مطالب

INTRODUCTION: In order to prevent and reduce the death and disability rates caused by road accidents, it is necessary to optimize the location of the roadside emergency medical service (EMS) stations. Optimal selection of the EMS stations is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem and usually involves the analysis of a large number of possible options and evaluation criteria. Nowadays, various MCDM methods are used to solve location problems that may generate different results. The fuzzification of these methods has always been one of the controversial issues with many agreements and disagreements. METHODS: In this study, a review was first performed on the weighting methods including five non-fuzzy weighting methods as row sum, column sum, arithmetic mean, geometric mean, and eigenvalues as well as two fuzzy weighting methods including: “Liu and Chen method” and “Chang Method”. Then, the fuzzy and non-fuzzy MCDM methods [including analytic hierarchy process (AHP), fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) Chang, FAHP Liu, Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and fuzzy TOPSIS (FTOPSIS)] were employed to locate the roadside EMS stations. Due to insufficient information and all the required layers in Iran, the information of the Interstate-65 (I-65) Highway between Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama, USA was used in the present study. Finally, the results of these methods were compared using the mean-score, Borda, and Copeland prioritization strategies. FINDINGS: Given the importance and sensitivity of the issue, a combination of the MCDM methods was utilized to locate the EMS stations and the most appropriate non-fuzzy and fuzzy weighting methods were identified and the methods used were compared in terms of complexity, volume and time of computations, and the level of impact of the expert opinion. CONCLUSION: The AHP, FAHP Liu and Chen, FAHP Chang, and TOPSIS methods yielded more reliable results in locating the roadside EMS stations, in addition, using FTOPSIS fuzzy method was more risky and is not recommended. The non-fuzzy AHP method was identified to be the most reliable method in the present study.

Introduction: One of the main weaknesses and problems in the field of road accident management is the lack or non-use of appropriate information systems. The overall aim of this study is to reduce the impact of road accidents in the west, southwest, and south routes of Tehran Province, Iran, by designing Management Database responsible for road accidents. METHODS: This was an applied study performed using the descriptive-analytical method in which the data entry and analysis were conducted in the Geographic Information System (GIS) environment in line with the objectives. Then, according to different requirements of the various users, an appropriate analysis was performed on the layers and the software spatial analysis was applied in line with the main objective of the study. In the next step, the desired outputs were extracted from the system and the main output, i.e. the comprehensive database of spatial data required to manage road accidents, was provided to the management levels of various organizations for planning. FINDINGS: In this study, the accident-prone areas in the studied routes were identified using the kernel density estimation (KDE) method. CONCLUSION: Performing various analyses on geographical and descriptive information and providing appropriate outputs and also sharing them can play an effective role in reducing injuries caused by road accidents.

INTRODUCTION: In times of crisis, the timely transfer of the injured to medical facilities is one of the most important stages of relief and one of the most widely used methods to achieve the transfer point designing goal. The transfer point in literature is a place to collect and transfer the optimal demand for a particular service. For example, in times of natural disasters such as earthquakes, the injured (customers) are transferred by ambulance to the transfer points and then by helicopter to the hospital (facility). METHODS: In this study, two single-objective and double-objective complex integer number programming models were presented for the problem of locating transfer points and optimal allocation to facilities, taking into account the limitations in facility capacity and transfer points as well as assuming two types of normal and bad injuries. FINDINGS: In the single-objective model, the reduction in the time of sending the injured in the relief chain, and in the double objective model, in addition to the previous goal, the reduction of the fine for not sending the injured were examined. It is only possible to transfer each injured person to the hospital using the transfer points, and the treatment of the normally injured individuals is performed at the transfer points. The models were solved with two approaches, mild and severe. In order to show the efficiency of the proposed models, a case study was conducted in districts 10, 11, and 17 of Tehran metropolis, Iran. CONCLUSION: Setting up transfer points has a great impact on speeding up the process of providing services to the injured. Additionally, given the disproportionality of the number of injured with the capacity of hospitals in severe crises, it is necessary to anticipate transfer points to manage relief and respond to all injured.

INTRODUCTION: Sustainable urban development and sustainable cities are the most important challenges faced by humans in the 21st century, as the cities may suffer a lot of damage in times of crisis. Therefore, paying attention to the passive defense subject can significantly reduce the level of damage caused by disasters. The present study is conducted with the aim to provide a passive defense approach to selecting the best shelter for temporary accommodation. METHODS: This was a descriptive-analytical study in which the required information was collected using library and field methods. In order to analyze the information, the analytic network process (ANP) technique was employed in order to determine the importance coefficients of indicators in a real environment. Finally, by overlapping information layers, the most preferred locations were identified in proportion to the objective, and the system was used to draw the layers and determine the importance weights of the indicators. FINDINGS: Given the importance weights, the characteristics of a suitable place included areas with sufficient open spaces and at the same time, compatible with the surrounding uses with a relatively higher potential for the establishment of the injured. Therefore, due to the existence of open and suitable spaces as well as proper access, the outskirts of Tabriz, Iran, have a high capacity for accommodating the incident victims.

INTRODUCTION: Natural disasters in rural settlements are responsible for a broad range of financial and human losses. In this regard, the resilience approach has gained renewed attention to minimize the disruptive impacts of natural catastrophes. Therefore, adequate knowledge about the status of resilience enables us to take efficient measures to reduce resultant injuries and destructive effects. With this background in mind, the current study aimed to investigate the relationship between economic and socio-cultural resilience of rural settlements in Silakhor rural district in Dorud. METHODS: This practical study was conducted based on an analytical-descriptive design. The statistical population included 1539 earthquake-stricken households of Silakhor village (according to household information from the 2016 Census). Out of this population, 308 families were selected as the sample size using the Cochran's formula. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts, and its reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha method rendering the coefficients of 0.910 and 0.854 for the economic and socio-cultural dimension, respectively. One-Sample T-Test and Pearson correlation were used to examine the status of resilience and the relationship between economic resilience and socio-cultural resilience. FINDINGS: As evidenced by the obtained results, rural settlements were socio-culturally resilient with the mean score of >3, while they were somewhat resilient in the economic dimension with the mean score of nearly 3. CONCLUSION: The results of the Pearson correlation pointed to a positive and significant relationship between economic and social resilience with a correlation coefficient of 0.420 and a significance level of P<0.00.