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Contingency Planning Low

Iran is the fourth in Asia and sixth in the world regarding the likelihood of natural disasters and 90% of its population is at risk of earthquakes and floods.
Iran is the fourth in Asia and sixth in the world regarding the likelihood of natural disasters and 90% of its population is at risk of earthquakes and floods.
Based on statistics by the research center of the Central Insurance company of Iran, the nation ranks 189th among 190 countries in terms of life-threatening driving accidents, and only Sierra Leone in West Africa is lower

Iranians are highly prone to a variety of accidents, including road mishaps, occupational hazards and natural disasters. Yet, preventive measures and preparedness for emergency situations appear to be sorely missing in the country’s crisis management system.

Statistics show that Iranian households’ preparedness index in emergency situations is 9.3% while the figure exceeds 50% and 70% in certain countries. The index is measured by 15 parameters including knowledge, behavioral skills, emergency and first aid kits and contingency plans among others.

Traffic accidents top the list of emergency situations in Iran. Nine people globally and 13 within the EU countries lose their lives in driving incidents per 10,000 cars, while in Iran there are 37 deaths for the same number of vehicles, salamatnews.com reported.  

The World Bank had once described Iran’s state of road incidents as critical. Based on statistics by the research center at Central Insurance company of Iran, the nation ranks 189th among 190 countries in terms of life-threatening driving accidents, and only Sierra Leone in West Africa is lower.  

“Data from the last Iranian year show that one person dies in a car crash every half an hour and one gets injured per two minutes,” said Seyyed Hamid Jamaleddini, deputy of education, research and technology at the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).  

Workplace accidents are another emergency situation for which Iranians are not sufficiently prepared. Based on the previous year’s statistics, almost 20,000 accidents occur in the course of work in Iran, the majority of which pertains to construction workers. Around 15,000 accidents occur at construction sites and such mishaps are said to be increasing year by year.

Even in terms of natural disasters, Iran is a leading country. It is the fourth in Asia and sixth in the world regarding the likelihood of natural disasters and 90% of its population is at risk of earthquakes and floods. This is while little has been done to protect the nation against the unfortunate outcomes of disasters. Iran’s vulnerability to earthquakes is said to be 1,000 times more than the US and Japan.

According to Jamalleddini, one per 31 Iranians receives some kind of injury in a natural disaster each year.

  Scheme for Households

To prepare families for emergency situations, a scheme has been devised whose trial run was initiated on the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction (October 12) in one county in each province. It is expected to be implemented nationwide early next calendar year that starts in March 2017, IRNA reported.  

The scheme titled “Khadem” which takes its title from the Persian acronym for ‘Prepared Family in Emergencies’, is implemented by the IRCS Education, Research and Technology Department and is aimed at raising public awareness about the dangers that threaten people’s lives as well as offering education about the best responses in emergencies. The objective is to educate 25 million households within a five-year period until March 2022 raising the preparedness index from the present 9.3% to 30%.    

“Not all people can and will refer to relevant training centers, therefore we decided to take the educative scheme to people’s homes,” said Mehdi Najafi, director of fundamental public education affairs at the IRCS.

In the first phase, 130 volunteer facilitators will be trained to transfer the knowledge to families. They will then visit people’s homes in 12 sessions and provide brief 5-10-minute training at the door following which the household will be given a registration number in the IRCS.

Najafi called on the media to promote such services in families so that they welcome the facilitators and learn the skills.

Television, radio, social networks and websites will also offer supplementary education by which people can further improve their knowledge following the training sessions.  

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