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Tractor Ambulance: An Initiative of Emergency Medical Services Response to the Flood of Golestan, Iran in 2019

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2021

Moslem Sarani
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Health Management and Social Development Research Center, Golestan University of medical sciences, Gorgan, Iran
Meysam Safi-Keykaleh
Affiliation:
Malayer School of Nursing, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran
Hamid Safarpour
Affiliation:
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
Mohammad Reza Honarvar
Affiliation:
Health Management and Social Development Research Center, Golestan University of medical sciences, Gorgan, Iran
Ehsan Kalteh
Affiliation:
Health Management and Social Development Research Center, Golestan University of medical sciences, Gorgan, Iran
Katayoun Jahangiri*
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
*
Corresponding author: Katayoun Jahangiri, Email: k.jahangiri@sbmu.ac.ir.

Abstract

Heavy rains in March 2019 led to severe floods in large parts of Iran, with severe financial and physical casualties (in the Golestan province, 11 districts were trapped in water). An increase in the EMS missions while serving a big portion of the needed population was a big problem for the health system during the flood; Therefore, a new solution was needed to overcome this problem. Using a farm tractor for transporting the patients and injured people was the first relief experience ever documented in the whole country. In the present report, despite the limitations and challenges, the tractor has been shown to be a proper and effective disaster relief vehicle. This report could help other similar countries face disasters, especially floods.

Type
Report from the Field
Copyright
© Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2021

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