Investigating the Response Time to Disasters in the Red Crescent Society by Province and Type of Disasters: A Descriptive Study(مقاله پژوهشی وزارت بهداشت)
INTRODUCTION: Disasters, both natural or manmade, have been a serious threat to human life and property for many years. The shortest response time is certainly the most important factor in increasing the survival of victims in disasters. Considering the vital importance of time in relief operations, the aim of this study is to investigate the response time in various incidents and disasters by the aid workers of the RCS by the provinces of the country during the years 2012 to 2020. METHOD: This descriptive-quantitative study is cross-sectional and data was collected by the Rescue and Relief Organization of IRCS during the years 2012 to 2020 in all Emergency Operation Centers (EOC) of the country. The variables contain the year, the province, the time interval between the occurrence of the disasters and the notification by the RCS aid workers, the time interval between their notification and presence at the scene of the disaster. The median (first and third quartile) after removing the outliers was used to report these times by year and province in the three years of 2012, 2016 and 2020. A line chart was applied to examine the trend changes during the study period. FINDINGS: The results show that the maximum minutes between the occurrence of road accidents and the notification of RCS aid worker was not reported in any province in 2012, and in many provinces, this time are equal to 5 minute. The highest mean minutes were seen 7 in Gilan province and 6 in Zanjan, East Azerbaijan, Fars, Khuzestan and Yazd provinces in 2020. Also, this figure has decreased from 5 in 2012 to 4 minute in 2020 in the country. The highest mean of minutes in 2012 and 2020 belongs to Qom province with 11.5 and 13 minute. The median of these minute has increased from 5 in 2012 to 9 in 2020. In urban accidents, the median time of notification and presence of aid workers at the scene has decreased from 5 to 4 and increased from 5 to 7 minute, respectively. On the other hand, in mountain incidents, a decrease of one minute (from 10 to 9) and an increase from 20 to 36 minute can be seen in the mean of the times of notification of the accident and presence at the scene, respectively. CONCLUSION: According to the type of disasters and the climatic and geographical conditions of the provinces, the duration of disaster relief is different and determining the standard criteria for it depends on various factors. It seems that the time between the occurrence of a natural disaster and the notification and the time between the notification and the presence at the scene in road, urban and mountain incidents are at a favorable level in the RCS.