Yasamin O. Izadkhah | International Institute of Earthquake Engineering & Seismology (IIEES) (original) (raw)

Papers by Yasamin O. Izadkhah

ABSTRACT Community education programmes can be more effective when they target specific groups or... more ABSTRACT Community education programmes can be more effective when they target specific groups or sectors of the community. Typically&amp;amp;quot; targeting&amp;amp;quot; will focus the education effort on the potentially most vulnerable in society such as children, women, elderly and ...

Planet Risk, Mar 31, 2014

Rebuilding Sustainable Communities for Children and their Families after Disasters: A Global Survey, 2010

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015

Natural disasters have continuously been identified as a threat to public safety. However, in dis... more Natural disasters have continuously been identified as a threat to public safety. However, in disaster situations, animals are also under the threat of getting hurt as well as being counted as a danger to public safety. This is therefore, one of the issues that need high attention, particularly after the occurrence of sudden natural disasters, such as earthquakes. In this paper, the case study of Eram zoo has been selected and it has been tried to look at procedures that can be taken for zoo disaster management after a seismic disaster in Iran. There are two issues that can be considered. First it is the animal welfare/well being subject to structural damage of their cages and secondly, the potential of animals being released and hence the threat they may cause to the public safety. It is hoped that the observations of this study could provide basic recommendations for disaster managers to cope with this situation in probable future earthquakes in the country. Also, based on the findings of this research, part of necessary actions that should be taken by the zoo authorities before, during and after earthquakes can be highlighted in order to preserve the safety of animals, visitors and neighboring areas.

The importance of public awareness and community-based activities for disaster risk mitigation an... more The importance of public awareness and community-based activities for disaster risk mitigation and management has been revealed more clearly during the recent years. In this regard, several national policies have been prepared and some activities were proposed and carried out by governmental and non-governmental organizations in seismic areas for improving the public awareness and participation in earthquake risk reduction programs from local to national levels. In this paper, some existing policies and recommended executive plans for improving the public and local participation and networking in risk management have been partly addressed.

Disaster management planning of all educational institutes in high earthquake prone-areas is a ne... more Disaster management planning of all educational institutes in high earthquake prone-areas is a necessity. In this paper, the development of an earthquake management system for nursery schools is highlighted. The unavoidable nature of the disasters, the impossibility to predict them and the need for considering the safety of the very young generation who are the future assets of communities emphasises

Journal of Injury and Violence Research, 2010

International Journal of Health Syatem and Disaster Management, Jun 2014

Background: The ability of hospitals to continue functioning without interruption in disaster sit... more Background: The ability of hospitals to continue functioning without interruption in disaster situations is a matter of life and death. The Hospital Safety Index (HSI) provides an overview of the probability of a hospital or healthcare facility to remain operational in emergency situations. Aims: This study has been performed in one of the hospitals associated with Social Security Organization in Tehran in order to assess the HSI in disasters. HSI helps authorities to quickly determine where interventions can improve safety.
Materials and Methods: In this applied study, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used.
Settings and Design: A specialized hospital in Tehran was studied regarding its structural, nonstructural and functional aspects using the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO) standard checklists. Various wards and personnel of the hospital were included in this study.
Statistical Analysis Used: Different types of hazards were analyzed, which are related to the location of the hospital. For
determining the amount of risk in different wards, the occurring probability of each risk was scored based on the section status, previous records and events according to the Likert scale in one of the 4 levels and the total scores was considered as the section risk amount. Afterward, among each sections with similar tasks (administrative, financial, managerial and professional, supportive, clinical, surgery room and intensive care unit, emergency unit, and inpatient sections), the least and most amount of risk were clarified
with regard to the following scores. Regarding the total scores, the minimum risk amount was 17 and the maximum was 68 in each section. If the total score was less than 17, no risk (safe), 17‑34 low risk, 35‑52 moderate risk, and in case of 53‑70, the high risk was considered for that section.
Results: According to the results, the final Hospital Safety Index score places this hospital in category “C” among three existing classifications of safety, which means that the hospital’s current safety levels are inadequate to protect the lives of patients and hospital staff during and after a disaster.
Conclusions: Urgent intervention measures and rapid assessment will give decision‑makers a starting point to identify priorities in order to reduce risk and vulnerability in hospitals and health care facilities.

Disaster Prevention and Management Journal, Mar 2, 2014

Purpose -Up to now, no extensive work has addressed the capacity and resiliency of pre-school chi... more Purpose -Up to now, no extensive work has addressed the capacity and resiliency of pre-school children, nor the importance of extending disaster preparedness education to them. This pilot study aims to show that given the right learning tools to engage them, in this case a comic strip designed for this purpose by the first author, pre-school children are able to demonstrate the extent of their learning well.
Design/ Methodology- Comic strips have been used in a number of ways to enhance knowledge and education, including for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Their use as learning stimuli is outlined, showing their historical context as well as their potential for future use. The methodology used included classroom observations, coupled with interviews with some of the class.
Findings- The research showed that pre-school children engaged with and responded to the comic strips in a positive manner while the blank comic strips allowed learners to make sense of the topic through the retelling of the story, allowing them to be placed within a schema of understanding deemed essential for deeper level learning.
Originality- The research is significant because it shows that, even at a young age, complex cognitive process were engaged in order for learners to take their new knowledge, place it within the context of their own experience and re-tell it to others. This pattern of reflection, reasoning and testing is important for triple-loop learning, which may hold the key to truly resilient individuals and communities.

15thWCEE

This paper discusses issues related to training school teachers in the developing countries on th... more This paper discusses issues related to training school teachers in the developing countries on the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) problems. Various teacher training techniques are mentioned in this paper with emphasis on in-service training. Teachers with dissimilar backgrounds need to be taught different materials in the same course in order to reach the same level of disaster preparedness and the required related knowledge. In this regard, the paper tries to discuss challenges and propose opportunities briefly. In the first sections of the paper, the key issues in in-service training for adults are addressed. Then, interactive methods that can be used for in-service training are briefly explained. After that, the case study of Iran as a sample of developing countries is presented, and the basic issues in training teachers on DRR are discussed. At the end, the challenges in training teachers are presented and recommendations are provided.

Rescue and Relief Journal

"The Khuzestan province is one of the most important provinces in Iran border and is considered a... more "The Khuzestan province is one of the most important provinces in Iran border and is considered as one of the disaster-prone areas in the country. The specific geographical, demographic, and strategic situation of Khuzestan along with the amount of oil and gas resources and the existing industry in this area has made the province’s role even more important. Since the first stage in disaster management is to analyze risk as well as preparing the society, the present study deals with a situational analysis of Khuzestan people’s participation in confronting natural disasters from the official’s perspectives. This paper has been undertaken in four stages: In the first stage, the Khuzestan province situation is evaluated regarding the natural disasters occurrence. Then, the province situation is addressed from the perspectives of related organizations and active groups on disasters. By using qualitative study and deep interviews in the third stage, the officials’ perspectives on how to attract people to participate in confronting natural disasters is collected. In the final stage, after analyzing the obtained results, strategies are presented in order to use these guidelines and recommendations in reducing the probable human casualties in future disasters.

Keywords:
Natural Disasters, Officials’ Perspectives, People participation, Risk Analysis
"

Education and community preparation is one of the most important components of disaster managemen... more Education and community preparation is one of the most important components of disaster management. This phase of the disaster management cycle can play a significant role in disaster risk reduction due to its high effect on community. So far, because of this importance, many activities have been undertaken in various countries for disaster education and public awareness. This study aims to assess and evaluate the public awareness of tsunami disaster in Chabahar port in Iran by using questionnaires that were distributed to three various groups of respondents including: residents, school children and governmental officials. The data have been collected by field technique through simple random sampling. Results revealed the lack of awareness and enough knowledge of the people in the region, especially women. Based on the obtained findings and analysis of the results, few suggestions and strategies are proposed by the authors for raising public awareness of probable tsunami disaster in the future as well as to promote novel disaster management methods.

Natural disasters have constantly been a big challenge in sustainable development. In order to re... more Natural disasters have constantly been a big challenge in sustainable development. In order to reach this development, using vulnerability reduction patterns and models is very essential. Therefore, disaster risk reduction is of great importance and should find its proper place in national policies of every country in order to provide an appropriate condition for effective risk reduction in various levels. In this regard, promoting preparedness of the society for encountering future events and their capacities to resist the heavy pressures of disasters needs a comprehensive and widespread planning. Since the main part of these programs targets the various groups of society, therefore the role of human science is very important and fundamental. The society's capacity is called "Resilience" in human science which will be addressed in this paper. Its definitions and few resilience models are also presented. At the end, suggestions are made for developing, maintaining and obtaining resilience in disasters.

SUMMARY: This paper discusses issues related to training school teachers in the developing count... more SUMMARY:
This paper discusses issues related to training school teachers in the developing countries on the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) problems. Various teacher training techniques are mentioned in this paper with emphasis on in-service training. Teachers with dissimilar backgrounds need to be taught different materials in the same course in order to reach the same level of disaster preparedness and the required related knowledge. In this regard, the paper tries to discuss challenges and propose opportunities briefly. In the first sections of the paper, the key issues in in-service training for adults are addressed. Then, interactive methods that can be used for in-service training are briefly explained. After that, the case study of Iran as a sample of developing countries is presented, and the basic issues in training teachers on DRR are discussed. At the end, the challenges in training teachers are presented and recommendations are provided.

Keywords: Teachers, Training techniques, Disaster risk reduction, Education

Iran is located in the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt, as one of the most active tectonic regions ... more Iran is located in the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt, as one of the most active tectonic regions of the world. Throughout history, Iran has frequently suffered large and destructive earthquakes and experienced several major earthquakes in the past few decades. More than 70 percent of the big cities in Iran are located in the vicinity of seismic faults and in some cases, the active faults pass through the city. Therefore, earthquake preparedness can be regarded as one of the factors which can contribute to safety of the citizens. The aim of this paper is to review the trend and progress of disaster preparedness in four major earthquakes that has occurred in Iran including Manjil – Roudbar, 1990, Avaj 2002, Bam 2003, and Darb-e-Astaneh 2006 earthquakes. At the end, recommended strategies towards promoting public awareness and education as well as professional training are presented.

Since many years, the “Drop, Cover and Hold on” (DCH) has been suggested and taught as an accepta... more Since many years, the “Drop, Cover and Hold on” (DCH) has been suggested and taught as an acceptable approach internationally for taking proper and correct reactions during earthquakes. This method is designed with the aim of avoiding careless and dangerous behaviours in order to bring less damage to people due to earthquakes. In the last decade, another advice has been introduced called “Triangle of Life” in which people are recommended to stay next to heavy objects and furniture, because it is assumed that in case of the fall of ceiling, a triangular space can be shaped next to these objects and therefore can save lives. Considering the high importance given to the correct sheltering in this paper, the limitations and advantages of both approaches are explored and an attempt has been made to identify one of them as an appropriate advice with regard to Iran’s situation. Therefore, each of these theories are analysed briefly and compared considering their application, the extent of people who are under the coverage, simplicity in transferring concepts, and the probability of reducing casualties and damage. In this paper, classifying the target group has been addressed based on these two approaches and the validity of the approaches has been evaluated according to the classified target groups. Based on the results and observations, it was revealed that DCH is still regarded as a better option to recommend people of what to do during earthquakes.