Journal of Rescue and Relief (امداد و نجات)

Letter to the Editor

INTRODUCTION: Due to its geographical location, Iran has frequently faced natural disasters, especially earthquakes, which highlight the need to use the disaster management process. The aim of this study was to structural equation modeling of disaster preparedness in relation to personality traits, mediation of fate and behavioral consequences of citizens. METHODS: This descriptive research is one of the structural equation correlational one. All people aged 18 to 60 living in Tehran city were studied and finally 384 people were selected as a sample based on Morgan table by multi-stage cluster sampling using these questionnaires including: a) NEO 5-Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1985); b) Fatalism (Shamsoddini & Maghsoodi, 2021); c) Behavioral consequences (researcher-made); and d) Household preparedness index for disasters (Nouri, 2016). Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.79) was used to assess the reliability of the questionnaires and data were analyzed using SPSS-24, Amos and Lisrel 8.8. FINDINGS: The results showed that personality traits (p<0.01) has a positive and significant effect on disaster preparedness. Also, the indirect effects of fatalism (p<0.01) have a negative effect and behavioral consequences (p<0.01) have a positive and significant effect on people's preparedness against disasters. CONCLUSION: According to the research findings, the components of personality traits, fatalism and behavioral consequences have a great impact on people's tendency to prepare for natural disasters.

INTRODUCTION: The occurrence of crimes after crises are numerous and diverse, and their prevention and management is essential. One of the most important of these crimes is theft, which can be committed both by those affected by the crisis and by opportunists. The aim of this research is to study the social prevention of theft in disasters and provide appropriate solutions in Kermanshah province in 2023. METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical and applied survey, data was collected with a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population included 30 experts in the field of law, sociology, psychology and crisis management of Kermanshah province, who were selected by purposeful sampling. Data were analyzed with SPSS-24 software. FINDINGS: According to the findings, using the social prevention approaches will have a significant impact on reducing and preventing the crime of theft during disasters, including: creating jobs, building recreational places, improving people's living conditions, providing the minimum necessities of life, improving the condition of alleys and streets in terms of environmental design and removing them from the state of being susceptible to committing the crime of theft, taking advantage of the capacity of social institutions such as mosques and schools in strengthening people's religious beliefs, raising children and properly supervising them in choosing peer groups, determining the role of institutions and also organizations related to crisis management. CONCLUSION: The results obtained from the analysis of statistical data in the studied sample show that economic and livelihood poverty, environmental chaos and disorder, high unemployment rate, high benefit and low risk of committing crime in the accident-affected areas and lack of security and weakness in establishing order and security. It has an effect of more than 50% on the occurrence of theft and its escalation during disasters.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the current research was to design a competency model for volunteers to be used in the IRCS and Volunteers’ Organization. METHODS: This research has a mixed approach and was conducted in two qualitative and quantitative phases. The first phase was done using grounded theory and the next phase was based on a researcher-made questionnaire. A total of 11 people including professors and experts of the IRCS who were knowledgeable and experienced about the subject were studied using purposeful sampling through semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed by Maxqda-2022. Then, a researcher-made questionnaire was prepared using the indicators obtained from the qualitative section and given to a number of experts in the IRCS (140 people). Data was analyzed using Smartpls3 and SPSS-26 software. FINDINGS: According to the findings in qualitative section, causal conditions consist of 2 main categories and 4 subcategories; background includes 1 main category and 2 sub-categories as well as central phenomenon 4 main categories and 20 sub-categories; also, intervening conditions 2 main categories and 4 sub-categories; and the strategies 2 main categories, 5 sub-categories, and finally the consequences are composed of 3 main categories and 3 sub-categories. The results of the quantitative analysis also emphasize the positive and meaningful relationship between each of the strategies and the competence of the volunteers, which means that each of these strategies can be effective in designing and developing the competency model of the volunteers. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that the competency of RCS volunteers requires various factors such as mental image at the community level and the culture of meritocracy at the level of the IRCS and Volunteers’ Organization. In the following, the results and its consequences can be observed for the volunteers, IRCS, Volunteers’ Organization, and finally for the community, beneficiaries and the affected people. All of which depend on the use of appropriate strategies to design the competency model of IRCS volunteers.

INTRODUCTION: The learning organization model does not exist in the RCS of Tehran province based on knowledge management, innovative organizational culture and quality of work life as an important organization, during disasters, especially the Tehran earthquake. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to present the learning organization model in RCS of Tehran province. METHODS: This applied research was carried out with grounded theory approach. About 15 academic professors and experts of RCS of Tehran province were selected and studied using purposeful sampling method based on the theoretical saturation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. FINDINGS: In this research, the learning organization with five dimensions and 56 concepts were extracted. The dimensions of the learning organization include gaining experience, feedback and evaluation system, systemic thinking, collaborative and fast learning, creative thinking. CONCLUSION: According to the results, focusing on gaining experience with regard to the occurrence of disasters is one of the priorities of the RCS. The challenges that the RCS faces at the learning organization are such as repeating the problems of previous disasters in new disasters, failure to use documentation and experiences of previous disasters, early forgetfulness of disasters and long return period of some disasters, failure to transfer field and operational experiences, not learning from the bitter experiences of disasters, infringing and sometimes copying processes without considering operational experiences, lack of expert documentary maker or teams in disasters and finally many disasters and little documentation. RCS can take action to manage these defects by implementing the learning organization model.

INTRODUCTION: The present study was conducted with the aim of designing a crisis management model for administrators of Farhangian University of Iran. METHODS: This mixed research was conducted in two phases, qualitative (phenomenology) and quantitative (cross-sectional survey). In the first phase, 16 administrators and academic staff members of universities with experience in crisis management were selected and interviewed. Then, data coding, components and quality requirements of crisis management were obtained through theme analysis. In the quantitative phase, a researcher-made questionnaire was designed based on the obtained indicators and using stratified random sampling method, 265 faculty members were studied and analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method and PLS3 software. FINDINGS: According to the findings, the components of crisis management in Farhangian University include level of preparedness to deal with the crisis; preparing a risk management plan; organizational structure; participation of organizations; organization communications; continuous monitoring; leadership of the organization; organizational agility; and university infrastructure. Also, crisis management requirements include quality of trainers, educational facilities, performing relief maneuvers, physical equipment and financial resources. CONCLUSION: The results showed that students, professors and administrators should receive the necessary training on crisis management in universities in order to prevent possible damages when facing a crisis.

INTRODUCTION: The improvement of human resources refers to the activities through which the employees continuously keep pace with the changes and growth of the organization. It involves the improvement of the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of the employees in the perceptual and operational dimensions to increase the efficiency of the employees' performance. The present study aims to identify and rank the factors affecting the improvement of human resources in relief organizations in the RCS in Yazd province. METHOD: The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey methodically. The statistical population included all the senior employees and experts of the RCS of Yazd province (478 people). About 215 people were selected based on Cochran's formula. Data analyzed using fuzzy SWARA and SPSS-24 software. FINDINGS: According to the findings, 21 factors affecting the improvement of human resources in the RCS of Yazd province were identified and prioritized using the fuzzy SWARA technique. It gives this opportunity to decision-makers and policy-makers to choose their environment and strategy based on the current situation. CONCLUSION: The results revealed that the highest weight or the most important factor is the implementation and evaluation system (development of group activities and team building).

INTRODUCTION: The continuity and development of rescue and relief services requires recognition and improvement of the capacities of this field, and above all, it requires a tool to measure the capacity of this policy. The purpose of this research is to design a model for measuring the policy capacity of providing rescue and relief services in Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS). METHOD: This qualitative and applied research was conducted with the content analysis method. In order to collect data, the policy capacity literature and laws in the field of "rescue and relief " and "crisis management" were reviewed. About 12 experts were selected and studied as the statistical population using the snowball method until reaching theoretical saturation. Data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis method (inductive approach) and Maxqda-20 software. Content validity and reliability were checked with Content Validity Index (CVI) test and Holsti’s method, respectively. FINDINGS: According to the findings, about 113 indicators were identified which were classified in three levels including individual (34 indicators), organizational (48 indicators) and systemic (31 indicators). All these three levels consist of the subcategories such as analytical, operational and political-social capacity. CONCLUSION: Policy capacity is a multi-level and multi-dimensional concept. For the development of rescue and relief services, the capacity status of this policy should be determined at different levels and dimensions and due to the needs and conditions, capacities should be upgraded. However, it should not be enough to develop the capacity at one level or one dimension.