude of 7.3 is one of the largest earthquakes in recent decades in Iran. The incident led to discover the existing gaps in the crisis management system in the country. Studying this event based on documented scientific views might reveal the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of crisis-based organizations and provide solutions for solving future problems in similar cases. Methods: In this study, the performance of Red Crescent Society of Khorasan Razavi province as the commander of rescue operations in Sarpol-e Zahab city was investigated. The information and experts' opinions were collected based on SWOT technique and using the AHP method to examine the effective indicators. The effective strategies for the future were also explained and proposed. Results: The average strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and the internal factors identified in the list were presented. Based on the results of this paper, after the expert's opinion about the rescue area, 14 factors were identified as the strength points, 13 factors were considered as weaknesses, 8 factors were identified as opportunities and 15 factors as threats, and then during the process were weighted and prioritized. In the list of external agents, there was some threats. After identifying effective internal and external factors and classifying them based on the Likert spectrum, four groups of weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats were used to determine the weight of criteria and indicators of hierarchical analysis. For this purpose, a group of experts was used. Finally, the system growth strategies, maintaining or improving the status of the system, and the weakness of the system were determined. Conclusion: Based on the results and scientific findings obtained from the previous cases, necessary plans should be made in order to carry out the necessary activities at the time of confrontation with any emergency in the country